Utah’s sales tax rate starts at a 4.85% state portion, but the combined rate you actually pay at the register runs from roughly 6.10% to nearly 9% once mandatory and optional local taxes are added. The total depends on where you’re buying, what you’re buying, and whether the item qualifies for a reduced rate or an exemption.
The State Rate and Why No One Pays Only 4.85%
Utah Code 59-12-103 sets the state portion at 4.85%, built from a 4.70% base rate and a 0.15% additional rate.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 59-12-103 – Sales and Use Tax Base – Rates – Effective Dates – Use of Sales and Use Tax Revenue On top of that, the state imposes a mandatory local tax component on every transaction statewide, which pushes the floor to about 6.10% before any county or city adds anything further.
Retailers collect the tax at the point of sale and remit it to the Utah State Tax Commission.
Combined State and Local Rates by Location
The rate on any given purchase is the state portion plus a stack of local taxes that varies by jurisdiction. Counties, cities, and towns can adopt supplemental taxes to fund transit, highways, rural hospitals, cultural and arts facilities, and resort community services. The Utah State Tax Commission publishes a Combined Sales and Use Tax Rates chart that breaks each component out by tax area.2Utah State Tax Commission. Sales and Use Tax Rates
Not every jurisdiction adopts every option. A rural county with no transit system won’t include a mass transit surcharge; a ski town might layer on a resort community tax. The same item bought in two different cities can carry noticeably different tax amounts.
Which Location’s Rate Applies
Utah is origin-based for intrastate sales. When buyer and seller are both in Utah, the seller charges the combined rate for the seller’s business location, not the buyer’s shipping address. A retailer in Salt Lake City selling to a customer in Provo charges Salt Lake City’s rate. For sales where the seller is outside Utah, the rules flip to destination-based, and the buyer’s location determines the rate.
Rates Can Change Quarterly
Local jurisdictions can adopt or change their optional taxes during the year, and combined rates shift quarterly. If you’re a business collecting tax, check the Tax Commission’s rate tables each quarter against your tax area code.
Groceries Are Taxed at a Lower Rate
Unprepared food gets a reduced state rate of 1.75%, covering items like milk, bread, and produce meant for home preparation.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 59-12-103 – Sales and Use Tax Base – Rates – Effective Dates – Use of Sales and Use Tax Revenue Local taxes still apply on top, so the total at the grocery store is higher than 1.75% depending on jurisdiction.
Prepared food sold at restaurants, delis, and cafeterias doesn’t qualify. It’s taxed at the full combined rate. A grocery store with a hot food bar has to apply different rates to different items in the same transaction.
Common Exemptions
Some purchases are fully exempt from sales tax. Utah Code 59-12-104 lists the full catalog; the ones most people encounter include:
- Goods bought for resale, so the same item isn’t taxed repeatedly on its way to the end consumer.
- Durable medical equipment, mobility devices, prosthetics, prescription drugs, and certain disposable medical supplies, when the buyer presents a prescription.3Utah State Tax Commission. Publication 53
- Manufacturing and qualifying mining machinery with an economic life of three or more years.
- Items used primarily and directly in commercial farming, though vehicles that must be registered do not qualify.
To document an exempt purchase, the buyer gives the seller Form TC-721, Utah’s Sales Tax Exemption Certificate, and the seller keeps it on file.4Utah State Tax Commission. TC-721 Utah Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
Use Tax on Untaxed Purchases
Use tax catches purchases where no Utah sales tax was collected. If you buy something from an out-of-state seller who didn’t charge Utah tax, you owe use tax at the same rate you would have paid locally. The rates and exemptions mirror sales tax.5Utah State Tax Commission. Sales and Use Tax Individuals report use tax on their Utah state income tax return.
Online and Out-of-State Sellers
Out-of-state retailers and marketplace facilitators must collect and remit Utah sales tax once they exceed $100,000 in gross revenue from Utah sales in the current or previous calendar year.6Utah State Tax Commission. Out-of-State (Remote) Sellers A separate 200-transaction threshold was eliminated as of July 1, 2025; only the dollar threshold remains.
Marketplace facilitators like Amazon or Etsy carry the same obligation. Once the platform crosses the threshold, it collects and remits tax on all facilitated sales into Utah, which relieves individual third-party sellers of that duty.7Utah State Tax Commission. Publication 71 In practice, most online purchases already show the correct Utah tax at checkout.