On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Wisconsin, 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 Wisconsin
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Wisconsin?

In the map of Wisconsin that is pictured below there are a total of 88 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.

Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond du Lac Forest Grant Green GreenLake Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee LaCrosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette Menominee Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood
The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 5% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 1.75% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Wisconsin is 5.46%,
  • the highest is within the Sauk County that consists of Baraboo, Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells, Prairie Du Sac, Sauk City, Spring Green, La Valle, North Freedom, Merrimac, Plain, Loganville, Lake Delton, Hillpoint, Rock Springs, Lime Ridge and this equates to 6.75% sales tax,
  • the lowest sales tax is in the Manitowoc, Racine, Waukesha and Winnebago County and the sales tax in these areas total to 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 Wisconsin.

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 $900 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.

In Wisconsin Dells, WI with the highest sales tax of 6.75% would mean that your $900 purchase would incur a $60,75 sales tax, taking the total amount to $960,75.

Whereas in Milwaukee, WI the sales tax is only 5.5% and a $900 purchase would equate to $49.5 tax, taking the total to $949.5.

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
Milwaukee 5.50% 53201, 53202, 53203, 53204, 53205, 53206, 53207, 53208, 53209, 53210, 53211, 53212, 53215, 53216, 53217, 53218, 53219, 53221, 53222, 53223, 53224, 53225, 53233, 53234, 53237, 53259, 53274, 53278, 53288, 53290, 53293, 53295 475661
Madison 5.50% 53701, 53702, 53703, 53704, 53705, 53706, 53707, 53708, 53711, 53713, 53714, 53715, 53716, 53717, 53718, 53719, 53725, 53726, 53744, 53777, 53783, 53788, 53791 212346
Racine 5.00% 53401, 53402, 53403, 53404, 53405, 53406, 53408 104205
Green Bay 5.50% 54302, 54303, 54304, 54305, 54307, 54308, 54311, 54344 97196
Kenosha 5.50% 53140, 53141, 53142, 53143, 53144 87531
Waukesha 5.00% 53186, 53187, 53188, 53189 81749
Oshkosh 5.00% 54901, 54902, 54903, 54904, 54906 61875
Eau Claire 5.50% 54701, 54702, 54703 61848
Janesville 5.50% 53545, 53546, 53547, 53548 61284
Appleton 5.50% 54911, 54912, 54915, 54919 58487
Sheboygan 5.50% 53081, 53082, 53083 54071
Fond Du Lac 5.50% 54935, 54936, 54937 50864

Wausau

5.50% 54401, 54402, 54403 46520

La Crosse

5.50% 54601, 54602, 54603 45428

West Bend

5.50% 53090, 53095 42758

Brookfield

5.00% 53005, 53008, 53045 39012

Beloit

5.50% 53511, 53512 38100

Neenah

5.00% 54956, 54957 37234

New Berlin

5.00% 53146, 53151 36784

De Pere

5.50% 54115 34736

Manitowoc

5.00% 54220 33528

Menomonee Falls

5.00% 53051, 53052 32430

Sun Prairie

5.50% 53590, 53596 31182

Wisconsin Rapids

5.50% 54494, 54495 30224

Oconomowoc

5.00% 53066 30069

Franklin

5.50% 53132 29520

Oak Creek

5.50% 53154 29273

Chippewa Falls

5.50% 54729, 54774 26758

Hudson

5.50% 54016 26369

Stevens Point

5.50% 54482, 54492 26229

Watertown

5.50% 53094, 53098 25398

Burlington

5.00% 53105 24797

Superior

5.50% 54880 23716

Muskego

5.00% 53150 22907

Marshfield

5.50% 54449 22768

Pewaukee

5.00% 53072 22018

Middleton

5.50% 53562 21892

Kaukauna

5.50% 54130 21782

Menasha

5.00% 54952 21502

Onalaska

5.50% 54650 20299

Thiensville

5.50% 53092 19622

Beaver Dam

5.50% 53916 19540

Hartford

5.50% 53027 19325

Hartland

5.00% 53029 18493

Verona

5.50% 53593 17746

South Milwaukee

5.50% 53172 17557

Rhinelander

6.00% 54501 17542

Germantown

5.50% 53022 17426

Stoughton

5.50% 53589 17307

Mukwonago

5.00% 53149 17162

Why do I need to collect sales tax in Wisconsin?

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 Wisconsin, 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 Milwaukee 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin, 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 Wisconsin depending on where you operate out of.