On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of California, we aim to educate you on the differences that occur throughout the state so you get a better understanding of it in regards to whether you may have:

  • Have taken a new job in the are
  • Applied for a new school
  • Opened a new bank account in the state of California
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in California?

In the map of California that is pictured below there are a total of 58 countries that are within the state. You can go directly to the page and see which area has the highest and lowest sales tax in your county of choice.

Alameda Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Contra Costa DelNorte El Dorado Fresno Glenn Humboldt Imperial Inyo Kern Kings Lake Lassen LosAngeles Madera Marin Mariposa Mendocino Merced Modoc Mono Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento SanBenito San Bernardino SanDiego San Francisco SanJoaquin San LuisObispo San Mateo Santa Barbara SantaClara Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Stanislaus Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yolo Yuba
The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 6% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 4.75% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of California is 8.492%,
  • the highest is within the Alameda County that consists of Hayward, San Leandro, Alameda, Union City, Newark and Albany and this equates to 10.75% sales tax,
  • the lowest sales tax is in the Markleeville, Susanville, Westwood, Janesville, Mcarthur, Herlong, Doyle, Standish, Susanville, Termo, Alturas, Cedarville, Adin, Canby, Likely, Lookout, Lake City, Eagleville County, which includes cities like Holly Grove, Roe and Monroe and the sales tax in these areas total to 7.25%

This is a brief overview, and we suggest that you go directly to the page if you wish to get a clearer image of the different ranges of sale tax in a particular county. Please note that the ones that have an asterisk means they are below the usual county level of sales tax.

How to calculate your own sales tax in the state of California.

So, what does this mean for you, if you are looking into how much sales tax you are going to charged dependant on what sort of county you are residing or working out of. You can go ahead and use a sales tax calculator which will give you a section that is exampled below.

$
-or- Specify Sales Tax Rate
-or- Specify ZIP Code
%

 

You do need to know the purchase ZIP code and purchase amount in order to get an accurate figure. For an example we will use the amount of $400 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.

In Hayward, CA with the highest sales tax of 10.75% would mean that your $400 purchase would incur a $43 sales tax, taking the total amount to $443.

Whereas in Los Angeles, CA the sales tax is only 9.5% and a $400 purchase would equate to $38 tax, taking the total to $438.

The sales tax calculator makes it as easy as it can be to find out what sort of sales tax you will be charged by simply adding the amount and the ZIP code. Though there might be some purchases that are exempt from sales taxes or have some special leniency which do need to be taken into consideration.

