Sales Tax in Columbus, Ohio in 2025

We'll walk you through how the sales tax rate is determined for Columbus and address some common questions you may have. We'll also cover how to collect, audit, and remit sales tax in Columbus.

Plus, we’ll share the best solution that will ensure you are always compliant across the entire sales tax lifecycle.

Disclaimer: Our sales tax data is updated on a quarterly basis.

Columbus Sales Tax Rate 2025

Columbus is located in Ohio, United States. Its minimum sales tax rate is 7.25%, and its maximum sales tax rate is 7.50%. These rates include local and state sales tax rates.

Here is how the Columbus sales tax rates breaks down:

Tax Jurisdiction	Min. Rate	Max. Rate
State Tax	5.75%	5.75%
County Tax	1.00%	1.25%
Special Tax	0.50%	0.50%
Combined Rate	7.25%	7.50%

Sales Tax Rates in Columbus by Zip Codes and Districts

Below are the sales tax rates in Columbus broken down by districts and zip codes:

District	Zip Codes	Combined Sales Tax Rate
FAIRFIELD COUNTY|FAIRFIELD COUNTY COTA	43110, 43147, 43068	7.25%
DELAWARE COUNTY|DELAWARE COUNTY COTA	43035, 43240, 43082, 43235, 43081	7.50%
FRANKLIN COUNTY|FRANKLIN COUNTY COTA	43205, 43110, 43026, 43123, 43004, 43035, 43016, 43017, 43209, 43211, 43207, 43229, 43221, 43065, 43119, 43240, 43062, 43215, 43227, 43224, 43210, 43082, 43201, 43206, 43137, 43217, 43109, 43054, 43203, 43222, 43220, 43235, 43223, 43125, 43230, 43228, 43231, 43147, 43219, 43202, 43085, 43002, 43214, 43204, 43212, 43213, 43081, 43232, 43218, 43068	7.50%

County Sales Tax in Columbus

Columbus overlaps with 3 counties in Ohio. Below, you can see the county sales tax rates for each one:

County	Sales Tax Rate
Fairfield County	1.00%
Delaware County	1.25%
Franklin County	1.25%

How Does the Columbus Sales Tax Compare to the Rest of Ohio?

The lowest sales tax rate you can find in Ohio stands at 6.50%. The highest sales tax rate in the state is 8.00%. Here’s how Columbus’s sales tax rates compares against these rates:

• The minimum sales tax rate (7.25%) is 0.75% higher than the state's lowest rate and 0.75% lower than the highest rate.
• The maximum sales tax rate (7.50%) is 1.00% higher than the state's lowest rate and 0.50% lower than the highest rate.

To give you a better idea, here’s a comparison of Columbus sales tax rates with a few other cities in Ohio:

City	Sales Tax Rates
Meyers Lake Village	6.50%
Minerva Village	6.50%-7.25%
Peninsula Village	6.75%
Columbus	7.25%-7.50%
Reading	7.80%
Valley View Village	8.00%

You can also compare the sales tax rate of Columbus against the Ohio cities closest in population size:

• Cleveland's sales tax rate is 8.00%
• Cincinnati's sales tax rate is 7.80%

What Creates Sales Tax Nexus in Columbus?

Columbus doesn’t have any separate sales tax nexus rules besides the Ohio nexus rules. 

Read More: Check out our detailed guide on Sales Tax in Ohio for more info.

Ohio sales tax nexus rules include:

• Economic Nexus: When businesses make taxable sales of more than $100,000, or 200 separate transactions to buyers in the state in the previous tax year.

• Physical Location: When businesses have a store, office, warehouse, or other place of business.

• Employee Location: When businesses have employees, contractors, salespeople, installers, other personnel, or a third-party affiliate in the state.

• Trade Shows: When businesses have more than seven instances of nexus-creating activities in the state, and their sales exceed $25,000.

What Products Are Exempt from Columbus Sales Tax?

Columbus adheres to the tax exemptions granted by the Ohio sales tax legislation. Here are some items exempt from sales tax:

• Copyrighted motion picture films for exhibition purposes.
• Food that’s consumed off the premises.
• Food sold to students in a dormitory, school cafeteria, fraternity or sorority house
• Newspapers (including community newspapers and national newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal and other unbound publications).
• Sales made by churches and nonprofit charitable organizations that don’t exceed six days per tax year. This excludes sales of motor vehicles, titled watercraft, titled outboard motors, off-highway motorcycles, all-purpose vehicles and personal watercraft.
• Sales to organizations that have been granted and have maintained 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service.
• Sales of personal computers and other components, like monitors and keyboards, to an individual who’s certified to teach in an elementary or a secondary school in Ohio. They should use it to prepare or teach elementary and secondary school students.
• Sales of animals by nonprofit animal shelters and county humane societies.
• Drugs that are intended to be distributed free of charge to a practitioner licensed to prescribe, dispense, and administer drugs to a human being. Drugs prescribed by practitioners are also tax-exempt.
• Sales of used manufactured homes and used mobile homes.
• Gas, water, steam, and electricity delivered through pipes, conduits, or wires and sold by a public utility or municipal gas utility.

There are no additional exemptions unique to Columbus taxpayers.

Who Needs a Sales Permit in Columbus?

Anyone who sells taxable goods and services in Columbus or anywhere in Ohio needs to obtain a sales permit.

You can register for one online at the Ohio Department of Taxation.

How to Collect Sales Tax in Columbus

Ohio uses origin-based sales tax sourcing for intrastate sales and destination-based sales tax sourcing for interstate sales. This applies to Columbus as well. 

So, there are two types of sales tax collection depending on the origin of the sale:

• Intrastate sales: A sale is considered intrastate when the origin and the buyer's address originate from Ohio.
  
  If you make a sale originating in Ohio and the buyer’s ship-to address is also in Ohio, you should charge the sales tax rate of the sale originating point. 

So, let’s say your business is in Columbus, Ohio, and you sell to a buyer in Cincinnati, Ohio. In that case, you should charge the buyer the sales tax rate at your Columbus location.

• Interstate sales: A sale is interstate if the item ships from outside Ohio and the seller isn’t “engaged in a business” in the state. Then, you should charge the sales tax rate at your buyer’s location. 

For instance, if your business is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and you sell to a buyer in Columbus, Ohio — you should charge the buyer the sales tax in Columbus.

Learn more about origin-based and destination-based sales tax sourcing here.

How to File and Pay Sales Tax in Columbus

Here are three ways to file and pay Columbus sales tax returns:

• File and pay online: Ohio mandates electronic sales tax filing through the Ohio Business Gateway. You can pay the sales tax owed via ACH debit, ACH credit, or credit card.
• Telefile: Telefile in Ohio by calling 1-800-697-0440, which is available to vendors with a regular county vendor’s license number, which begins with 01 through 88.
• Let Zamp handle your Ohio sales tax filing and remittance so you never have to look at a sales tax return again! 

Zamp has everything you need to efficiently manage your sales tax. Our platform automates the sales tax process — from calculating accurate taxes on transactions to filing and remitting taxes across jurisdictions while staying compliant with the latest regulations.