Jacksonville vs. St. Augustine Sales Tax in 2026: 4 Counties Compared, From 6.5% to 7.5%

Jacksonville shoppers pay 7.5% sales tax on most taxable purchases, compared with 6.5% in St. Augustine and the rest of St. Johns County, 7.5% in Clay County and 7% in Nassau County. On a $1,000 taxable purchase, that's a $10 difference between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, based on Florida's official 2026 rates.

The gap comes from county sales taxes added on top of Florida's statewide 6% sales tax. The Florida Department of Revenue publishes those county rates each year, and its 2026 list shows a full percentage point between the highest and lowest rates in Northeast Florida.

What is the sales tax in each Northeast Florida county in 2026?

Florida charges a 6% state sales tax, and counties can add a "discretionary sales surtax" for local projects. Here's how the four counties compare, according to the Department of Revenue's 2026 Form DR-15DSS:

St. Johns has the lowest combined rate of the four. Duval and Clay are tied for the highest, and Nassau falls in between.

How much tax do you pay on $100, $500 or $1,000?

These examples assume the whole purchase is taxable at the general rate:

A $500 taxable purchase totals $537.50 in Jacksonville and $532.50 in St. Augustine, a $5 difference. At $1,000, you'd pay $1,075 in Duval or Clay, $1,070 in Nassau and $1,065 in St. Johns.

Why is Jacksonville's sales tax higher?

Duval's 1.5% county surtax is made up of three separate half-cent taxes, according to the state's 2026 list. They took effect Jan. 1, 1989, Jan. 1, 2001, and Jan. 1, 2021. The 1989 tax has no end date; the other two are set to expire Dec. 31, 2030, and Dec. 31, 2035.

Clay's 1.5% comes from a 1% tax that began Feb. 1, 1990, and runs through 2039, plus a half-cent tax that began Jan. 1, 2021, and runs through 2050.

Nassau's 1% surtax dates to March 1, 1996, with no end date. St. Johns County's half-cent tax began Jan. 1, 2016, and is set to expire Dec. 31, 2035.

Those are the dates on the state's current list. Voters and local governments can change surtaxes in the future.

Does the county tax apply to big purchases over $5,000?

Only partly. The Department of Revenue says the county surtax applies to the first $5,000 of the sales price of a single item of tangible personal property, the kind of thing you can see and touch, like furniture or a TV.

Here's how that works on one $7,000 piece of furniture in Duval County:

• State tax: $7,000 × 6% = $420
• County surtax: $5,000 × 1.5% = $75
• Total tax: $495, for a final price of $7,495

If you simply multiplied $7,000 by 7.5%, you'd get $525, which is $30 too much.

The $5,000 cap does not apply to things like admissions, transient rentals such as hotel stays, prepaid calling arrangements or services, according to the department.

Which rate applies to online orders and deliveries?

It depends on where the item is delivered, not where the store is. The Department of Revenue says the county surtax is collected at the rate of the county where delivery is made, including for out-of-state sellers delivering into Florida.

So an online order shipped to a St. Augustine address should be taxed at St. Johns County's 6.5%, and the same order shipped to Jacksonville at Duval's 7.5%.

If you live near a county line and aren't sure which county your address falls in, the department's free Address/Jurisdiction Database at pointmatch.floridarevenue.com will look it up.

How we did this

Jax Times used the Florida Department of Revenue's Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (Form DR-15DSS) for county rates and dates, and the department's Discretionary Sales Surtax page for the $5,000 limit and delivery rules. Dollar examples are our own math using those rates.