Idaho Sales Tax Calculator

A flat 6% almost everywhere

Idaho's sales tax rate is 6.00%, and its use tax rate is also 6.00%. Counties and most cities, including Boise, do not add a general sales tax, which is why the average combined rate is only 6.03%. The exception is a group of resort cities that voters have allowed to add a local option tax, pushing the highest combined rate to 9.00%.

The Idaho State Tax Commission collects the state tax. Local option taxes are decided by voters in each community, and the cities themselves answer questions about them.

Resort city local option taxes

The Tax Commission lists these cities as having local option sales taxes: Bellevue, Bonners Ferry, Cascade, Crouch, Donnelly, Driggs, Hailey, Harrison, Irwin, Kellogg, Ketchum, Lava Hot Springs, Mackay, McCall, Ponderay, Riggins, Salmon, Sandpoint, Stanley, Sun Valley, Swan Valley, Tetonia and Victor.

Coverage varies. Some of these cities apply their tax only to lodging, alcohol by the drink and restaurant food, aimed at visitors. Others apply it to everything subject to the state sales tax. If you are buying something expensive in a resort town, ask the city or the seller which purchases its local tax covers.

Groceries are taxed, but there is a food tax credit

Idaho is one of the few states that applies its full sales tax to groceries. To make up for it, the state offers a food tax credit (formerly called the grocery credit) on the income tax return. For most residents it is $155 per person, including eligible dependents. A family of four can claim $620.00.

That credit roughly cancels out the tax on $2,583.33 of groceries per person per year at 6.00%. Residents who are not required to file a return can still claim the credit, using Form 24, 40 or 43 depending on their situation. The Tax Commission also allows up to $250 per person instead of $155 if you submit receipts showing the sales tax you paid on food.

What is and is not in the taxable price

The Tax Commission's basics guide spells out what goes into the taxable price, which helps when checking an Idaho receipt.

• Taxable even if listed separately: freight charged to the retailer, credit card and gift card service fees, assembly fees, clothing alterations charged at the time of sale.
• Not taxable if listed separately: shipping directly to the buyer, installation labor, repair labor, optional insurance, and U.S. federal excise taxes the retailer charges at the time of sale.
• Trade-ins reduce the taxable price when the seller adds the traded item to its inventory.
• Manufacturer rebates do not reduce the taxable price (except motor vehicle rebates paid to the dealer); store coupons do. Interest, carrying and financing charges listed separately are not taxable.

Worked example: a trade-in with delivery

The Tax Commission's own example: Donna buys a range for $800.00, gets a $250.00 trade-in allowance for her old range, and pays $25.00 for delivery. The taxable amount is $550.00 ($800.00 minus the trade-in; delivery is not taxed), so the tax is $33.00 at 6.00%. Without the trade-in rule, she would have paid $49.50 on the full $825.00.

To reverse an Idaho receipt outside resort cities, divide by 1.06. A $159.00 total means a $150.00 price and $9.00 of tax.

Use tax on online and out-of-state purchases

You owe Idaho use tax on goods used or stored in Idaho if the seller did not charge sales tax, or if you paid less than 6.00% to another state. That covers goods bought online, by phone, by mail order or while travelling. If you paid another state's sales tax at a lower rate, the Tax Commission gives credit for it and you owe Idaho the difference.

Shopping across the border: Oregon, Washington and Montana

Idaho borders two states with no general sales tax, Oregon and Montana, and Washington, whose average combined rate of 9.57% is well above Idaho's. Driving to Oregon or Montana to buy something does not avoid Idaho tax if you bring it home: Idaho use tax applies to goods used or stored in Idaho when you paid less than 6.00% sales tax.

Example: you buy a $1,800.00 snowblower in Oregon and bring it to your home in Coeur d'Alene. No sales tax is charged, so you owe Idaho use tax of $108.00. If you had bought it in Washington and paid that state's tax at a rate higher than 6.00%, you would owe Idaho nothing extra.

Discounts and coupons in Idaho

Store coupons and price reductions the retailer absorbs reduce the taxable price, and so do discounts for good customers or a particular trade, such as a lumber yard discount for contractors. Prompt-payment discounts do not: if you get 2% off for paying an invoice early, tax is still figured on the full price. Manufacturer rebates do not reduce it either, with the exception of motor vehicle rebates paid to the dealer.

Worked example: shipping and freight charges

How shipping is handled changes the tax. If you buy a $500.00 table and the store charges a separately stated $30.00 to ship it directly to your home, only the $500.00 is taxed: $30.00. If instead the store adds a $30.00 freight charge for getting the table to its own shop, that charge is taxable even if it is listed separately, so the tax is $31.80.