The Anacortes sales tax rate is 8.9% as of April 1, 2026, up from 8.8% earlier in the year after Skagit County adopted a new 0.1% public safety tax.1City of Anacortes. Taxes That rate applies to most physical goods, prepared food, and certain services bought inside city limits. Hotel stays carry an extra lodging tax on top.
How the 8.9% Breaks Down
Washington’s statewide retail sales tax is 6.5%, and it makes up most of what you pay at the register.2Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.020 – Tax Imposed, Retail Sales, Retail Car Rental Anacortes adds a combined local rate of 2.4%, which brings the total to 8.9%.1City of Anacortes. Taxes The local share funds county government, criminal justice, city operations, and Skagit Transit.
The newest piece is a 0.1% public safety sales tax that Skagit County commissioners adopted in late 2025, effective April 1, 2026. It funds sheriff’s deputies, crisis response, and jail behavioral health services.3Skagit County. Skagit County Commissioners Adopt 0.1% Public Safety Sales Tax For purchases between January and March 2026, the combined rate was still 8.8%.4Washington Department of Revenue. Local Sales and Use Tax Rate Table
What Isn’t Taxed
Washington exempts several categories that come up often in daily spending:
- Most unprepared food and food ingredients, including raw produce, meat, dairy, and bread. Prepared food, soft drinks, and dietary supplements are not exempt.5Washington Department of Revenue. Restaurants and Retailers of Prepared Food – Retail Sales Tax
- Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, along with medical devices, insulin, and kidney dialysis equipment.6Washington Department of Revenue. Retail Sales and Use Tax Exemptions
- Physical newspapers.
The grocery rule has a wrinkle worth knowing. If a store’s food sales are more than 75% prepared food, it must charge sales tax on nearly all food items, even ones that would be exempt at a regular grocery store.5Washington Department of Revenue. Restaurants and Retailers of Prepared Food – Retail Sales Tax A cold sandwich from a supermarket deli may be exempt; the same sandwich from a restaurant is taxable. What matters is whether the food was heated, served with utensils, or sold by a business that primarily deals in prepared food.
Hotels and Short-Term Rentals
Staying in an Anacortes hotel, motel, vacation rental, or Airbnb for fewer than 30 days costs more than the standard 8.9%. Anacortes levies a special 2% lodging tax under state law, stacked on top of the regular sales tax rate.7Washington State Legislature. RCW 67.28.181 A separate basic 2% state lodging tax exists too, but it operates as a credit against the 6.5% state sales tax rather than adding to your bill.1City of Anacortes. Taxes The bottom line for a guest: expect roughly 10.9% in tax on the nightly charge.
Online Orders and Deliveries
Washington uses destination-based sourcing, so the tax rate is set by where you receive the goods rather than where the seller sits. Order a couch from Seattle for delivery to your Anacortes address and you pay the Anacortes rate.8Washington State Department of Revenue. Destination-Based Sales Tax Walk into a store and carry the item out yourself, and you pay the rate where the store is located.
Delivery charges are part of the taxable price. Washington taxes shipping on taxable goods no matter how it’s billed. If a shipment mixes taxable and exempt items, only the delivery charge allocable to the taxable goods is taxed.9Washington Department of Revenue. Delivery Charges
On Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and similar platforms, the platform itself collects and remits Washington sales tax. State law treats marketplace facilitators as the retailer, so the correct 8.9% Anacortes rate is normally applied automatically when you enter your shipping address at checkout.10Legal Information Institute. Washington Administrative Code 458-20-282 – Marketplace Tax Collection
When You Owe Use Tax
Use tax applies at the same rate as sales tax on items you bought without paying sales tax. It comes up most with purchases from smaller out-of-state sellers, private-party sales such as buying a car from a neighbor, and items brought into Washington from elsewhere.11Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.12.020 – Use Tax Imposed If sales tax was already collected, you owe nothing more.
Washington has no state income tax, so there’s no annual return to report it on. Individuals file directly with the Department of Revenue through the My DOR portal or by mailing a paper Consumer Use Tax Return.12Washington Department of Revenue. Use Tax Vehicles, boats, and trailers are handled at registration through the Department of Licensing. Everything else is self-reported. Most people don’t, but the obligation is real.
Looking Up the Rate for a Specific Address
Overlapping local districts can create slightly different rates even within the same town. The Department of Revenue’s free tax rate lookup returns the exact combined rate for any Washington address.13Washington Department of Revenue. Tax Rate Lookup Anacortes uses location code 2901 on the DOR’s quarterly rate tables, which is what businesses need when filing returns.4Washington Department of Revenue. Local Sales and Use Tax Rate Table