Rogers MN Sales Tax: Rate, Exemptions, and Vehicles

The sales tax rate in Rogers, Minnesota is 8.775% as of mid-2026. That single number is actually five separate taxes stacked together, and it applies to most retail purchases and prepared food inside city limits. Several large categories, including groceries, clothing, and prescription drugs, are exempt entirely.¹

Where the 8.775% Comes From

Five layers combine to produce the total you see at the register in Rogers:

Minnesota state general sales tax: 6.875%
Metro area taxes (a 0.75% transportation tax and a 0.25% housing tax applied across the seven-county Twin Cities metro): 1.00%
Hennepin County transit tax: 0.25%
Hennepin County tax: 0.15%
City of Rogers local sales tax: 0.50%

The city portion funds park, recreation, and trail projects, including an I-94 pedestrian bridge, trail connections, aquatics facilities, and community athletic fields. The metro layer is the one most people miss, because it doesn’t belong to any single city or county and applies uniformly across Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties.¹

What You Pay the Full Rate On

Physical Goods

Most tangible personal property sold at retail in Rogers is taxable at 8.775%. Electronics, furniture, appliances, housewares, sporting goods, and similar items all fall under the general rule, and the tax is calculated on the sale price at checkout.

Prepared Food and Restaurant Meals

Minnesota draws a sharp line between groceries and prepared food. Prepared food, as the state defines it, is food sold heated, food sold with utensils like plates, forks, or napkins provided by the seller, or food made by combining two or more ingredients and sold as a single item. Anything meeting that definition is taxable at the full Rogers rate.²

Two carve-outs matter in everyday situations. Bakery items such as bread, donuts, and cookies stay exempt even when sold at a restaurant, as long as they are not heated. Deli meat sold cold and by weight is also exempt.²

Digital Products and Software

Digital products are taxable in Minnesota, but the category is narrower than people often assume. Taxable digital items include music and audiobooks, video content, digital books, e-greeting cards, and online video or computer games. Prewritten software is taxable whether you buy it on a disc or download it.³

Software you access through a browser without downloading is not taxable. Custom software written to a specific customer’s requirements is also exempt. Digital news articles, data reports, financial charts, and digital photographs escape the tax as well.³

What’s Exempt

Clothing

Minnesota exempts clothing from sales tax. The exemption covers “all human wearing apparel suitable for general use,” a broad definition that includes work uniforms, steel-toed boots, wedding dresses, baby blankets, and the kind of apparel you’d expect to find in any department store.⁴

Accessories don’t count. Jewelry, handbags, wallets, watches, and sunglasses are taxable. So is sports and recreational equipment designed for a specific activity, including cleated shoes, ski boots, wetsuits, and boxing gloves. Fur clothing and protective equipment such as hard hats, safety goggles, and breathing masks are also outside the exemption.⁴

Groceries

Unprepared food and food ingredients bought for home consumption are exempt. Raw ingredients, produce, dairy, pantry staples, and packaged foods you prepare yourself all qualify. Once a seller heats the food, provides utensils, or combines ingredients into a ready-to-eat item, it moves into the taxable prepared food category.²

Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices

Prescription medications and certain medical devices are exempt from Minnesota sales tax. State statute defines the specific items that qualify.

Motor Vehicles Don’t Follow the 8.775% Rule

Buying a car in Rogers works differently. Motor vehicles are subject to a 6.875% sales tax, the state rate only, and you pay it at the time of title transfer through a deputy registrar or Driver and Vehicle Services, not at the dealership register. The local sales tax layers that bring other purchases to 8.775% do not apply to motor vehicle sales.⁵

Online Orders and Out-of-State Purchases

Minnesota uses destination-based sourcing. The rate is set by where the buyer receives the item, not where the seller is located. Walk into a Rogers store and the Rogers rate of 8.775% applies because you take possession there. Order online and have it shipped to a Rogers address, and the same 8.775% applies.⁶

If you buy a taxable item from an out-of-state seller who doesn’t collect Minnesota tax, you owe use tax on the purchase. The use tax rate matches the sales tax rate, so a Rogers resident owes 8.775%. Minnesota expects you to report and pay it, typically on your individual income tax return, and the city specifically applies its local use tax to taxable items used within city limits when the local sales tax wasn’t collected at the point of sale.⁷

If You Sell in Rogers

Any business making taxable sales in Rogers needs a Minnesota Tax ID number. You register with the Minnesota Department of Revenue online, by phone, or by submitting a paper Application for Business Registration. There’s no fee. Once you register, the department sends a confirmation letter that functions as your sales tax permit.⁸

The state assigns a filing frequency, monthly, quarterly, or annual, based on your expected sales volume. Returns go through the Minnesota e-Services portal. Because Rogers sits under five overlapping tax layers, each local tax has to be reported on its own line. Failing to break out local taxes properly triggers a 5% penalty on the amount not properly reported, and omitting location information entirely can result in a $500 penalty per return.⁹

Late Filing and Late Payment

Missing a sales tax deadline adds up quickly. If you don’t pay the tax owed by the due date, the penalty is 5% of the unpaid amount for the first 30 days, with another 5% added for each additional 30-day period the balance remains outstanding, up to a maximum of 15%. A separate 5% penalty applies if you fail to file the return at all.⁹

Repeat offenders face a steeper rule. If the Department of Revenue identifies a pattern of late filings or late payments and sends written notice, subsequent failures carry a 25% penalty on the unpaid tax. Interest also accrues on unpaid balances from the original due date until payment is received.⁹

1
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Local Sales and Use Tax Rate Guide Q2 2026
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statute 297A.61 – Definitions
3
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Computer Software and Digital Products
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statute 297A.67 – General Exemptions
5
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Sales
6
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statute 297A.668 – Sourcing of Sale
7
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax
8
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Tax Identification Numbers
9
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statute 289A.60 – Civil Penalties