Thursday, May 20, 2010

Our viewer Kenny wants to know if we already pay 6.3% sales tax in Sedgwick County, what happens when the state sales tax increases to 6.3% on July 1st? Good question.

If you didn't know, the state sales tax will go up on July 1st from 5.3% to 6.3%. It's the first state sales tax increase since 2002. The sales tax in Sedgwick County will increase to 7.3%.

Here's why. In addition to the 6.3% state sales tax, counties and cities in Kansas have had the option of imposing a local sales tax since 1978. So the 6.3% sales tax in Sedgwick County that Kenny is paying before July 1st is a combination of state, county, and city tax.

Sedgwick County only gets about 3/10 of each cent, the rest goes to the municipalities/townships. Because it's a combination of various tax, sales tax differ from county to county and city to city. Bottom line, you will be paying $1 more tax on every $100 you spend.

If you have a good question, send it to Jeff Herndon at news@kake.com. We'll do our best to answer your good question every Thursday on KAKE News at 6.