Sales Tax in Lorain, Ohio in 2025

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

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.

Lorain Sales Tax Rate 2025

Lorain is located in Lorain County in Ohio, United States, and has a sales tax rate of 6.50%. This includes local and state sales tax rates.

Here is the breakdown of the Lorain's sales tax:

Tax Jurisdiction	Sales Tax Rate
State Tax	5.75%
County Tax	0.75%
Combined Rate	6.50%

This rate applies to the following zip codes in Lorain:

44055, 44089, 44054, 44035, 44001, 44052, 44053

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

Lorain is among the cities with the lowest sales tax rate (6.50%) in Ohio. It is 1.50% lower than Ohio’s highest rate, which sits at 8.00% and can be found in cities like Cleveland.

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

City	Sales Tax Rates
Lorain	6.50%
Lorain	6.50%
Alliance	6.50%-7.50%
Carroll Village	6.75%
Jerusalem Village	7.25%
Montgomery	7.80%

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

• Parma's sales tax rate is 8.00%
• Canton's sales tax rate is 6.50%

What Creates Sales Tax Nexus in Lorain?

Lorain 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 Lorain Sales Tax?

Lorain 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 Lorain taxpayers.

Who Needs a Sales Permit in Lorain?

Anyone who sells taxable goods and services in Lorain 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 Lorain

Ohio uses origin-based sales tax sourcing for intrastate sales and destination-based sales tax sourcing for interstate sales. This applies to Lorain 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 Lorain, Ohio, and you sell to a buyer in Canton, Ohio. In that case, you should charge the buyer the sales tax rate at your Lorain 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 Lorain, Ohio — you should charge the buyer the sales tax in Lorain.

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

How to File and Pay Sales Tax in Lorain

Here are three ways to file and pay Lorain 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.