City Sales Tax Rate Zip-code Population
Los Angeles 9.50% 90002, 90003, 90004, 90005, 90006, 90007, 90008, 90010, 90011, 90012, 90013, 90014, 90015, 90016, 90017, 90018, 90019, 90020, 90021, 90023, 90024, 90025, 90026, 90027, 90028, 90029, 90030, 90031, 90032, 90033, 90034, 90035, 90036, 90037, 90038, 90039, 90041, 90042, 90043, 90044, 90045, 90046, 90047, 90048, 90049, 90050, 90051, 90052, 90053, 90054, 90055, 90057, 90059, 90060, 90061, 90062, 90064, 90065, 90066, 90067, 90068, 90070, 90071, 90072, 90074, 90075, 90076, 90077, 90078, 90079, 90081, 90082, 90083, 90084, 90086, 90087, 90088, 90089, 90093, 90096, 90099 1452511
San Diego 7.75% 92101, 92102, 92103, 92104, 92105, 92106, 92107, 92108, 92109, 92110, 92111, 92112, 92113, 92114, 92115, 92116, 92117, 92119, 92120, 92121, 92122, 92123, 92124, 92126, 92127, 92128, 92129, 92130, 92131, 92132, 92134, 92135, 92136, 92137, 92138, 92139, 92140, 92142, 92145, 92147, 92149, 92150, 92152, 92153, 92154, 92159, 92160, 92161, 92163, 92164, 92165, 92166, 92167, 92168, 92169, 92170, 92171, 92172, 92174, 92175, 92176, 92177, 92179, 92182, 92187, 92191, 92192, 92193, 92195, 92196, 92197, 92198, 92199 958774
San Francisco 8.50% 94110, 94112, 94114, 94115, 94116, 94117, 94118, 94121, 94122, 94123, 94124, 94127, 94129, 94131, 94132, 94134, 94143, 94146, 94147, 94153, 94154, 94159, 94171, 94188 486592
Fresno 8.35% 93650, 93701, 93702, 93703, 93704, 93705, 93706, 93707, 93708, 93709, 93710, 93711, 93712, 93714, 93715, 93716, 93717, 93718, 93720, 93721, 93722, 93724, 93726, 93727, 93728, 93729, 93730, 93740, 93741, 93744, 93747, 93750, 93755, 93760, 93761, 93764, 93765, 93771, 93772, 93773, 93774, 93775, 93776, 93777, 93778, 93779, 93786, 93790, 93791, 93792, 93793, 93794, 93844, 93888 361753
Long Beach 10.25% 90801, 90802, 90803, 90804, 90805, 90806, 90807, 90808, 90810, 90813, 90814, 90815, 90822, 90840, 90844, 90846, 90853 343055
Bakersfield 8.25% 93301, 93304, 93305, 93306, 93307, 93309, 93311, 93312, 93313, 93384, 93385, 93387, 93389, 93390 303256
Oakland 10.25% 94601, 94602, 94603, 94604, 94605, 94606, 94607, 94609, 94610, 94611, 94612, 94613, 94614, 94615, 94618, 94619, 94621, 94622, 94623, 94624, 94661, 94666 278696
Anaheim 7.75% 92801, 92802, 92803, 92804, 92805, 92806, 92807, 92808, 92809, 92814, 92815, 92816, 92817, 92825, 92899 267585
Santa Ana 9.25% 92701, 92702, 92703, 92704, 92705, 92706, 92707, 92711, 92712, 92735, 92799 267159
Riverside 8.75% 92501, 92502, 92503, 92504, 92505, 92506, 92507, 92508, 92513, 92514, 92516, 92517, 92521, 92522 242402
Stockton 9.00% 95201, 95202, 95203, 95204, 95205, 95206, 95207, 95208, 95209, 95210, 95211, 95213, 95219, 95267, 95269, 95297 214744
Chula Vista 8.75% 91910, 91911, 91912, 91913, 91914, 91915, 91921 194721
Fremont 10.25% 94536, 94537, 94538, 94539, 94555 178340
Oxnard 9.25% 93030, 93031, 93032, 93033, 93034, 93035, 93036 168212
Fontana 7.75% 92331, 92334, 92335, 92336, 92337 161831
Santa Rosa 9.25% 95401, 95402, 95403, 95404, 95405, 95406, 95407, 95409 160618
Irvine 7.75% 92602, 92603, 92604, 92606, 92612, 92614, 92616, 92617, 92618, 92619, 92620, 92623, 92697 159661
Huntington Beach 7.75% 92605, 92615, 92646, 92647, 92648, 92649 158209
San Bernardino 8.00% 92401, 92402, 92403, 92404, 92405, 92406, 92407, 92408, 92410, 92411, 92412, 92413, 92415, 92418, 92427 154252
Modesto 7.88% 95350, 95351, 95352, 95353, 95354, 95355, 95356, 95397 149053
Oceanside 8.25% 92049, 92051, 92052, 92054, 92056, 92057, 92058 146959
Moreno Valley 7.75% 92551, 92552, 92553, 92555, 92556, 92557 135196
Hayward 10.75% 94540, 94541, 94542, 94543, 94544, 94545, 94557 134360
Glendale 10.25% 91201, 91202, 91203, 91204, 91205, 91206, 91207, 91208, 91209, 91210, 91221, 91222, 91225, 91226 133991
Garden Grove 8.75% 92840, 92841, 92842, 92843, 92844, 92845, 92846 131458
Rancho Cucamonga 7.75% 91701, 91729, 91730, 91737, 91739 129593
Escondido 7.75% 92025, 92026, 92027, 92029, 92030, 92033, 92046 129538
Torrance 9.50% 90501, 90503, 90504, 90505, 90507, 90508, 90510 129097
Elk Grove 7.75% 95624, 95757, 95758, 95759 125530
Ontario 7.75% 91761, 91762, 91764 125364
Lancaster 10.25% 93534, 93535, 93536, 93539, 93584 121623
Salinas 9.25% 93901, 93902, 93905, 93906, 93912, 93915 119907
Sunnyvale 9.13% 94085, 94086, 94087, 94088, 94089 118823
Van Nuys 9.50% 91401, 91404, 91405, 91406, 91407, 91408, 91409, 91411, 91470, 91482, 91496 117125
Pasadena 10.25% 91101, 91102, 91103, 91104, 91105, 91106, 91107, 91109, 91114, 91115, 91116, 91117, 91121, 91123, 91124, 91125, 91126, 91129, 91182, 91184, 91185, 91188, 91189, 91199 116540
Palmdale 10.25% 93550, 93551, 93552, 93590, 93599 115415
North Hollywood 9.50% 91601, 91602, 91603, 91605, 91606, 91609, 91611, 91612, 91615, 91618 112305
Corona 8.75% 92877, 92878, 92879, 92881, 92882 110791
Orange 7.75% 92856, 92857, 92859, 92862, 92863, 92864, 92865, 92866, 92867, 92868, 92869 110764
Pomona 10.25% 91766, 91767, 91768, 91769 107488
Simi Valley 7.25% 93062, 93063, 93065, 93094, 93099 106656
Fullerton 7.75% 92831, 92832, 92833, 92834, 92835, 92836, 92837, 92838 102843
Visalia 8.50% 93277, 93278, 93279, 93290, 93291, 93292 99473
Roseville 7.75% 95661, 95678, 95747 99081
Concord 9.75% 94518, 94519, 94520, 94521, 94522, 94524 98380
Compton 10.25% 90220, 90221, 90222, 90223, 90224 92070
Vallejo 8.38% 94589, 94590, 94591, 94592 90827
Ventura 7.75% 93001, 93002, 93003, 93004, 93005, 93006, 93007, 93009 90468
Temecula 8.75% 92589, 92590, 92591, 92592, 92593 89811
Carlsbad 7.75% 92008, 92009, 92010, 92011, 92013, 92018 88936

