Stearns County Sales Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Use Tax

The Stearns County sales tax is 7.5 percent on most taxable purchases, and 8.0 percent inside St. Cloud. That countywide rate combines Minnesota’s 6.875 percent state tax, a 0.25 percent county transit tax, and a voter-approved 0.375 percent county sales tax that took effect April 1, 2025. St. Cloud adds another 0.5 percent on top.

What Makes Up the 7.5 Percent

Three layers stack to produce the countywide rate:

St. Cloud layers its own 0.5 percent city tax on top, bringing the total inside city limits to 8.0 percent.4St. Cloud, MN – Official Website. St. Cloud Area 0.5% Sales and Use Tax If you run a business, the rate you charge follows where the sale is delivered or picked up, not where your store sits. Charging the wrong rate because you defaulted to your own address is a common audit trigger.

What’s Exempt

Minnesota’s exemptions apply to the full combined rate, so an exempt item carries no state or county tax at all.

Clothing

Most clothing is tax-free. The exemption covers human wearing apparel suitable for general use, from coats and shoes to underwear and uniforms. Accessories like jewelry, handbags, and watches are still taxable, as is sports-specific gear such as cleated shoes and ski boots. Fur clothing is also taxable.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.67 – Exempt Items

Groceries

Food and food ingredients sold for home consumption are exempt, whether liquid, solid, frozen, dried, or concentrated. Candy, soft drinks, dietary supplements, and prepared food are taxable. So are alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis products.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.67 – Exempt Items

Medicine and Medical Equipment

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are both tax-free. The exemption also covers insulin, medical oxygen, prosthetic devices, prescription eyeglasses, kidney dialysis equipment, durable medical equipment used at home, and single-use diabetes testing supplies.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.67 – Exempt Items

When You Owe Use Tax Instead

Use tax matches sales tax in rate and applies when the seller didn’t collect Minnesota tax. The usual triggers are online orders from out-of-state retailers that don’t charge Minnesota tax, items bought in a lower-tax county or city and brought back to Stearns County, and inventory a business pulls off the shelf for its own use. The full 7.5 percent applies, because the local portion rides along with the state rate.6Minnesota Department of Revenue. Use Tax

Registering a Business to Collect the Tax

Any business making taxable sales in Minnesota needs a Minnesota Tax ID before it can legally collect sales tax. To apply, have these ready:

  • Your Federal Employer Identification Number, if you have one
  • The legal name and address of the business
  • Social Security numbers for the sole proprietor, partners, or corporate officers
  • Your NAICS code
  • The date the business began operating

The Minnesota Department of Revenue handles the application. Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs that don’t make taxable sales, have no employees, and owe no use tax may not need a Minnesota Tax ID at all.7Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Tax Identification Numbers

Charging the Right Amount and Filing

Add the state rate, the 0.375 percent county tax, the 0.25 percent transit tax, and any city tax into a single combined rate, apply it to the sale price, and round to the nearest cent.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Stearns County 0.375% Sales and Use Tax Local Tax General Notice On the receipt it reads as one line, but once remitted each piece goes to its designated purpose.

Returns are filed through the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s e-Services system. The Department assigns each business a monthly, quarterly, or annual schedule based on how much tax it collects.8Minnesota Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Return Filing Due Dates

Exemption Certificates From Buyers

If a customer claims an exemption, the seller must collect a completed Form ST3 (Certificate of Exemption) or charge sales tax anyway. The certificate needs the names and addresses of both buyer and seller, the buyer’s Tax ID or other identification number, the type of business, and the specific reason for the exemption (resale, government purchase, agricultural use, and so on). It can be a blanket certificate for all future purchases from that seller or limited to one transaction. Sellers must keep the certificates on file for audits.9Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form ST3, Certificate of Exemption

A buyer who uses an exemption certificate for purchases that don’t qualify faces a $100 penalty per transaction, plus liability for the unpaid tax and interest.9Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form ST3, Certificate of Exemption

Remote Sellers and Online Marketplaces

Out-of-state sellers aren’t exempt from Stearns County’s local rates. Once a remote seller exceeds either $100,000 in gross retail sales or 200 separate retail transactions shipped to Minnesota addresses in any 12-month period, it must register and collect Minnesota sales tax, including the local portions.10Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.66 – Retailer Collection Requirements

Marketplace facilitators such as Amazon or Etsy are treated as the retailer for all sales they facilitate and must collect and remit the tax themselves. The one exception is when the third-party seller provides the marketplace with its own Minnesota registration and both agree the seller will handle collection directly.10Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.66 – Retailer Collection Requirements For most small sellers on those platforms, the marketplace handles it automatically.

Penalties and Interest for Late Payment

The late-filing penalty is 5 percent of the unpaid tax. If the balance stays unpaid, another 5 percent is added for each 30-day period, up to a 15 percent maximum.11Minnesota Department of Revenue. Penalties and Interest for Businesses

Interest also runs from the original due date on both the unpaid tax and any penalty balance. The 2026 rate is 7 percent, and the rate can change annually.12Minnesota Department of Revenue. Tax Professional Tip – Income Tax Penalties and Interest Rates A few months behind can add roughly a quarter to the original liability by the time penalties and interest are tallied.