Beware of relying on ZIP codes for sales tax: Five-digit ZIP codes were created by the U.S. Postal Service to facilitate mail delivery and have nothing to do with sales tax.
There are more than 13,000 sales and use tax jurisdictions throughout the country and often two or more sales tax jurisdictions within one ZIP code. Though ZIP codes and tax boundaries sometimes line up, they often don’t, so it’s not advisable to base sales tax rates on ZIP codes.
Using sales tax software with geolocation technology generates the most accurate rates for the least effort. You can get a taste of how the technology works with our sales tax calculator and tax rate lookup tool.