North Carolina Sales Tax Guide: Registration, County Rates and E-500 Filing

Step 1: Register with NCDOR (online or Form NC-BR)

NCDOR says you must register and get a Certificate of Registration if you do any of these in North Carolina (NCDOR: Who should register):

• Sell goods at retail, or rent or lease taxable goods
• Sell taxable services, including repair, maintenance and installation
• Sell certain digital property (digital music, video, books, photos and similar)
• Rent out accommodations, including short-term rentals
• Sell at a specialty market or other event
• Sell service contracts, charge admission to entertainment, or run a dry cleaner or laundry

1. Use NCDOR Online Business Registration (NCDOR: Online Business Registration). It replaces the paper Form NC-BR, which you can still mail in. Have your SSN or EIN, your NC Secretary of State number if you have an LLC or corporation, and your business details ready.
2. There's no fee. NCDOR doesn't charge for a Certificate of Registration.
3. Get your account ID. Most online applicants get it right away, and the Certificate of Registration arrives by mail within about 10 business days. Paper applications can take up to four weeks.
4. Seasonal business? If you operate six months a year or less, list your months when you register. Seasonal filers don't file for off-season periods.

A business that buys taxable items for its own use without paying NC tax owes use tax, which it reports on the same E-500.

Step 2: NC sales tax rates by county (effective July 1, 2026)

North Carolina adds a 4.75% state rate to a local rate of 2.00% or 2.25%. Four counties also add a 0.50% transit tax, and Mecklenburg adds another 1% starting July 1, 2026 (NCDOR: Current rates; Mecklenburg notice).

Some items use other rates. Qualifying food (groceries) is taxed at a 2% local rate only. Boats are taxed at 3%, with a $1,500 maximum per item. Electricity, piped natural gas, telecommunications, video programming and spirits use a 7% combined rate and are reported on Form E-500E. NCDOR's rates don't include local prepared meals taxes, which some local governments charge separately. Look up any county with the free sales tax calculator.

NC sales tax rate in New Hanover and Brunswick counties (Wilmington and Leland)

NC generally sources a sale to where the customer receives the item or service (see the sourcing rules in the E-500 instructions). If you're based in Leland but deliver to or work for customers in Wilmington, those sales may use New Hanover's 7.00% rate. When tax is due in more than one county, file the county schedule (Form E-536) with your E-500. NCDOR's online system has a version of the return for multiple counties.

Step 3: What's taxable in NC, including services

NCDOR lists these as generally taxable at the state rate plus local and transit rates (NCDOR guidance for new registrants):

• Goods (tangible personal property), and leases or rentals of goods
• Repair, maintenance and installation services for real property, goods, motor vehicles and certain digital property. That includes cleaning and polishing to keep property working, troubleshooting, inspection and monitoring, and installing items like flooring, cabinets, countertops, windows and doors. Installation charges are taxable even when you list them separately (NCDOR: RMI services)
• Certain digital property: digital audio, video, books, newspapers and magazines, photographs and greeting cards (NCDOR)
• Rentals of accommodations, such as hotel rooms and short-term rentals
• Service contracts, admission charges, laundry and dry cleaning, and prepaid phone service
• Prepared food, alcohol and tobacco

Work done under a real property contract (a capital improvement, such as building a new deck or an addition) is treated differently from repair work. NCDOR's Sales and Use Tax Bulletin 75 and its Services to Real Property Taxability Chart cover where the line falls. Many professional services, such as consulting, bookkeeping and legal work, aren't on NC's taxable list. Check with NCDOR if you're not sure, or take the Do I need to collect sales tax? quiz.

Step 4: Resale and exemption certificates (Form E-595E)

• Buying for resale: give your supplier a completed Form E-595E, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption, or give them your name, address, registration number, reason for exemption and type of business electronically. If you end up using the item instead of reselling it, use tax applies to it.
• Selling to exempt buyers: keep the E-595E (or the MTC Uniform Certificate) they give you. If your records don't show why a sale was exempt, you're liable for the tax.
• Misusing an exemption certificate brings a $250 penalty for each misuse (NCDOR; certificates).

Step 5: Filing frequency and E-500 due dates

NCDOR assigns your filing frequency when you register and mails you a notice if it changes. NC has no annual filing (NCDOR: Filing frequency and due dates):

Weekend and holiday rule: a return and payment due on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday is on time if you file and pay by the next business day (NCDOR FAQ; Directive TA-18-1). The dates below apply that rule.

