Skip To Primary Navigation Skip To Main Content Skip To Footer

By the Numbers: 2025 U.S. Sales Tax Rates and Rules Changes

How to Conduct a Reverse Sales Tax Audit

While taxes have long been described as a constant, they also serve as a barometer of economic and business trends.

This may explain why 2025 sales and use tax rates and rules changes broke records. More new state and local taxes were enacted in 2025 compared to any year in the past decade. The number of new taxing cities that came online last year also marks a 10-year high.

In 2025, U.S. indirect tax policymaking reflected a turbulent year – one that had economists and business analysts straining to coin new phrases to describe the unprecedented magnitude of change taking place. Isolated crises gave way to “compound volatility.” Global trade, regulatory regimes, and technology advancements underwent “structural reconfigurations,” whose implications and ripple effects are likely to last for decades.

Similar levels of disruption took place in state and local tax jurisdictions, as they struggled to keep pace with growing fiscal uncertainty, looming budget shortfalls, and the ongoing digitization of commerce. As indirect tax leaders respond to heightened tax policymaking volatility in the coming 12 months, they can view the Vertex 2025 End-of-Year Rates and Rules Report for clues on what’s likely coming down the pike.

Notable 2025 numbers include:

  • 681: There were 681 total combined sales tax rate changes and new rates in 2025. That’s the third highest number of total annual changes in the past decade.
  • 335: This figure marks the total of new city, county, and district taxes that were enacted in 2025 – a 10-plus-year high.
  • 219: A total of 219 new district taxes came online in 2025, the highest number of new district taxes since 2017 (237)
  • 2X: More than twice as many new taxing cities were enacted in 2025 (108) compared to 2024 (51).
  • 4.5:1: Sales tax rate increases outnumber rate decreases at the city level by 4.5:1 ratio. This represents a reduction from 2024 when city rate increases outnumbered decreases by an 8:1 ratio.
  • 5.5592%: This is the average state sales tax rate in 2025; following three years of declines, the average state sales tax rate increased last year. Average sales tax rates for the city, county and district levels also increased in 2025.
  • 12,414: The total number of new and updated sales and use tax jurisdictions in 2025 at the city (7,123), county (1,972), district (3,273), and state (46) levels.

The complete report, which is based on rates and rules data collected Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025, provides many more figures along with additional context. Our annual analysis of (2026) indirect tax trends examines the implications of these rates and rules changes.

Disclaimer

Bitte denken Sie daran, dass der Vertex-Blog Informationen zu Bildungszwecken enthält, keine spezifische Steuer- oder Rechtsberatung. Wenden Sie sich immer einen qualifizierten Steuer- oder Rechtsberater, bevor Sie Maßnahmen basierend auf diesen Informationen ergreifen. Die im Vertex-Blog geäußerten Ansichten und Meinungen sind die der Autoren und spiegeln nicht notwendigerweise die offizielle Richtlinie, Position oder Meinung von Vertex Inc. wider.

Blog Author

Chris Hall

Chris Hall

Senior Tax Officer, Chief Strategy Office

Alle Veröffentlichungen von Chris Ansehen

Chris Hall ist Senior Tax Officer im Chief Strategy Office bei Vertex mit dem Schwerpunkt auf globale Steuern und Compliance. Bevor er zu Vertex kam, war Chris seit 2017 als Geschäftsführer für die globale Strategie der indirekten Steuern bei der Ford Motor Company tätig. Vor seinem Antritt bei Ford im Jahr 2001 war er in mehreren Führungspositionen in Nordamerika und Europa tätig. Zwischen 1988 und 2001 arbeitete Chris für die General Electric Company und leitete in seiner letzten Funktion die Shared Services Steuerorganisation von GE.

Chris war für alle Aspekte der indirekten Besteuerung verantwortlich, einschließlich Compliance, Audits, Streitfälle, Planung, Gesetzgebung und der Leitung von Projekten zur Systemautomatisierung für zentralisierte Steuerermittlungs- und Meldungsprozesse unter Verwendung von Vertex und anderen Plattformen.

Er hat einen Bachelor of Science in Finance von der Florida Tech und einen MBA von der University of South Florida, ist zertifiziertes Mitglied des Institute of Professionals in Taxation (IPT) und war von 1993 bis 2013 Certified Management Accountant und ein geschätztes Mitglied des Institute of Management Accountants. 

View Newsletter Signup

2025 End-of-Year Report

2025 data reveals a 10-year high in new taxes enacted, and the first increase in average state sales tax rates in three years, as jurisdictions pivot to address budget shortfalls.

Read Now
An over-the-shoulder view of a senior IT manager, dressed in yellow. They are working at their laptop, plugged into a monitor behind it, and looking at raw data for tax insights.