Why do I need to collect sales tax in California?

You will need to collect sales tax if you have any sort of nexus there, and what this means is that if you have assets that are physical or economic then you need to do this.

Physical meaning having a tangible activity or some sort of presence in any of the states of California, economic nexus is simply passing the states’ economic threshold for total revenue, or the maximum number of transactions that can occur in the period of time within the state.

Two easy ways to see if you have either a physical or economic nexus in any of the counties is the following:
Physical:

  • Tangible personal property
  • Business assets or property
  • Own, renting properties
  • Made more than $500,000 in a service or content delivery in the state

Economic:

  • Made more than $100,000 in sales annually
  • More than 200 transactions in the last calendar year

How do I get a sales tax permit?

The main way to go about this is to register online at the California Business Gateway. Follow the steps that are presented to you and ensure that you have the following to hand to use as information:

  • Business identification information
  • Business entity
  • Location/s that you will be conducting this from
  • Date you will start collecting California sales tax from a business/property
  • NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification System.)

What is the best way to file sales taxes?

Before you think of doing anything else there are three things that we recommend that you do in order to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.

First of all, find out how much tax you owe (remember the sales tax calculator we mentioned before) so that you know how much you need to pay the state at the end. Second is get onto the California Department Of Taxation ready to submit them, and third have the money ready so you can make the payment straight away.

There are two main options as well to filing and paying your California sales tax, these are:

  • Filing online. This is where merchants are required to file all of their sales taxes through the department of taxation in the state of California, you can also pay your taxes on this platform, so it is one to keep close to you for future reference.
  • Filing by mail. Simply fill out the form UST-1, but this is not the recommended way of filing your taxes due to the possibilities of them getting lost in the post and then it could mean that you are subject to late fees if they are not filed within the allotted time.

We hope this document was able to allow you to feel more confident when it comes to sales tax in the state of California depending on where you operate out of.