Kansas has 9th highest sales tax in the U.S. according to new report

A new report from the Tax Foundation has been released, looking at the combined rate of state and local sales tax. The report looks at the 45 states that do implement a sales tax as well as the local sales tax consumers face in 38 states, including Alaska which doesn’t have the statewide sales tax. To determine local sales tax, the report provided “a population-weighted average of local sales taxes as of January 1, 2024, to give a sense of the average local rate for each state.”

They found that the state with the highest combined state and local sales tax was Louisiana (9.56 percent), while the lowest combined state and local sales tax was Alaska (1.82 percent). Four states were not considered for the list due to their lack of both state and local sales tax including Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. 

So where did Kansas fit into all of this?

Kansas ranked as the state with the 9th highest state and local sales tax. At the state level, Kansans face a sales tax of 6.5 percent. At the local level, Kansans can face a sales tax as high as 4.25 percent. However, on average, the Tax Foundation found that Kansans pay a local sales tax of 2.154 percent, giving us a total sales tax of 8.654 percent.

Currently, there is legislation being worked on in Kansas that could lower our state sales tax on certain items as soon as April 1. There is the Republican flat tax bill, that would establish a 0 percent state sales tax on food and food ingredients. There is also Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) tax bills HB 2586 and SB 377 which creates tax exemptions for children’s diapers and feminine hygiene products and also lowers the state sales tax on food and food ingredients to 0 percent. These bills would also create a sales tax holiday for certain school supplies, computers, and clothing. Neither Gov. Kelly’s nor the Kansas Republican’s bills would fully take away the state sales tax.