Kentucky Sales Tax: 6% Statewide, No Local Tax, Services

Kentucky has one sales tax rate and no city or county add-on, which makes the rate easy and the question of what is taxable the real work. Food and prescriptions are outside the tax, while a long list of services is inside it.

This guide sets out the rate, the exemptions the statutes name, the taxable services, use tax and the separate motor vehicle usage tax, using the Kentucky Department of Revenue pages and the Kentucky Revised Statutes read on 2 November 2026.

The Rate: 6% With No Local Add-On

Kentucky's Department of Revenue says sales and use tax is imposed at the rate of 6 percent of gross receipts or purchase price and that there are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky. So the 6% is the only sales tax rate to apply.

KRS 139.200 sets the same rate on the gross receipts from retail sales of tangible personal property and digital property, and from the furnishing of the services the statute lists. Digital property is taxed whether or not the buyer's right to access it is permanent.

What Is Not Taxed: Food, Prescriptions and Residential Utilities

Food. KRS 139.485 says food and food ingredients for human consumption are outside the tax. The statute then excludes alcoholic beverages, tobacco, candy, dietary supplements, soft drinks and prepared food from that definition, so those items are taxed. Prepared food generally means food sold heated, combined by the retailer, or sold with eating utensils provided by the retailer, with exceptions for bakery items and some manufactured foods. Food from vending machines is subject to the tax. Whether a particular product counts as candy or food is a matter for the Department's classification guidance and the statute.

Medical items. KRS 139.472 exempts a drug bought for a human being for which a prescription is required, an over-the-counter drug for which a prescription is issued, and insulin and diabetic supplies bought for private use, among other listed medical items. Grooming and hygiene products (soap, shampoo, toothpaste and similar) are not over-the-counter drugs under the statute, so they stay taxable.

Residential utilities. KRS 139.470 excludes sewer services, water and fuel sold to Kentucky residents for heating, cooking, lighting and other residential uses when purchased and declared as used in the resident's place of domicile. The statute also lists many other exempt transactions, such as sales to state and local government for government use; we do not repeat the whole list here.

Clothing is not named as exempt in the statutes we read, so we do not treat it as exempt.

Services: A Long List Is Taxable

Kentucky taxes services only if the statute names them. KRS 139.200(2) lists lodging rentals (not when supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more), sewer services (residential sewer service is exempt, see above), admissions, communications services, landscaping, janitorial services, small animal veterinary services, pet care, non-coin-operated laundry and dry cleaning, photography, website design and hosting, parking, personal fitness training, massage services (except when medically necessary), household moving, laboratory testing (with exclusions), prewritten computer software access services and data brokering services, among others.

Many of these were added by 2022 legislation. The statute's own history shows an amendment effective 1 January 2023, and KRS 139.202 calls items (q) to (ax) the "additional taxable services" and excludes sales made under a lump-sum, fixed-fee or fixed-price contract, or a lease or rental agreement, executed on or before 25 February 2022.

The text we read is the version effective 1 August 2026. That version comes from 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 161 (House Bill 757), which added data brokering services as item (ay), defined in KRS 139.010 as collecting, aggregating and analyzing personal data for sale to a third party while the data stays with the provider or the third party. The Act excludes data brokering sales made under a lump-sum, fixed-fee or fixed-price contract, or a lease or rental agreement, executed on or before 25 February 2026. We found no change to the lodging item (a) in that Act. If you are not sure a service is taxable, check the full list in KRS 139.200(2) or ask the Department; this page does not reproduce every item.

Use Tax: The Backstop for Out-of-State Purchases

The Department describes use tax as a "back stop" for sales tax that generally applies to property bought outside the state for storage, use or consumption in Kentucky. KRS 139.310 sets the use tax at 6% of the sales price and extends it to the services listed from (p) to (ay) in KRS 139.200(2) when they are bought for use in the state.

If you already paid a substantially identical tax to another state, KRS 139.510(1) says Kentucky use tax does not apply to tangible personal property, digital property or extended warranty services when that tax equals or exceeds the Kentucky amount; if it was less, you pay the difference. No credit is given if the other state does not give credit for sales taxes paid in Kentucky. The statute names only those three categories, so do not assume the credit covers other taxable services.

Sellers outside Kentucky: KRS 139.340(2)(g), as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 161 effective 1 August 2026, treats a remote retailer as required to register and collect when its gross receipts from sales into Kentucky in the previous or current calendar year exceed $100,000. That Act removed the former test of 200 or more separate transactions. The Department's sales tax page still carries the 2018 wording that also mentions 200 sales, so rely on the statute.

Motor Vehicles: Usage Tax Instead of Sales Tax

Vehicles are handled differently. The Department says the Motor Vehicle Usage Tax is collected when a vehicle is transferred from one party to another and is levied at six percent. KRS 138.460 puts the tax on the vehicle's retail price at 6%, collected by the county clerk when the vehicle is titled or registered, with a minimum of $6 on titling or first registration. A credit is available for tax paid to another state that levied a substantially identical tax, if that state gives a similar credit. KRS 139.470 excludes from sales tax the sale of a motor vehicle sold to a Kentucky resident, registered for highway use, on which the usage tax has been paid.

This page covers only the rate and the rules above; exemptions, trade-in treatment and fees for vehicles should be confirmed with the county clerk or the Department.

Our Worked Examples (Illustration Only)

These figures are our own arithmetic at the 6% rate, with no local tax because Kentucky has none. They show the effect of the exemptions; they are not a Department calculation. Real receipts can differ because of product classification, discounts or fees.

The vehicle row is the usage tax on the retail price before any credit or exemption, and the prepared meal assumes it meets the statute's prepared-food definition.

Official Sources

• Kentucky Department of Revenue: Sales & Use Tax
• Kentucky Department of Revenue: Motor Vehicle Taxes
• KRS 139.200: Imposition of sales tax
• KRS 139.202: Exclusions from additional taxable services
• KRS 139.310: Imposition of excise tax on storage, use, or other consumption
• KRS 139.340: Retailer's duty to collect tax
• KRS 139.470: Exempt transactions
• KRS 139.472: Exemption for certain medical items
• KRS 139.485: Exemption of food items
• KRS 139.510: Use tax credit for sales tax paid in another state
• KRS 138.460: Motor vehicle usage tax