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

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Tennessee?

In the map of Tennessee is pictured below there are a total of 95 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.

Anderson Bedford Benton Bledsoe Blount Bradley Campbell Cannon Carroll Carter Cheatham Chester Claiborne Clay Cocke Coffee Crockett Cumberland Davidson Decatur DeKalb Dickson Dyer Fayette Fentress Franklin Gibson Giles Grainger Greene Grundy Hamblen Hamilton Hancock Hardeman Hardin Hawkins Haywood Henderson Henry Hickman Houston Humphreys Jackson Jefferson Johnson Knox Lake Lauderdale Lawrence Lewis Lincoln Loudon Macon Madison Marion Marshall Maury McMinn McNairy Meigs Monroe Montgomery Moore Morgan Obion Overton Perry Pickett Polk Putnam Rhea Roane Robertson Rutherford Scott Sequatchie Sevier Shelby Smith Stewart Sullivan Sumner Tipton Trousdale Unicoi Union VanBuren Warren Washington Wayne Weakley White williamson Wilson
The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 7% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 2.75% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Tennessee is 9.547%,
  • the highest is within the Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Blount, Bradley, Carroll, Carter, Cheatham, Chester, Cocke, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, De Kalb County that consists of Smithville, Alexandria, Crossville, Crossville, Crab Orchard, Bells, Alamo, Friendship, Tullahoma, Manchester, Newport, Cosby, Parrottsville, Celina, Moss, Henderson, Enville, Pegram, Elizabethton, Roan Mountain, Mc Kenzie, Huntingdon, Cedar Grove, Cleveland, Mc Donald, Maryville, Louisville, Camden, Big Sandy, Shelbyville, Bell Buckle, Oak Ridge, Clinton and this equates to 9.75% sales tax,
  • the lowest sales tax is in the Johnson which includes cities like Mountain City, Butler, Shady Valley, Trade, Laurel Bloomery and the sales tax in these areas total to 8.5%

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 Tennessee.

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 $800 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.

In Crossville, TN with the highest sales tax of 9.75% would mean that your $800 purchase would incur a $78 sales tax, taking the total amount to $878.

Whereas in Mountain City, TN the sales tax is only 8.5% and a $800 purchase would equate to $68 tax, taking the total to $868.

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
Memphis 9.75% 37501, 37544, 38101, 38103, 38104, 38105, 38106, 38107, 38108, 38109, 38111, 38112, 38113, 38114, 38115, 38116, 38117, 38118, 38119, 38120, 38122, 38124, 38126, 38127, 38128, 38130, 38131, 38132, 38134, 38136, 38137, 38141, 38152, 38157, 38161, 38166, 38167, 38168, 38173, 38174, 38175, 38177, 38181, 38182, 38186, 38187, 38188, 38190, 38193, 38197 469315
Nashville 9.25% 37201, 37202, 37203, 37204, 37205, 37206, 37207, 37208, 37209, 37210, 37211, 37212, 37213, 37214, 37215, 37216, 37217, 37218, 37219, 37220, 37221, 37222, 37224, 37227, 37228, 37229, 37232, 37234, 37235, 37236, 37238, 37240, 37242, 37243, 37246, 37250 327225
Knoxville 9.25% 37901, 37902, 37909, 37912, 37914, 37915, 37916, 37917, 37918, 37919, 37920, 37921, 37927, 37928, 37929, 37930, 37939, 37940, 37950, 37995, 37996, 37997 172212
Chattanooga 9.25% 37401, 37402, 37403, 37404, 37405, 37406, 37407, 37408, 37409, 37410, 37411, 37414, 37415, 37416, 37419, 37421, 37422, 37424, 37450 131274
Clarksville 9.50% 37040, 37041, 37042, 37043, 37044 117454
Murfreesboro 9.75% 37128, 37129, 37130, 37131, 37132, 37133 108577
Jackson 9.75% 38301, 38302, 38303, 38305, 38308 65917
Maryville 9.75% 37801, 37803, 37804 64494
Cordova 9.75% 38016, 38018, 38088 64324
Franklin 9.75% 37064, 37065, 37067, 37068 61255
Antioch 9.25% 37011, 37013 60289
Kingsport 9.50% 37660, 37664, 37665, 37669 56215
Johnson City 9.50% 37601, 37602, 37604, 37605, 37614 51695
Hendersonville 9.25% 37075, 37077 50478

Cleveland

9.75% 37311, 37312, 37320, 37364 44661

Columbia

9.75% 38401, 38402 43764

Collierville

9.75% 38017, 38027 42702

Brentwood

9.25% 37024 42407

Smyrna

9.75% 37167 40372

Mount Juliet

9.75% 37121, 37122 40305

Morristown

9.75% 37813, 37814, 37815, 37816 38434

Germantown

9.75% 38138, 38139, 38183 38144

Gallatin

9.25% 37066 34739

Hixson

9.25% 37343 34246

Lebanon

9.75% 37087, 37088 33099

Greeneville

9.75% 37743, 37745 32748

Arlington

9.75% 38002 30998

Bristol

9.25% 37620, 37621, 37625 30545

Hermitage

9.25% 37076 28410

Madison

9.25% 37115, 37116 28358

Cookeville

9.75% 38501, 38502, 38503, 38505 26795

Crossville

9.75% 38558, 38571, 38572 25987

La Vergne

9.75% 37086, 37089 25682

Shelbyville

9.75% 37160, 37161 25170

Ooltewah

9.25% 37363 25051

Goodlettsville

9.25% 37070, 37072 24940

Oak Ridge

9.75% 37830, 37831 24761

Springfield

9.75% 37172 23898

Mcminnville

9.75% 37110 23490

Spring Hill

9.75% 37174 22942

Jonesborough

9.50% 37659 22261

Dyersburg

9.75% 38024, 38025 21215

Dickson

9.75% 37055, 37056 21189

Powell

9.25% 37849 21164

Tullahoma

9.75% 37388 20304

Manchester

9.75% 37355 19573

Old Hickory

9.25% 37138 19305

Athens

9.75% 37303, 37371 19201

Portland

9.25% 37148 18152

Sparta

9.25% 38583 17899

Why do I need to collect sales tax in Tennessee?

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