Ohio sales tax on to-go food is straightforward: if you take the food off the restaurant’s premises to eat it, the food itself is exempt. That rule comes from Ohio Revised Code 5739.02(B)(2), which exempts sales of food for human consumption off the premises where sold.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.02 – Levy of Sales Tax – Purpose The same burger costs less through the drive-thru than at the dining room table, because the dine-in version gets a combined state and county tax rate that runs from 6.75% to 8.00% depending on the county.2Ohio Department of Taxation. County Sales Tax Rate Report
Ohio does not care whether the food is hot or cold, made to order or pre-packaged, a full entrée or a snack. The only question is where you will eat it. If the answer is anywhere other than the vendor’s premises, qualifying food goes through tax-free.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Food Service Industry That is why the cashier asks “for here or to go?” — it decides whether tax gets added to your ticket.
What Counts as the Restaurant’s Premises
The exemption disappears the moment you eat on the vendor’s premises, and Ohio defines “premises” broadly. Under ORC 5739.01(K), premises include any property where the vendor sells goods, plus any property set aside for use in connection with that business.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.01 – Sales Tax Definitions That covers more than just the indoor dining room.
The Ohio Department of Taxation treats these areas as premises:
- Shared food court seating. If a restaurant operates a counter inside a mall food court, the food court tables count as its premises, even though the restaurant does not own them.
- Outdoor patios, decks, and any other seating the vendor provides for customers.
- Parking lots owned or leased by the restaurant.
The food court rule catches people off guard. If you order “to go” at a food court counter but then sit at a nearby table to eat, that is technically on-premises consumption, and the sale should have been taxed.5Ohio Department of Taxation. Information Release ST 2012-01 – Restaurants and Other Food Vendors In practice vendors go by what you tell them at the register, so a genuine change of plans after ordering is not something they typically get penalized for. The legal rule, though, follows where the food is actually eaten.
What Still Gets Taxed on a To-Go Order
Not everything on a restaurant menu qualifies as “food” for exemption purposes. ORC 5739.01(CCC)(1) defines food as substances sold for ingestion or chewing by humans that are consumed for taste or nutritional value, in liquid, solid, frozen, dried, or concentrated form.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.01 – Sales Tax Definitions The statute then carves four categories out of that definition: alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, dietary supplements, and tobacco.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Food Service Industry Those four are always taxable, whether you carry them out or drink them at the counter.
Soft Drinks
Ohio defines a soft drink as any nonalcoholic beverage containing natural or artificial sweeteners. Two exceptions pull a beverage back into the “food” category and out of the taxable column: drinks containing more than 50% vegetable or fruit juice by volume, and drinks made with milk, soy milk, rice milk, or similar substitutes.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.01 – Sales Tax Definitions A sweetened iced tea or cola is taxable to-go. A smoothie made mostly from real fruit juice is exempt.
Dietary Supplements and Alcohol
Dietary supplements are identified by the “Supplement Facts” panel required by federal labeling rules. Anything carrying that panel is not food for Ohio sales tax purposes and is always taxable.6Ohio Department of Taxation. Information Release ST 2004-01 – Sales Tax Food and Food Ingredients A protein shake or energy powder at a smoothie bar can fall into this category. Alcohol is taxed on every sale, dine-in or carry-out.
This is why a to-go receipt often still shows tax. If you ordered a sandwich and a soda, the sandwich is exempt and the soda is not. The tax line is the soda.
Combo Meals and Bundled Prices
When a restaurant sells a combo meal that packages exempt food with a taxable soft drink at a single price, Ohio’s bundled transaction rule under R.C. 5739.012 decides how to tax it. If the taxable portion of the bundle is 50% or less of the total price, the whole transaction is treated as exempt on a carry-out order.7Ohio Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax – Bundled Transactions The drink in most combo meals is well under half the price, so the combo usually goes through tax-free. If the taxable items in a bundle cross that 50% line, the whole bundle becomes taxable. Vendors must apply the calculation using either purchase price or sales price consistently, not both.
Delivery and Third-Party Apps
Food ordered for delivery is still consumed off the vendor’s premises, so the food itself remains exempt. The delivery charge is a separate question. Ohio Administrative Code 5703-9-52 treats delivery charges as part of the sale price. When an order mixes exempt food with taxable items, the vendor allocates the delivery charge between them by price or weight and taxes only the portion tied to the taxable items. A vendor that does not perform the allocation must charge tax on the entire delivery fee whenever any part of the order is taxable.8Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5703-9-52 – Delivery Charges
Third-party platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats add another layer. Under Ohio’s marketplace facilitator rules, the platform is generally treated as the seller and collects and remits sales tax on the transactions it facilitates. A platform can request a waiver from the Ohio Department of Taxation, which shifts the collection duty back to the restaurant. When a platform holds no waiver, it is responsible for collecting sales tax on delivery charges as well, including charges to deliver items that would otherwise be nontaxable.
Vending Machines
Vending machine food is one place the carry-out logic does not produce an exemption. Even though vending purchases are eaten off premises, these sales are taxable. Ohio handles the collection differently: the vending machine operator is treated as the consumer of the products and pays sales or use tax when stocking the machine, rather than collecting tax from the customer at purchase.6Ohio Department of Taxation. Information Release ST 2004-01 – Sales Tax Food and Food Ingredients The tax is built into the shelf price instead of appearing as a separate line.