North Carolina Sales Tax

North Carolina Sales Tax Guide (2026)

4.75% at state level plus county rates, and an unusually broad reach into repair, maintenance and installation work that extends even to real property.[1]

5 min read • Reviewed by Tax Advisory Team • Verified • Sources: NCDOR & N.C.G.S.
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Quick Facts

Sales Tax at a Glance

State rate
4.75% [1]
County rate range
2%–3% [1]
Combined rate range
6.75%–8.25% [1]
Transit tax
0.5% in four counties [1]
Qualifying food
2% local rate only [2]
Economic nexus
$100k, no transaction test [3]
Transaction test repealed
Jul 1, 2024 [4]
SaaS
Not taxable [5]
Registration fee
None [6]
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Repair, maintenance and installation work is taxable, including on real property

North Carolina taxes repair, maintenance and installation services at the full combined rate, and unusually it extends that to services performed on real property rather than stopping at goods.[7]

Cleaning, washing & polishing Calibrating, refinishing & restoring Troubleshooting & inspection reports Installing carpet, flooring, windows & cabinets Separately stating installation does not help Capital improvements are carved out
Two de minimis figures, easily confused. A mixed real property contract uses a 25% test, while a mixed service contract on real property uses 10%. Applying one figure to the other regime produces the wrong answer.[7]
Estimate

North Carolina sales tax calculator

North Carolina · state rate 4.75%
Local rates are county-level; North Carolina has no city sales tax.
Rate applied–
Estimated sales tax–
Total with tax–

Estimate only. A separate 7% combined general rate applies to telecommunications, video programming, spirituous liquor and certain utilities.[1] Talk to CrownGlobe about service taxability.

Rates & Registration

North Carolina Sales Tax Rates, Nexus & the county structure

North Carolina rate components

State general rate4.75%
Standard county taxes2%
Optional additional county tax0.25%
Transit tax, four counties0.5%
Qualifying food2% total

There is no city sales tax in North Carolina, so a town straddling two counties takes different rates by delivery address.[1]

Who must register

Either trigger applies: economic nexus at more than $100,000 in gross sales sourced to North Carolina in the previous or current calendar year, or any physical presence. The 200-transaction test was repealed effective 1 July 2024.[4]

Mecklenburg moved to 8.25% on 1 July 2026 after adding an additional 1% county tax, making it the state’s highest rate. The additional 1% does not reach qualifying food, which stays at 2%.[8]

Compliance

Sales Tax Registration and Filing

The Certificate of Registration is issued free of charge.

How to register

  • Confirm nexus→
  • NCDOR online registration→
  • Certificate issued free→
  • Map service taxability→
  • File electronically

The Department warns that third-party websites charging a fee to obtain this registration are not authorised by it.[6]

Filing & due dates

FrequencyMonthly liabilityDue
QuarterlyUnder $100Last day after quarter
Monthly$100 to $20,00020th of next month
Monthly with prepayment$20,000 or more20th, plus prepayment

Failure to file costs 5% of the tax per month up to 25%. The failure-to-pay penalty is a flat 5% through 30 June 2027, then becomes 2% per month capped at 10%.[9]

Pricing

Sales Tax & Nexus Pricing

Multi Tax Filing – $50 Per State/Month

ServiceWhat’s Included
Multi-state registrationNexus tracking, permit setup, and state agency coordination.
Monthly filingSales tax returns filed in every registered state.
Exemption & audit supportCertificate handling and notice response.
Get Started with Multi-State Filing
Taxability

Taxable vs. exempt

North Carolina taxes tangible goods, prewritten software, digital property and a broad class of repair and installation services, while leaving hosted software outside the base.[1]

Generally taxable

  • Tangible retail goodsG.S. 105-164.4(a)(1)
  • Prewritten software, however deliveredG.S. 105-164.3
  • Certain digital propertyG.S. 105-164.4(a)(1)b
  • Repair, maintenance & installation servicesG.S. 105-164.4(a)(1)c
  • Real property repair & maintenanceG.S. 105-164.4(a)(16)
  • Service contracts & admissionsG.S. 105-164.4I, 105-164.4G

Generally exempt

  • Qualifying food2% local rate only
  • SaaS & cloud-accessed softwareNo transfer to customer
  • Custom computer softwareG.S. 105-164.13(43)
  • Prescription drugs & medical devicesG.S. 105-164.13(12),(13)
  • Mill machineryG.S. 105-164.13(5e)
  • Capital improvement materialsG.S. 105-164.4H
Worth flagging: clothing is fully taxable in North Carolina. There is no apparel exemption, so sellers carrying a template from a neighbouring state that exempts clothing will under-collect on every garment.[10]
Reference

Glossary of key terms

Repair, maintenance and installation services
A statutory bundle covering cleaning, calibrating, troubleshooting, inspecting and installing, taxable on both goods and real property.
Real property contract
A contract to perform a capital improvement, under which the contractor pays tax on its own materials rather than collecting from the customer.
Affidavit of capital improvement
A document shifting liability to its issuer if a job later proves not to be a capital improvement.
Qualifying food
Groceries exempt from the state and transit rates but subject to a flat 2% local food rate statewide.
Combined general rate
A 7% substitute rate for telecommunications, video programming, liquor and certain utilities that does not vary by county.
Transit tax
A 0.5% local tax for public transportation, imposed in four counties and not applied to qualifying food.
FAQ

Sales Tax FAQs

4.75% at state level. County rates run from 2% to 3%, and four counties add a 0.5% transit tax, so combined rates range from 6.75% to 8.25%. Mecklenburg County reached 8.25% on 1 July 2026.

Yes, and unusually broadly. Repair, maintenance and installation services are taxable on tangible personal property, motor vehicles, certain digital property and real property. Installation charges are taxable even when separately stated.

Qualifying food is exempt from the 4.75% state rate, the transit tax and the optional county tax, but a flat 2% local food rate applies statewide. Candy, soft drinks, dietary supplements and prepared food take the full combined rate.

No. The Department has ruled that charges for accessing cloud-based software over the internet are not taxable where the software is not transferred to the customer. Prewritten software that is delivered, including electronically, remains taxable.

More than $100,000 in gross sales sourced to North Carolina in the previous or current calendar year. The 200-transaction alternative was repealed effective 1 July 2024, so any guidance still citing it is out of date.

Work performed to fulfil a real property contract for a capital improvement is outside the taxable repair category. The contractor is treated as the consumer of the materials and pays tax on its own purchases instead of collecting on the contract price.

Verification

Sources & methodology

  1. NCDOR – Current Sales & Use Tax Rates
  2. NCDOR – Food & Prepaid Meal Plans
  3. NCDOR – Remote Sales
  4. NCDOR – Directive SD-24-1
  5. NCDOR – SUPLR 2018-0005 SaaS
  6. NCDOR – Sales & Use Tax Registration
  7. NCDOR – Repair, Maintenance & Installation
  8. NCDOR – Mecklenburg Rate Increase Notice
  9. N.C.G.S. 105-236 – Penalties
  10. N.C.G.S. 105-164.13 – Exemptions
  11. N.C.G.S. 105-164.4 – Tax Imposed
  12. N.C.G.S. 105-164.4B – Sourcing
  13. NCDOR – Filing Frequency & Due Dates
  14. NCDOR – Remote Seller Compliance Notice
Methodology: Every rate, threshold and deadline is taken from the North Carolina Department of Revenue or the General Statutes directly. Private letter rulings are used only where the Department has published them, and are noted as fact-specific rather than binding precedent.
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