Wisconsin – WI Sales Tax Calculator: User Guide

Wisconsin is the 23rd-largest state by total area and 20th-most populous state, located in the north-central, Midwest, and Great Lakes region of the United States.

The state shares its borders with Lake Michigan to the east, Minnesota to the west, Lake Superior to the north, Illinois to the south, and Iowa to the southwest.

Wisconsin has 72 counties. Milwaukee is the largest city, Madison is the capital, and Milwaukee metropolitan area is the state's largest metropolitan.

Dubbed as the Dairy State, Wisconsin is recognized for farmland, tasty cheese, and the Green Bay Packers.

However, this state is much more than just farms. It offers a cheap cost of living and housing, a healthy environment, tons of recreational activities, and all four seasons.

Moreover, Wisconsin also has a flourishing economy with a favorable business environment for entrepreneurs and businesses.

Are you mulling over to start, expand, or relocate your business to Wisconsin? Well! Then this post is just for you. Our experts have compiled an amazing guide to educate you about WI Sales Tax. Moreover, it also a handy Wisconsin Sales Tax Calculator, so you use it for your daily sales tax calculations.

Let's dig in!

Wisconsin Sales Tax Facts:

• The base sales tax rate levied on the state level in Wisconsin is 5%. In addition, 67 out of 72 counties levy up to 0.5% of local sales tax, and the remaining 5 counties levy up to 0.6% of local sales tax plus stadium Tax. So combined sales tax rate can go up to 5.6%.
• Most tangible goods, including clothing, computers, and electronic downloads, are subjected to Sales Tax.
• Certain services are also taxable, including cable television, landscaping, hotel room rentals, admissions tickets (e.g., to movies or sporting events), internet access, and laundry services.
• Unprepared food and food ingredients (Groceries), Prescription drugs, caskets, newspapers, and water delivered through mains. Moreover, throughout winters (November through April), Electricity and natural gas are also exempted from sales tax.
• Prepared Food, candy, and soft drinks, as well as non-prescription drugs, are not exempted.
• Wisconsin Sales Tax Exemption Form can be used by individuals and companies to buy goods tax-free for resale, improvement, or as raw materials.
• Tangible personal property, or taxable services that are used, stored or consumed within Wisconsin, but without being subjected to Wisconsin Sales Tax are required to subject to the Wisconsin use tax is a 5% tax.

How to calculate Sales Tax in Wisconsin?

Businesses and Sellers involved in the sale, license, lease, or rent of most goods including clothing, computers and electronic downloads and taxable services including cable television, landscaping, hotel room rentals, admissions tickets (e.g., to movies or sporting events), internet access, and laundry services, and have Nexus in Wisconsin are required to register for Wisconsin Sales tax and obtain a sales tax permit.

They must collect, manage, and remit it to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue while staying in compliance with state laws and avoid penalties and interest.

The sales tax determined on four factors:

1. Nexus: It is a connection of business with a state. The business is only liable to pay taxes to the states with Nexus.
2. Out of State Seller's Eligibility: Out of State Seller is only required to register, collect, and remit the sales tax to the authorities in the state if it falls under the criteria provided by the state.
3. Location and Products or Services: The sales tax rate varies from product to product and location to location, so you must check the sales tax rate applicable to your product according to the product category, county, and city in Wisconsin.

• Exemptions: Almost all goods are eligible for sales tax regulation—however, Unprepared Food and food ingredients (Groceries), Prescription drugs, caskets, newspapers, and water delivered through mains. Moreover, throughout winters (November through April), Electricity and natural gas are also exempted from sales tax.

4. You should also check with the Wisconsin state government regularly about which goods and services sold in Wisconsin are subject to sales tax.

To calculate Sales Tax in Wisconsin, follow the steps below:

Step 1 – Determine your Nexus:

As a business owner, you are only required to collect sales tax if you are eligible for collecting sales tax and have Sales Tax Nexus in the Wisconsin State.

To determine your Nexus in Wisconsin, you must have any of the following:

• Having a place of business in Wisconsin like an office.
• An employee or other representative present in the state.
• Inventory / Goods stored in Warehouse in Wisconsin.
• Ownership of personal or real property in the state.
• Having Economic Nexus:
  • Making more than $100,000 in sales annually in the Wisconsin state
  • More than 200 transactions in Wisconsin in the previous or current calendar year

Step 2 – Determine the Sales Tax Rate:

Once you have determined that your Nexus is with Wisconsin, next is to deduce the Sales Tax rate (State + County) applicable to your product, for which you can refer to the tables below:

Step 4 – Calculate Sales Tax:

After determining the sales tax rate according to the location and type of purchases, it is easy to calculate the sales tax amount charged on the product and gross price (amount after tax) of a product.

Example # 1:

For instance, you sell a Bike Helmet at your store in Appleton, Wisconsin, having a net cost of $350. The amount of Sales Tax that you have to pay on the Bike Helmet would be:

Manual Method:

Net Price (amount before Tax) of a Bike Helmet: $350

Total Sales Tax rate: 0.00% (Appleton) + 0.500% (Outagamie County) + 5.00% (Wisconsin State) = 5.50%

Total Sales Tax amount = $350 x 5.50% = $19.25

Gross Price (Amount after Tax) = 350 + 19.25 = $369.25

So, the Sales Tax amount charged on the Bike Helmet would be $19.25, raising the gross cost to $369.25.

Using our Sales Tax Calculator:

All of the steps mentioned above can be skipped to get an instant result using our Sales Tax Calculator. All you need is:

1. Input the $350 as the Net Price of a Bike Helmet as Amount Before Tax
2. Input or select 50% of the combined Sales Tax rate on the Tax Rate menu.

Our calculator will automatically calculate the result and represents it in 3 different forms, as shown in the image below:

Reverse Sales Tax Calculation

In the example above, we have explained to you to calculate the Sales Tax amount payable in a product and the Gross Price of the Product.

But there are also instances when you are required to deduce how much Sales tax you have actually paid on a product in Wisconsin.

This is where the Reverse Sales Tax Calculation Kicks in. And luckily, our Wisconsin Sales Tax Calculator can perform this calculation like a Pro.

Example:

The gross cost (amount after tax) of a Baseball Helmet is $150, which you sell at your store in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Now, if you want to deduce the amount of sales tax you have actually paid on it and the net cost (amount before tax) of a Baseball Helmet, you can follow the steps below:

Gross Price (Amount after Tax) of Baseball Helmet: $150

Total Sales Tax rate: 0.00% (Menomonee Falls) + 0.00% (Waukesha County) + 5.00% (Wisconsin State) = 5.00%

Manual Method:

Gross Price with sales tax = [Net Price × (tax rate in decimal form + 1)]

150 = [Net Price x ((5/100) + 1)]

150 = Net Price x 1.05

$142.9 = Net Price

So, the original Price (net price) of the Baseball Helmet would be $142.9.

Using our Sales Tax Calculator:

You can also use our Sales Tax Calculator for Reverse Sales Tax calculation to skip the aforementioned manual method. All you need is:

1. Input the $150 Gross Price of Baseball Helmet as Amount after Tax
2. Input or select 5.00% of combined Sales Tax Rate on the Tax Rate

Our calculator will automatically calculate the result and represents it in 3 different forms.

FAQs