Monthly filers (Form E-500)

Quarterly filers

These dates follow NCDOR's rules: the 20th of the next month for monthly filers and the last day of the month after the quarter for quarterly filers, moved to the next business day when that day is a weekend or NC state holiday. If NCDOR gives you a different date, use theirs.

Step 6: How to file and pay NC sales tax online (E-500)

1. Open NCDOR's online file and pay system for Form E-500 (NCDOR: File and pay E-500). It's free. Choose the version for tax due in one county, or the one for multiple counties if you sell in more than one county.
2. Enter your account ID and the period.
3. Report gross receipts and taxable sales, including sales for each county and purchases subject to use tax. If no tax is due for the period, enter 0.00 on Line 21 and file anyway.
4. Pay. The online system takes payment by bank draft, Visa or MasterCard. Registered businesses can also pay by EFT through ACH credit. Monthly-with-prepayment filers must file and pay online, making two payments: one for the current period and one for the prepayment (NCDOR: Monthly with prepayment).
5. Save your confirmation. Monthly and quarterly filers can also mail a paper E-500 by calling NCDOR at 1-877-252-3052 for a coupon booklet.

Late filing or payment: the penalty is 5% per month for late filing (up to 25%), plus 5% for late payment, plus interest. See Step 11.

Step 7: Marketplace facilitators (Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Airbnb)

A marketplace facilitator that's engaged in business in North Carolina is treated as the retailer for each sale it handles for you. It collects and sends in the NC sales tax on those sales (NCDOR: Marketplace facilitators; Bulletin 59). You still collect on sales you make yourself, through your own website, at markets or in person. Check NCDOR's Marketplace Facilitators FAQ for how facilitated sales are treated on your own return.

Step 8: Out-of-state sellers and economic nexus

A remote seller must register and collect NC sales tax once its gross sales sourced to North Carolina are more than $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year. That total includes sales made through marketplaces. NC doesn't use a transaction count. NCDOR says that starting July 2, 2026, a seller whose only connection to NC is this threshold must begin collecting on the first day of the first calendar month at least 60 days after its sales pass the threshold. A seller with a physical presence in NC has to collect right away (NCDOR: Remote sales).

Step 9: Occupancy tax on short-term rentals (Airbnb and Vrbo in Wilmington and the beaches)

• State and county sales tax: rent from accommodations is taxed at the state rate plus local and transit rates. That's 7.00% in New Hanover County and 6.75% in Brunswick County. Cleaning, pet, linen, reservation and similar fees count as part of the taxable rent (NCDOR: Rentals of accommodations; Bulletin 6). You report this on Form E-500.
• Local room occupancy tax: counties and towns charge this separately, and you file it with them, not with NCDOR. New Hanover County lists a 6% room occupancy tax, with 6% rates listed for Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. Monthly reports are due through the county portal by the 20th (New Hanover County Finance). For Brunswick County properties, including Leland and the beach towns, check with Brunswick County and the town for the current rate and how to file.
• Who collects: Airbnb says it collects North Carolina state and local sales tax and the local occupancy taxes on NC reservations (Airbnb Help Center). For bookings you take directly or through a platform that doesn't collect, you collect and file yourself. See our Airbnb and short-term rental tax guide.

Step 10: Records to keep

• Complete sales records for each period, including sales by county if you sell in more than one.
• Every E-595E or other exemption certificate you accept. If your records don't show why a sale was exempt, you're liable for the tax.
• Purchase invoices that show the tax you paid. Otherwise you may owe use tax.
• Marketplace and platform reports, plus E-500 confirmations and payment records.

NCDOR can inspect these records at any reasonable hour.

Step 11: Penalties and interest

Sources: NCDOR guidance for new registrants; NCDOR interest rate.

Step 12: Behind on NC sales tax? How to get caught up

1. Register now if you should have, and start collecting on new sales.
2. Rebuild each missed period from deposits, invoices and platform reports, county by county.
3. File every missing E-500, including zero returns. Late-filing penalties grow each month up to 25%, and interest keeps adding up.
4. Got an NCDOR notice? Respond by the date it gives. NCDOR's collections pages explain options, including installment payment agreements (NCDOR: Collections).

We help you understand it and get caught up: figuring out what's owed by period and county, organizing records, and preparing your filings or payment plan request for you to submit. Enhance Finance works with North Carolina clients remotely.

More free NC tools

Try the NC county sales tax calculator or the Do I need to collect sales tax? quiz, or read Starting a Business in NC and the Free NC Tax Guides. Selling in Connecticut too? See the CT sales tax guide.