Sales tax in Wildwood, NJ depends entirely on what you’re buying. Everyday retail purchases at certified Urban Enterprise Zone shops are taxed at 3.3125%, exactly half New Jersey’s statewide rate of 6.625%.1New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Restaurant meals and amusement admissions carry an extra 2% county tourism tax, bringing those purchases to 8.625%. Hotel rooms and short-term rentals get the heaviest treatment at 13.625% once four separate taxes stack together. The sections below walk through each layer so you know what the register total should look like before you pay.
The Half-Rate at UEZ Shops
Wildwood is a designated Urban Enterprise Zone, and that designation cuts the sales tax in half for qualifying retail sales. Certified vendors charge 3.3125% instead of 6.625%.2New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 52:27H-80 – Sales Tax Exemption for Retail Sales You can tell a shop participates by looking for the UZ-2 certificate, which the state requires the business to display, usually near the register.
The reduced rate applies only to in-person retail sales of tangible goods from a physical storefront where merchandise is regularly displayed. A few categories are carved out and still taxed at the full 6.625% rate even inside the zone:
- Motor vehicles
- Alcoholic beverages
- Cigarettes
- Energy
- Cannabis
Catalog and mail-order businesses with a Wildwood address don’t qualify for the half-rate either. And certification isn’t permanent: the state can revoke it if a business falls behind on tax obligations or stops meeting UEZ requirements.2New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 52:27H-80 – Sales Tax Exemption for Retail Sales If you don’t see a UZ-2 on the wall, expect the full rate.
The 2% Tourism Tax on Meals, Admissions, and Nightlife
Wildwood, North Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest add a 2% Cape May County Tourism Tax on top of state sales tax for tourism-related purchases.3State of New Jersey. Cape May County Tourism Sales Tax It only applies to transactions that are already taxable under the state Sales and Use Tax Act, so items that are tax-exempt statewide (clothing, for example) remain exempt here too. The categories that trigger the tourism tax are:
- Room rentals at hotels, motels, and boarding houses
- Food and drink from restaurants, taverns, and caterers (vending machines don’t count)
- Admissions to amusement rides, movie theaters, and sporting, drama, or musical events
- Cover charges at nightclubs and cabarets
A restaurant check in Wildwood runs 6.625% state tax plus 2% tourism tax, for a combined 8.625%. The tourism tax revenue funds the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development District.
Hotel and Short-Term Rental Tax: 13.625%
Lodging carries the heaviest tax load of any purchase in Wildwood. Four separate taxes stack on top of each hotel or short-term rental stay:
- State sales tax: 6.625%
- Cape May County Tourism Tax: 2%
- Tourism assessment on room rentals: 1.85%
- State occupancy fee: 3.15%
The state occupancy fee is lower in Wildwood than in most of New Jersey. The usual statewide rate is 5%, but because Wildwood, North Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest already impose their own local tourism taxes, the state reduces its fee to 3.15% in those three municipalities.4State of New Jersey. New Jersey Hotel/Motel and State Occupancy Fee Information The 1.85% tourism assessment was added in 2003 as a Phase II funding measure for the tourism district and applies only to room rentals.
Short-term rental hosts using platforms like Airbnb or VRBO owe the same taxes. Some platforms collect and remit portions automatically, so hosts should verify which pieces the platform handles and which they’re responsible for filing themselves. One thing not to worry about: the three Wildwoods are specifically excluded from the municipal occupancy tax that other New Jersey towns can levy at up to 3%, so no additional municipal layer stacks on top of the four above.
What’s Exempt No Matter Where You Buy It
Several categories are completely exempt from New Jersey sales tax statewide, and those exemptions apply in Wildwood exactly the same way they do anywhere else in the state. No UEZ certificate or special paperwork is involved.
Clothing and footwear for everyday human use are tax-free under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.4.5Justia. New Jersey Code 54:32B-8.4 – Clothing and Footwear Exemption Most of what you’d pick up at a boardwalk shop or outlet store falls under this. The exemption does not cover fur clothing, sports and recreational equipment, or protective gear. A sweatshirt is tax-free; a football helmet or ski goggles are not.
Grocery food sold unheated and unprepared is exempt. A box of cereal, a bag of fruit, or a gallon of milk from a Wildwood supermarket carries no tax. A prepared sandwich, a hot deli meal, or anything served by a restaurant is taxable, and in Wildwood that purchase also triggers the 2% tourism tax.
Medicine and medical supplies are exempt as well. That covers prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, prosthetic devices, and diabetic supplies.6Justia. New Jersey Code 54:32B-8.1 – Exemption for Certain Medical Supplies and Equipment
Quick Reference by Purchase Type
To summarize what you’ll actually pay in Wildwood:
- Clothing, groceries, prescriptions: 0%
- Retail goods at a certified UEZ shop: 3.3125%
- Retail goods at a non-UEZ seller, plus motor vehicles, alcohol, cigarettes, energy, and cannabis anywhere: 6.625%
- Restaurant meals, amusement admissions, nightclub cover charges: 8.625%
- Hotel rooms and short-term rentals: 13.625%
If a receipt doesn’t match one of these figures, it’s worth asking the business to double-check which category the purchase falls into and whether the seller is applying the UEZ rate correctly.