The Salt Lake ValleyHand-picked Salt Lake County happenings, straight to your inbox. No fluff, no spam, easy to leave.
If you sell in Salt Lake County, the rate you charge depends on which city the sale is made in, and Salt Lake City is a full point above Sandy. This guide lists the combined rate for each city from the Utah State Tax Commission chart in effect as of October 1, 2026, explains why a few cities run higher, and shows where to check before the next quarter starts.
The combined sales and use tax rate is 7.45% in most of Salt Lake County, including West Valley City, West Jordan, Sandy, South Jordan, Draper, Taylorsville, Millcreek and Herriman, per the Utah State Tax Commission chart in effect as of October 1, 2026. Salt Lake City is 8.45%, and Murray and South Salt Lake are 7.65%. Food and food ingredients are taxed at 3.0% statewide.
These rates come from the Utah State Tax Commission's Combined Sales and Use Tax Rates chart, headed "Rates In effect as of October 1, 2026." It is a 10-page PDF at files.tax.utah.gov, and the Salt Lake County rows, which all start with location code 18, sit on pages 5 and 6. A combined rate is one number: the state's share plus every county, city and transit line, added together. It is the percentage you put on a taxable sale.
The table below covers the cities where most businesses are located, plus a few unincorporated communities the chart lists. If your city is not here, the chart has a row for it:
| City | Tax Commission location code | Combined rate | Food and food ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 18-122 | 8.45% | 3.0% |
| Murray | 18-096 | 7.65% | 3.0% |
| South Salt Lake | 18-139 | 7.65% | 3.0% |
| West Valley City | 18-167 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| West Jordan | 18-155 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Sandy | 18-131 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| South Jordan | 18-138 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Draper | 18-039 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Taylorsville | 18-142 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Millcreek | 18-094 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Herriman | 18-060 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Riverton | 18-118 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Holladay | 18-065 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Cottonwood Heights | 18-020 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Midvale | 18-093 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Bluffdale | 18-019 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Kearns | 18-403 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Magna | 18-404 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Unincorporated Salt Lake County | 18-000 | 7.45% | 3.0% |
| Alta | 18-003 | 9.05% | 3.0% |
| Brighton | 18-010 | 8.55% | 3.0% |
Salt Lake City is 8.45% on the October 2026 chart, one full point above the 7.45% base that Sandy, Draper and West Valley City charge. The chart shows the city carrying two extra lines of 0.50% each on top of the standard county row. Two shops selling the same $100 item, one in Salt Lake City and one in Sandy, collect $108.45 and $107.45.
Murray and South Salt Lake each carry one extra 0.20% line, which puts them at 7.65%. If your address sits near a city line, the city on your business license is the one to confirm before you set the register. Our Murray business license guide and Salt Lake City business license guide cover how each city handles your address.
North Salt Lake is not in Salt Lake County despite the name. The chart lists it in the Davis County section, code 06-035, at 7.25%. That is an easy mix-up to make, so check the county before you copy a rate.
Below the city rows, the chart lists special districts and zones. Most of them copy the rate of the city they sit in, so a business inside one uses the same number. These are the rows worth knowing:
The 7.45% base is nine columns added together. The state takes 4.85%, and the local sales tax, county option, mass transit, mass transit fixed guideway and other transportation lines make up the remaining 2.60%. You do not need to calculate any of that to charge customers. The combined figure is what goes into your point-of-sale system or your Shopify tax settings. The columns matter at filing time, when they decide how the money is split.
Three rules from the chart's instructions come up for local owners. Food and food ingredients are taxed at 3.0% statewide: 1.75% state, 1.0% local option and 0.25% county option. A bakery in Holladay that sells loaves, mugs and gift cards needs one tax category for the bread and another for everything else. Sales of residential energy have the combined rate reduced by 2.85%. And transient room, short-term vehicle leasing, restaurant, telecommunications and municipal energy taxes are charged in addition to the combined rate, so hotels, restaurants and car-rental operators look at a second table on the same PDF.
The Tax Commission's Publication 25 covers which transactions are taxable. Read it before you assume your product falls on the 3.0% side.
The chart lists rates by location, so the question is which row your sale belongs to. For a shop, it is the city where the sale takes place, and the location code in the table above is how the Tax Commission identifies that row.
Online sellers get a different instruction. The chart says its rate tables should not be used by out-of-state sellers to source sales to Utah customers, who should use the ZIP+4 of the customer's address. The Tax Commission's page for that is tax.utah.gov/sales/non-nexus.
The Tax Commission posts the combined rate chart by quarter. The current one is dated October 1, 2026. A rate you copied in the spring may be out of date, and a search result that says 2026 may still be showing an older quarter's chart. Check the chart at tax.utah.gov/sales/rates before the first day of each quarter, and again for any city you sell into.
If you are starting a business, the rate is one of several things that depend on the city. Our business personal property tax guide covers the separate equipment statement that the Salt Lake County Assessor mails every winter.
A tax rate is not a marketing topic, but the price you advertise is. If your ad says $100 and the receipt in Salt Lake City says $108.45, customers notice. State that prices are before tax, and see where to advertise in Salt Lake City for the options and their published prices.
We publish The Salt Lake Valley, a free daily newsletter with more than 2,400 subscribers, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this knowing that. Monthly sponsor plans start at $149, and you can see them on our advertise page. A listing in our Local Directory is $49 a month.