Nebraska has a 5.5% state sales and use tax and lets cities and counties add their own. This guide sets out what the Nebraska Department of Revenue says about the state rate, local tax, what is exempt, which services are taxed and when you owe use tax. Every rule here comes from the department's own pages read on 2 November 2026.
The Nebraska Department of Revenue (NDOR) states: "The Nebraska state sales and use tax rate is 5.5% (.055)." Food at home and prescription medicine are exempt (see the exemptions section).
The 5.5% is the starting point only. NDOR's sales tax guide says that "In addition to the state rate of sales tax, a local option sales tax may also be imposed." and that cities and counties may impose one. The total you pay therefore depends on where the sale is delivered or made, so two shops a few miles apart can charge different totals.
Good Life Districts (GLDs) are a special case. NDOR's 2025 legislative summary says that from 1 October 2025 the state sales tax rate in most GLDs returns to 5.5%, while NDOR's rate notice says the GLD Avenue One (801) state rate remains at 2.75% on transactions by a retailer who elects to be a GLD retailer, excluding vehicles, aircraft, boats and trailers. If you shop in a GLD, check the rate finder.
NDOR's guide says retailers must collect tax "at the rate in effect at the point of delivery". Local rates are set by each city or county and published by calendar quarter on NDOR's Local Sales and Use Tax Rates page, which also links the rate cards. NDOR's Sales Tax Rate Finder gives the rate for a street address; we do not print a table of local rates because they change every quarter.
What NDOR's notices show about local rates:
Because rates change on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, a receipt from last year may not match today's rate. Use the rate finder for the exact address.
NDOR's food guide says that sales of food and food ingredients are exempt from sales and use tax, "except when sold through a vending machine or when sold as prepared food by a restaurant, tavern, caterer, or concessionaire", and that dietary supplements, tobacco and alcoholic beverages are not food. The table below is our summary of NDOR's exemption chart and food guide; the chart lists many more, mostly business and farm, exemptions.
| Item | Treatment | NDOR note |
|---|---|---|
| Food and food ingredients for home use | Exempt | Not prepared food and not sold through a vending machine |
| Prepared food from a restaurant, tavern, caterer or concessionaire | Taxable | NDOR: exemption excludes prepared food |
| Anything sold through a vending machine | Taxable | NDOR food guide |
| Dietary supplements (Supplement Facts label), alcohol, tobacco | Taxable | Not treated as food |
| Garden seeds, bulbs and plants that produce food | Taxable | Unless bought with SNAP benefits |
| Insulin and prescription medicines, durable medical equipment, prosthetics | Exempt | Prescription needed except for insulin |
| Feminine hygiene products | Exempt | Tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins |
| Diapers (for people who cannot control bladder or bowel) | Exempt from 1 July 2027 | Not exempt before that date |
| Residential water service | Exempt | NDOR exemption chart |
| Newspapers issued at least weekly | Exempt | NDOR exemption chart |
| Motor vehicle fuels (gasoline, diesel) | Exempt from sales tax | NDOR exemption chart; other fuel taxes not covered here |
| Repair labor on an item that is itself not taxable | Exempt | NDOR exemption chart |
The NDOR chart is advisory guidance. Each entry points to a regulation or statute that has the full definition, so check the cited rule before relying on an edge case.
Nebraska taxes some services. NDOR's Nebraska and Local Sales Tax Information Guide lists the sales and services on which retailers must collect tax. That guide is revision 10-2008, so treat it as a list of categories and check the regulation shown before assuming a specific charge is or is not taxed. The guide also lists tangible personal property (1-007) and production, assembly, repair and installation labor charges (1-082) as taxable; the table below covers the other sales and services.
| Taxable sale or service | NDOR regulation |
|---|---|
| Admissions | 1-044 |
| Computer software and related training sold by the software retailer | 1-088 |
| Freight or delivery charges collected by the retailer | 1-079 |
| Hotel accommodations | 1-046 |
| Cable and satellite television installation or furnishing | 1-045 and 1-081 |
| Telephone and mobile telecommunications | 1-065 |
| Utilities | 1-066 and 1-089 |
| Warranties, guarantees and maintenance agreements | 1-074 |
| Pest control services | 1-100 |
| Building cleaning and maintenance services | 1-098 |
| Motor vehicle painting, towing, washing and waxing | 1-099 |
| Security and detective services | 1-101 |
| Recreational vehicle park services | 1-103 |
| Animal specialty services | 1-102 |
| Repair or maintenance services on personal property (except licensable motor vehicles) | 1-082 |
NDOR's services FAQs give examples: pest control charges are taxable, a tow of a wrecked vehicle is taxable "regardless of who you bill", and cleaning a furnace, duct work or drains counts as building cleaning. The same FAQs say a service provider is the consumer of the supplies used to provide the service. NDOR also has separate pages for contractors, who generally do not charge tax on labor, so a home repair bill depends on how the contractor is registered. Pest control applied to crops or land used in commercial agriculture is not taxed, per the same FAQs.
NDOR describes use tax as "a complement to the state and local sales tax" and says it is imposed at the same rate and on the same transactions as the sales tax. You owe it when Nebraska and local sales tax were not paid to the seller, for example on items bought by mail order, telephone or the Internet, or bought out of state and delivered to a Nebraska home or business.
NDOR says individuals report use tax on the Nebraska and Local Individual Use Tax Return, Form 3, or on the Nebraska Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040N, which NDOR allows only if the tax is owed for fewer than two Nebraska local jurisdictions. Form 3 is filed monthly, quarterly or annually depending on the annual liability; with less than $900 a year it is annual, and the due date is the 20th day of the month following the tax period. NDOR says interest on unpaid tax runs at the statutory rate from the due date.
Two limits matter. Anything exempt from sales tax is also exempt from use tax, and use tax does not apply where tax was properly paid in another state at a rate equal to or greater than the Nebraska state and local rate. NDOR's wording covers only a rate that is equal or greater, so if the other state's rate was lower, ask NDOR how much is still owed.
We found no statewide change to the 5.5% rate in the NDOR pages we read. The NDOR rate page is the place to check for anything newer.
These examples are ours, not NDOR's. We add the 5.5% state rate and the local rate, which is how NDOR's own food guide combines them (for example 5.5% state plus 1% local equals 6.5%). Omaha uses NDOR's 1.5% local rate for the standard city; the other local rates are illustrative. Amounts are rounded to the cent and the Good Life District rates are not applied.
| Example | Combined rate | Tax | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 purchase, no local tax | 5.5% | $55.00 | $1,055.00 |
| $1,000 purchase, 1% local tax | 6.5% | $65.00 | $1,065.00 |
| $1,000 purchase, Omaha (1.5% local) | 7.0% | $70.00 | $1,070.00 |
| $1,000 purchase, 2% local tax | 7.5% | $75.00 | $1,075.00 |
| $120 pest control service, Omaha | 7.0% | $8.40 | $128.40 |
| $150 of groceries, any city | 0% (exempt) | $0.00 | $150.00 |
| $3 vending machine snack, Omaha | 7.0% | $0.21 | $3.21 |
| $200 coat bought online with no tax charged, delivered to Omaha (use tax) | 7.0% | $14.00 | $14.00 owed to NDOR |
Check the rate for your own address before relying on any total; ours are for illustration.