Sales tax in Carter County, Tennessee
The sales tax rate in Carter County, Tennessee is 9.75%. That is a 7% state rate plus a 2.75% county rate, and it is the same at every address in the county.
What is the sales tax rate in Carter County?
| Tennessee state rate | 7% |
|---|---|
| Carter County rate | 2.75% |
| Combined rate | 9.75% |
Why the rate here is not the whole story
Tennessee taxes general merchandise at a state rate of 7 percent and Carter County levies the local option sales and use tax at 2.75 percent, so the rate in the unincorporated county is 9.75 percent. Any incorporated city may levy the same tax by ordinance up to the statewide local cap of 2.75 percent, and a city rate replaces the county rate inside the city limits instead of stacking on it, but every other jurisdiction the Department lists inside the county is at 2.75 percent today, so 9.75 percent applies at every address. Food and food ingredients are taxed at a reduced state rate of 4 percent instead of 7 percent, with the same local rate on top, so the figures here are the general merchandise rate. The local part of the tax applies only to the first $1,600 of the price of a single article of tangible personal property, and a separate state single article tax of 2.75 percent applies to the part of the price between $1,600 and $3,200.
How do I find the exact rate for an address in Carter County?
The rate is the same across Carter County, but if you are collecting tax it is worth confirming against the source. Use Tennessee's own lookup. A vendor's calculator is not the state speaking.
Who has to collect sales tax in Carter County?
A seller with a physical presence in Tennessee collects at the rate for the address where the sale takes place. A remote seller collects once it passes Tennessee's economic nexus threshold, which is a separate question from the rate and is covered on our sales tax nexus checker. Marketplace facilitators generally collect on behalf of their sellers.
How does Carter County compare?
See Tennessee sales tax for the statewide picture, including the average local rate and what is exempt. Property tax is a separate tax with separate rules: property tax in Carter County.
Sources
- Carter County rates: Tennessee Department of Revenue, Local Sales Tax Rates report (jurisdiction rate table behind the Local Sales Tax Rates Map, https://www.tn.gov/revenue/taxes/sales-and-use-tax/local-sales-tax/local-sales-tax-rates-map.html), cross-checked against the Department's Streamlined Sales Tax rate file TNR2026Q3JUN11.xlsx for 2026 Q3 (https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/taxes/sales/streamlined/TNR2026Q3JUN11.xlsx), with the 7 percent state rate, the 2.75 percent local cap and the single article rules from the Department's Sales and Use Tax Manual, August 2026 (https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/tax_manuals/august-2026/sales-use-tax-manual.pdf)
- Collected and verified September 9, 2026. Confidence: P on the rate components, P on the range (P read on a primary agency page, S strong but indirect, U unverified).