San Lorenzo Sales Tax: Rate Breakdown, Exemptions, and Seller Rules

The sales tax rate in San Lorenzo, California, is 10.25 percent as of April 1, 2026.¹ San Lorenzo is an unincorporated community in Alameda County, so it uses the countywide unincorporated-area rate rather than a city rate. That same 10.25 percent applies across other unincorporated Alameda County communities, including Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, and Fairview.²

How the 10.25 Percent Is Built

The rate on your receipt is two layers stacked together. California’s statewide base is 7.25 percent, which applies everywhere in the state. On top of that, Alameda County voters have approved local district taxes totaling another 3.00 percent, bringing San Lorenzo to 10.25 percent.

Most of that local 3.00 percent comes from three measures:

Measures B and BB together add a full 1.0 percent for transportation. Measure B started as a half-cent tax; Measure BB, passed in 2014, renewed it and added another half-cent through 2045, funding BART and bus expansion, street repaving, bike and pedestrian safety, and paratransit.³⁴
Measure C adds 0.5 percent for pediatric health care, the Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and early childhood education. It runs from 2020 through 2041.⁵
Measure W adds 0.5 percent, a ten-year half-cent tax providing roughly $150 million annually for homelessness housing and services, mental health, job training, and other county services.⁶

Those account for 2.0 percent of the 3.0 percent in district taxes. The remaining 1.0 percent comes from additional district-level measures, which may include BART district or AC Transit levies. CDTFA combines everything into the single 10.25 percent rate shown at the register.

Because San Lorenzo has no city government, there is no additional city sales tax layered on top. Shoppers in neighboring incorporated cities sometimes pay more than this because their city has added its own district tax.

What Gets Taxed in San Lorenzo

The 10.25 percent rate applies to most tangible goods: clothing, furniture, electronics, vehicles, building materials, appliances, and similar items. California carves out several exemptions that affect what you actually pay at checkout.

Groceries

Most food bought for home consumption is exempt. Staples you take home from a San Lorenzo supermarket aren’t taxed.⁷ The exemption disappears for hot prepared food, food sold for on-premises consumption, and carbonated beverages. A rotisserie chicken from the deli counter is taxable; raw chicken from the meat case is not.⁸

Prescription Medicine

Prescription medications dispensed by a pharmacist or furnished directly by a physician are exempt.⁷ Over-the-counter medicines sold without a prescription are generally taxable, and so are most dietary supplements.

Digital Products

California does not tax most digital goods. Downloaded software, remotely accessed cloud software, streaming services, e-books, digital music, and app purchases are not subject to sales tax here. Prewritten software sold on physical media (a boxed copy) is taxable. Buying a streaming subscription or an app on your phone adds no California sales tax; buying a boxed program at a store does.

Online Purchases and Use Tax

When you buy from a major online retailer or marketplace such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy, the platform collects the 10.25 percent at checkout. California law requires marketplace facilitators to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of their third-party sellers, a requirement in effect since October 2019.⁹

The gap is purchases from smaller out-of-state sellers who don’t use a major marketplace and don’t collect California tax. In that case the buyer owes use tax at the same 10.25 percent rate.¹⁰ Use tax also applies when you bring goods into California after buying them somewhere with no sales tax, like furniture picked up on a trip to Oregon. You can report use tax on your California income tax return or file a separate use tax return with the CDTFA.

Where the Money Goes

The state portion of the tax funds state-level programs for public safety, health and social services, and general government operations. The 1.25 percent Bradley-Burns share within the statewide base goes to Alameda County for transportation and general county services.¹¹

The local district taxes are more targeted. The 1.0 percent from Measures B and BB flows to the Alameda County Transportation Commission for street repaving, transit expansion, bicycle and pedestrian projects, and paratransit.⁴ Measure C supports children’s health care and early childhood education, with a dedicated share for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.⁵ Measure W directs roughly 80 percent of its revenue to homelessness housing and services and 20 percent to mental health, job training, and other county services.⁶ For an unincorporated community like San Lorenzo, these measures are the main way county-funded services get paid for out of local sales activity.

If You Sell Goods in San Lorenzo

Any business selling physical goods here needs a California seller’s permit. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6066 requires every seller to file a permit application with the CDTFA for each place of business, and there is no fee.¹² The permit has to be displayed at the business location, and it isn’t transferable to a new owner or a different address.

Reporting matters as much as collecting. Because tax revenue is distributed to the jurisdiction where the sale occurred, businesses need to file under the correct CDTFA jurisdiction code for San Lorenzo’s unincorporated area; filing under the wrong code sends revenue away from the services that serve the community. The CDTFA publishes a jurisdiction code lookup tool on its website.

Sellers who sell to other businesses for resale can accept a resale certificate (CDTFA-230) in place of charging tax. A valid certificate accepted in good faith relieves the seller of tax on that sale, but the certificate has to describe the property being purchased for resale and should match the buyer’s line of business.¹³ Misuse of a resale certificate can lead to penalties, interest, and criminal prosecution. California also requires businesses to keep sales tax records (receipts, invoices, resale certificates, exemption documentation, and filed returns) for at least four years.¹⁴

1
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates
2
Alameda County. Unincorporated Communities
3
Alameda County Transportation Commission. Measure B
4
Alameda County Transportation Commission. Measure BB Direct Local Distributions
5
Alameda County Health. Measures A, C, and W
6
Alameda County. Measure W Allocation Framework
7
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Revenue and Taxation Code 6359 – Food Products
8
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. 18 CCR 1602 – Food Products
9
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Law – Chapter 1.7
10
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax in California
11
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Detailed Description of the Sales and Use Tax Rate
12
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Law – Section 6066
13
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales for Resale – Publication 103
14
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Regulation 1698