Guide · Updated November 2026
Texas sales tax rate in 2026
The Texas state sales and use tax is 6.25%. Local governments may add up to 2%, making 8.25% the highest combined rate in the state. Most grocery food, prescription drugs and many services are outside the tax entirely.
One state rate, four local layers
Texas collects sales tax in layers. Chapter 151 of the Tax Code imposes the 6.25% state tax on retail sales, leases and rentals of tangible personal property and on a defined list of taxable services. On top of that, three kinds of local government may adopt their own sales tax: home-rule cities under chapter 321, counties under chapter 323, and metropolitan transit authorities under chapter 322. Special purpose districts add a fourth layer under chapters 323 and 324.
All of those local layers share a single 2% allowance. Whoever got there first holds the room. In practice that means a city that adopted the full 2% leaves nothing for a county or transit authority, and a district created later cannot levy until another unit gives up part of its rate. The result is a patchwork: of the 2,998 taxing areas in the Comptroller's current rate file, 1,600 are at the 8.25% ceiling and 9 charge the state rate alone.
| Combined rate | Taxing areas | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| 8.2500% | 1,600 | Local room fully used |
| 8.0000% | 56 | 1.75% local |
| 7.7500% | 155 | 1.5% local |
| 7.2500% | 194 | 1.0% local |
| 6.7500% | 958 | 0.5% local — typically county-only areas |
| 6.2500% | 9 | State rate only |
The 6.75% row is the interesting one: 958 areas collect half a point, which is the county sales tax most Texas counties adopted for property tax relief. If you sell into a small city in one of those counties, the correct rate is 6.75%, not 8.25% — a difference of $15 on a $1,000 sale.
What the tax applies to
Texas taxes tangible personal property and a closed list of services. The list matters more than the rate for most businesses, because a service that is not enumerated is not taxable no matter what the invoice says.
- Taxable goods: general merchandise, furniture, electronics, clothing, prepared food, most software delivered on media or by download.
- Exempt goods: most food and food products for home consumption, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, agricultural items, and items sold under a valid resale or exemption certificate.
- Taxable services: debt collection, insurance services, telecommunications, security services, certain repairs to tangible property, and other services listed in chapter 151.
- Untaxed services: legal, accounting, consulting and most other professional services.
Remote sellers
Out-of-state sellers with total Texas revenue above $500,000 in the preceding twelve calendar months must register and collect Texas tax, under the Comptroller's remote seller rule. Below that line the buyer owes use tax instead. Marketplace sellers are handled separately: the marketplace provider collects on sales it facilitates.
Permits, filing and the discount
A seller obtains a sales tax permit from the Comptroller before making the first taxable sale; the permit number also covers use tax. Reporting frequency — monthly, quarterly or annually — is assigned by the Comptroller based on the tax you remit. Returns are due the 20th of the month following the reporting period, and a timely-filer discount applies to correctly reported tax.
Check your own city
The sales tax calculator reads the Comptroller's city rate file and breaks the combined rate into its city, county, transit and district parts.