Tennessee’s combined state and local sales tax rate of 9.45 percent is highest among the 50 U.S. states, according to the
Washington-based Tax Foundation.
Consumers in Tennessee pay an average local tax of 2.45 percent in addition to a statewide levy of 7 percent, the foundation, a nonprofit research group, said in a report yesterday.
Arkansas had the second-highest combined rate at 9.19 percent, followed by Louisiana at 8.89 percent.
Among other key findings in the report:
- Forty-five states collect sales taxes and 38 states collect local sales taxes.
- Virginia, Arkansas, Ohio, and Maine recently raised sales tax rates.
- Arizona, Kansas, and the District of Columbia have recently cut
- sales tax rates.
While California has the highest statewide sales tax at 7.5 percent, the population-weighted average of local levies is just 0.91 percent, bringing the total to 8.41 percent, or eighth-highest.
Delaware, New Hampshire and Oregon have no state or local sales taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Tennessee, with 6.5 million residents, is one of nine states with no tax on wages.
Tennessee collected $4.8 billion in state sales taxes between July 1 and Feb. 28, equal to about two-thirds of total revenue, according to data released March 12. Collections increased 3.3 percent compared with the same period in the previous fiscal year.
Debt sold by Tennessee and its localities earned 3.03 percent this year through March 17, compared with the 3.36 percent in the broader $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market, Barclays Plc data show.
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