Vermont has one statewide sales tax rate, a separate and higher tax on restaurant meals and hotel rooms, and an optional extra 1% that individual towns can adopt. Which of these applies depends on what you buy and where the sale is made.
This guide sets out the 6% sales and use tax, how the 1% local option tax changes the total, what the Department of Taxes and 32 V.S.A. chapter 233 say is exempt, use tax on out-of-state and online purchases, the meals, rooms and alcohol rates, and the recent changes to the list of local option towns, using the department's own pages read on 2 November 2026.
The Vermont Department of Taxes says: "The sales tax rate is 6%." The statute agrees: 32 V.S.A. § 9771 imposes a tax on retail sales at six percent of the sales price. The tax covers retail sales of tangible personal property and, under the same section, public utility services (gas and electricity, but not water or transportation), admission to places of entertainment and certain other items such as telecommunications service. Use tax is charged on the buyer at the same rate.
Meals, rooms and alcohol are taxed separately under the Meals and Rooms Tax, not the sales tax: 32 V.S.A. § 9241 sets nine percent on rent and on taxable meals and 10 percent on alcoholic beverages. The table gives the state rate and the total where a town levies the 1% local option tax.
| Tax | State rate | With 1% local option | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and use tax | 6% | 7% | Department of Taxes: Sales and Use Tax; Local Option Tax |
| Meals tax | 9% | 10% | Meals and Rooms Tax: Getting Started; Local Option Tax |
| Rooms tax | 9% | 10% | 32 V.S.A. § 9241(a); Local Option Tax page ("9% rooms tax + 1% = 10% total tax") |
| Alcoholic beverage tax (for immediate consumption) | 10% | 11% | Alcoholic Beverage Tax; Local Option Tax |
The department's guidance is that a sale of an alcoholic beverage is subject to the 6% sales and use tax or the 10% alcoholic beverages tax, but never both: the 6% applies to alcohol sold at retail that is not for immediate consumption, and the 10% tax applies to alcohol sold for immediate consumption.
The department states that a municipality may vote to levy a 1% Local Option Tax in addition to state business taxes. In a town with the local option sales tax, the total is 7% (6% + 1%). The same page lists 10% for meals and rooms and 11% for alcohol in towns with the local option meals, rooms and alcohol tax. The local option tax does not apply to the sale or rental of motor vehicles that are subject to the motor vehicle purchase and use tax.
The department publishes a list of towns with the local option sales tax and a separate list for the meals, rooms and alcohol tax, and a Local Option Tax Finder where you can search an address or town. We do not reprint the lists because they change. The City of Burlington and the City of Rutland administer and collect their own local meals, entertainment, lodging and alcoholic beverage taxes, so a business there deals with the city for those.
We found no change to the 6% state rate, the 9% meals and rooms rate or the 10% alcohol rate on the department pages we read, and none in the department's 2026 Legislative Highlights, which lists the changes that became law in the 2026 session. What the pages show changing is which towns have the local option tax. The list we read on 2 November 2026 marks several municipalities as effective beginning 1 July 2026, shows Peru's sales tax effective 1 October 2026, and shows Montgomery's local option sales tax as rescinded as of 1 October 2025. The same list has many towns with older start dates.
Because the list changes, use the department's Local Option Tax Finder for the address that matters. Two 2026 laws touch sales tax without changing a rate: Act 128 lets sellers round cash totals to the nearest nickel (effective 8 June 2026, with tax still calculated on the pre-rounding amount), and Act 155 enlarges the manufactured-home exemption from 1 January 2028. We found no notice of a state rate change as of 2 November 2026, but a search that finds nothing cannot rule out a later one.
32 V.S.A. § 9741 exempts several categories from the sales and use tax. The department's list of what is taxable and exempt says all tangible personal property is taxable except items specifically exempted by statute and regulation, and it is a general guideline only.
Restaurants are different: the Meals and Rooms Tax says all food and beverage are taxable when sold by a restaurant, and groceries are not taxable. For other items, ask the department, since the guidance is a general overview.
The department says the Meals and Rooms Tax is paid when purchasing meals or alcoholic beverages served in bars and restaurants and when renting a room, and that the Meals and Rooms Tax is 9% while the Alcoholic Beverage Tax is 10%. When food and beverage are sold by non-restaurants, non-pre-packaged foods are taxable. Self-serve, bulk, non-prepackaged grocery items such as fruit, vegetables, candy, flour, nuts and coffee beans are not considered taxable meals even when sold by a restaurant.
A charge for delivery is part of the price of a meal or alcoholic beverage under the department's guidance, so meals tax applies to delivery charges. Businesses that pay the 3% short-term rental surcharge must file and pay Meals and Rooms Tax electronically.
When a seller does not charge Vermont sales tax on an item taxable in Vermont, the buyer must pay Vermont use tax. The department says taxable items sold over the internet, by mail-order, by phone, or bought out-of-state and used in Vermont generally qualify, and that use tax has the same 6% rate, rules and exemptions as sales tax. Vermont sales and use tax is described as destination-based: the buyer takes possession in Vermont, has the item shipped to Vermont, or brings it into Vermont to use.
The purchase price includes any shipping or delivery charge. For individual purchases of $1,000 or more, multiply the price by 6%. For purchases under $1,000 each without records, the department offers a table by adjusted gross income; its example is that an AGI of $35,000 gives $15. For AGI of $100,001 and more the department says the use tax is 0.05% of AGI or $150, whichever is less. Individuals report it on the IN-111 income tax return or pay through myVTax, and where you paid tax to another state, the department's example credits it against the Vermont amount.
Out-of-state sellers must register and collect Vermont sales tax if they made sales of at least $100,000 or 200 individual transactions during any preceding twelve-month period.
The department says to multiply the sales amount by 6% (or 7% where local option tax applies) and round up to the nearest whole cent when the third decimal place is greater than four. Monthly filers must pay sales tax for the month by the 25th day of the following month, and taxpayers with sales subject to the Local Option Tax must file electronically. Since 8 June 2026 (Act 128) a seller may also round a cash total to the nearest nickel after adding tax, if it posts its practice; the department says taxes are still calculated and remitted on the pre-rounding amount.
These examples are our own arithmetic on the department's published rates, not a department calculation. Rounding follows the department's rule: carry the tax to three decimals and round up only when the third decimal is greater than four, so a $19.99 purchase at 6% is $1.1994 and rounds to $1.20, while $10.05 at 6% is $0.603 and rounds to $0.60. For a household with a $150,000 AGI and no records, the department's rule of 0.05% of AGI or $150, whichever is less, gives $75.
| Purchase | Taxable amount | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| General taxable goods, no local option | $1,000.00 | 6% | $60.00 |
| General taxable goods, local option town | $1,000.00 | 7% | $70.00 |
| Restaurant meal, no local option | $50.00 | 9% | $4.50 |
| Restaurant meal, local option town | $50.00 | 10% | $5.00 |
| Alcohol served at a bar, no local option | $20.00 | 10% | $2.00 |
| Alcohol served at a bar, local option town | $20.00 | 11% | $2.20 |
| Online purchase with no Vermont tax charged, seller did not collect (use tax) | $1,200.00 | 6% | $72.00 |
Your receipt and the department's returns govern. The local option towns and dates change, so check the finder for the address of the sale.