On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Kentucky, 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 Kentucky job in the are
  • Applied for a Kentucky school
  • Opened a Kentucky bank account in the state of Kentucky
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Kentucky?

In the map of Kentucky is pictured below there are a total of 120 counties 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.

Adair Allen Anderson Ballard Barren Bath Bell Boone Bourbon Boyd Boyle Bracken Breathitt Breckinridge Bullitt Butler Caldwell Calloway Campbell Carlisle Carroll Carter Casey Christian Clark Clay Clinton Crittenden Cumberland Daviess Edmonson Elliott Estill Fayette Fleming Floyd Franklin Fulton Gallatin Garrard Grant Graves Grayson Green Greenup Hancock Hardin Harlan Harrison Hart Henderson Henry Hickman Hopkins Jackson Jefferson Jessamine Johnson Kenton Knott Knox LaRue Laurel Lawrence Lee Leslie Letcher Lewis Lincoln Livingston Logan Lyon McCracken McCreary McLean Madison Magoffin Marion Marshall Martin Mason Meade Menifee Mercer Metcalfe Monroe Montgomery Morgan Muhlenberg Nelson Nicholas Ohio Oldham Owen Owsley Pendleton Perry Pike Powell Pulaski Robertson Rockcastle Rowan Russell Scott Shelby Simpson Spencer Taylor Todd Trigg Trimble Union Warren Washington Wayne Webster Whitley Wolfe Woodford
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 0% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Kentucky is 6%,
  • In all County and cities the sales tax rates is equal and this equates to 6% sales tax,
  • 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 Kentucky.

    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 city with the highest population.

    In Louisville, KY with the sales tax of 7% would mean that your $400 purchase would incur a $28 sales tax, taking the total amount to $428.

    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
    Louisville 6.00% 40201, 40202, 40203, 40204, 40205, 40206, 40208, 40209, 40210, 40211, 40212, 40213, 40214, 40215, 40216, 40217, 40218, 40219, 40220, 40221, 40223, 40225, 40228, 40229, 40231, 40232, 40233, 40241, 40245, 40250, 40251, 40255, 40256, 40258, 40259, 40261, 40266, 40268, 40270, 40272, 40281, 40282, 40283, 40287, 40289, 40291, 40292, 40294, 40296 482846
    Lexington 6.00% 40502, 40503, 40504, 40505, 40506, 40507, 40508, 40509, 40510, 40511, 40512, 40513, 40514, 40515, 40516, 40517, 40522, 40523, 40524, 40526, 40533, 40536, 40544, 40546, 40550, 40555, 40574, 40575, 40576, 40577, 40578, 40579, 40580, 40581, 40582, 40583, 40588, 40591, 40598 219675
    Bowling Green 6.00% 42101, 42102, 42103, 42104 75119
    Owensboro 6.00% 42301, 42302, 42303 63449

    Florence

    6.00% 41022, 41042 41106

    Frankfort

    6.00% 40601, 40602, 40603, 40604, 40618, 40619, 40620, 40621, 40622 40720

    Richmond

    6.00% 40475, 40476 38852

    Elizabethtown

    6.00% 42701, 42702 38191

    Ft Mitchell

    6.00% 41017 34850

    Georgetown

    6.00% 40324 32541

    Nicholasville

    6.00% 40340, 40356 31743

    Hopkinsville

    6.00% 42240, 42241 31656

    Henderson

    6.00% 42419, 42420 29687

    Somerset

    6.00% 42501, 42503 28545

    Winchester

    6.00% 40391, 40392 28382

    London

    6.00% 40741, 40744 28283

    Shepherdsville

    6.00% 40165 26863

    Paducah

    6.00% 42001, 42002 23883

    Covington

    6.00% 41011, 41012, 41014, 41019 23502

    Erlanger

    6.00% 41018 23049

    Bardstown

    6.00% 40004 22978

    Glasgow

    6.00% 42141 22835

    Independence

    6.00% 41051 22044

    Madisonville

    6.00% 42431 20728

    Murray

    6.00% 42071 19797

    Corbin

    6.00% 40701 19687

    Versailles

    6.00% 40383 19344

    Berea

    6.00% 40403, 40404 18582

    Lawrenceburg

    6.00% 40342 18325

    Burlington

    6.00% 41005 18294

    Radcliff

    6.00% 40159, 40160 17929

    Campbellsville

    6.00% 42718 17818

    Crestwood

    6.00% 40014 17121

    Mayfield

    6.00% 42066 16982

    Latonia

    6.00% 41015 16948

    Danville

    6.00% 40422 16730

    Mount Sterling

    6.00% 40353 16521

    Mount Washington

    6.00% 40047 16308

    Shelbyville

    6.00% 40066 16009

    La Grange

    6.00% 40031, 40032 15818

    Benton

    6.00% 42025 15811

    Harrodsburg

    6.00% 40330 15164

    Union

    6.00% 41091 15060

    Prospect

    6.00% 40059 14862

    Ashland

    6.00% 41101, 41105 14565

    Alexandria

    6.00% 41001 14345

    Newport

    6.00% 41071, 41072 14293

    Monticello

    6.00% 42633 14080

    Paris

    6.00% 40361 13921

    Fort Campbell

    6.00% 42223 13815

    Why do I need to collect sales tax in Kentucky?

    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 Kentucky, 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky, 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 Kentucky depending on where you operate out of.