The sales tax in North Carolina is made up of a fixed state rate and local (city or county) rates. There are also special use taxes that are added to these amounts to obtain the sales tax rate in certain purchase situations.
The North Carolina state sales tax rate is currently 5.75%. If you live in the Raleigh area, you are in Wake County and there is another 2% tacked on for a total of 7.75%.
But if you’re just visiting North Carolina, we’re gonna need a little more of your money. There is a 6% occupancy sales tax that is added if you stay in a hotel. That’s a total tax of 13.5% for your hotel room. Ouch!
And if you go out to eat, North Carolina thinks you should pay a little more too. There is a 1% meal tax added for all food purchases in restaurants. Eating out will cost you a total of 8.75% in sales tax.
North Carolina Sales Tax Rates
- 5.75% State
- 2.00% Local
- 6.00% Hotel
- 1.00% Meal
Hope I didn’t make that sound too negative. I personally don’t care much for taxes, so it’s a little hard for me to dress it up and make it sound nice.
But there is some good news when it comes to sales tax in North Carolina. Sales tax is only a portion of the total tax burden of our citizens. Since I sell houses the other tax I get asked about is property tax.
The property tax is relatively low in North Carolina. Property tax on a $200,000 home is about $2,000 per year. As a general rule of thumb, you can estimate about 1% for property tax.
The overall cost of living is reasonably low here. The state individual income tax rate is between 6 – 7.75% depending on income. When you add it all up, especially the property tax piece, the total North Carolina tax burden is lower than many states.
