Vermont: a 6 percent state tax, a 1 percent local option in listed towns, and food that is exempt
Vermont's sales tax looks simple until the order has a town on it. The state rate is 6 percent, and a town that has adopted the local option tax adds 1 percent on top, administered by the Department of Taxes and collected by every vendor authorized to collect Vermont tax, in state or out, on sales into that town. The twist for a Shopify store that sells food is that Vermont exempts food, food products and beverages, so the rate that decides a maple gift set's tax is often zero, and the one that matters belongs to whatever else is in the box. Vermont is also the country's top maple state. NASS's June 2026 Crop Production report lists Vermont at 3,091,000 gallons of the nation's 5,877,000 in 2026, which is 52.6 percent by our count and makes a maple gift set the natural offer here. This page sets out what the Department says about the local option tax, the food exemption and the remote seller test, then builds a classic bundle around the one weekend each March when sugarhouses open to visitors.
A classic maple gift set, timed to the March open house weekend
- When you pick what goes in the box
Start from the food. The Department's fact sheet exempts food, food products and beverages from sales tax, apart from soft drinks and alcoholic beverages in sealed containers, so a set of syrup and other food carries no Vermont sales tax. Anything that is not food, such as a tote or a wooden tool, is tangible personal property and taxable unless an exemption applies.
- If a set mixes food with taxable items
Ask the Department how a mixed set is taxed before you launch. The fact sheet we read lists what is exempt and what is taxable, but it does not say how a single price covering both is treated, and we will not guess. Email tax.business@vermont.gov with the contents and the bundle price.
- Before March 20, 2027
The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association lists the Maple Open House Weekend as March 20 and 21, 2027. Plan the set to be live and in stock the week before, and write the end date into the offer so it does not run on after the weekend. This timing is planning advice, not an association rule.
Source: Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association (site read 2026-10-10)
- When you write the story on the page
Use a figure you can source. NASS's June 2026 Crop Production report lists 3,091,000 gallons for Vermont in 2026 out of 5,877,000 for the nation, 52.6 percent by our count. Quote the source and the year, and do not claim a share for your own farm that you cannot show.
- At checkout, for the taxable items in a box
Test one order delivered to an address in a local option town and one outside, then compare the tax lines. The Department says the local option tax is destination-based and that a business outside a local option town collects it when a taxable sale is delivered into one. The 1 percent may be itemized or included in the total taxes on the receipt.
Source: Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax Guidance for Businesses
- If you ship to Vermont from another state
Count your sales into Vermont over any twelve-month period. The Department says a seller must register and collect at 100,000 dollars of sales or 200 individual transactions, whichever comes first, so a store with many small orders can cross the transaction line well before the dollar one.
- When you build the offer
Use the Classic bundle template: fixed products sold together at a bundle price. Set the bundle price from your own margin on each item, and see the pricing page for the plan requirements that apply to bundle templates.
Build it with the Classic bundle template.
Requires: Growth plan or higher, Shopify Plus may be required.
The year at a glance
Questions merchants ask
- Which Vermont towns add the 1 percent local option tax?
- The Department's table lists 38 municipalities by our count, from a row effective in April 1999 to one effective in October 2026, and marks Montgomery as rescinded as of October 1, 2025. The list changes, so look an address up in the Department's current table before you set a rate. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Vermont Department of Taxes.
- Do I charge Vermont tax on maple syrup?
- The Department's fact sheet FS-1028 says food, food products and beverages are exempt, except soft drinks and alcoholic beverages in sealed containers, so syrup on its own is food. A box that also holds taxable items is a different question the fact sheet does not answer, so ask the Department. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Vermont Department of Taxes.
- When must an out-of-state store collect in Vermont?
- The Department says a seller that made sales of at least 100,000 dollars or 200 individual transactions during any preceding twelve-month period must register and collect, under Act 134 of 2016. Vendors authorized to collect also collect the local option tax for sales into participating towns without a separate registration.
- Is shipping taxable in Vermont?
- The Department's local option guidance says delivery fees, package charges and credit card fees are part of the product and are included before tax is calculated. Whether tax applies depends on the item being delivered, since food is exempt. Ask the Department about a mixed order.
- When is the maple open house weekend?
- The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association's site lists Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, 2027. Confirm the dates with the association before you build an offer around them.
Related reading
Shipping into the state
Vermont is small, 9,217 square miles of land and about 645,000 residents, and the tax follows the place where the buyer takes possession, so one ZIP code can sit inside a local option town and the next outside it. The Department includes delivery fees and package charges in the amount that tax is figured on, which matters for any taxable item in your box, while food itself is exempt. As planning advice, not a Department rule, weigh a packed set and ship one test box to a far address before you set the price of the box.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates
Source: Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax Guidance for Businesses
Source: Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax Guidance for Businesses
Facts and sources
The Department's sales and use tax page says the sales tax rate is 6 percent and that Vermont use tax is imposed on the buyer at the same rate.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Sales and Use Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's local option tax page says a municipality's local option tax adds 1 percent to each state rate, making sales 7 percent in total (6 percent plus 1 percent), meals 10 percent, alcoholic beverages 11 percent and rooms 10 percent, and that it does not apply to motor vehicles subject to the purchase and use tax.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
By our count, the Department's local option sales tax table lists 38 municipalities, with effective months running from April 1999 for the earliest row to October 2026 for the latest, and one row, Montgomery, marked rescinded as of October 1, 2025.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax (table counted by us) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department says the local option tax is destination-based, tied to the location where the buyer takes possession of the item, and its guidance tells a business outside a local option town to collect the tax if a taxable sale is delivered to a customer within one.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax Guidance for Businesses (accessed October 10, 2026)
The local option tax page says all vendors, including out-of-state vendors, authorized to collect taxes in Vermont must collect and remit the applicable local option tax for sales in participating municipalities, that no additional registration with the Department is needed, and that returns reporting it must be filed electronically.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's guidance says delivery fees, package charges and credit card fees are all considered part of the product and are included before sales tax and the local option tax are calculated, and that on receipts a business may itemize the 1 percent or include it in the total taxes.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax Guidance for Businesses (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's fact sheet FS-1028, revised January 2024, says food, food products and beverages are exempt from Vermont sales and use tax under 32 V.S.A. section 9741(13), except soft drinks and alcoholic beverages sold at retail in sealed containers for off-premises consumption, and that all other tangible personal property is taxable unless a statute or regulation exempts it.
Vermont Department of Taxes: FS-1028, General Guidelines on Sales Tax: What is Taxable and Exempt (rev. January 2024) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's sales and use tax page says an out-of-state seller must register and collect if it made sales of at least 100,000 dollars or 200 individual transactions during any preceding twelve-month period, citing Act 134 of 2016.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Sales and Use Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
NASS's Crop Production report of June 11, 2026 lists Vermont maple syrup production of 3,091,000 gallons in 2026 and 3,009,000 gallons in 2025, against 5,877,000 gallons for the United States in 2026; by our count Vermont's 2026 figure is 52.6 percent of the national total (3,091 divided by 5,877), and no other state in the table is above 884,000 gallons.
USDA NASS: Crop Production, released June 11, 2026 (maple syrup table, 2024-2026; share computed by us) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association's site lists the 2027 Maple Open House Weekend as Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21.
Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association (site read 2026-10-10) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Vermont has 9,616 square miles in total, of which 9,217 are land.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts Vermont at 644,663 residents on July 1, 2025, which is 1,858 fewer than its 2024 estimate of 646,521.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates (accessed October 10, 2026)
Cities in Vermont
- BurlingtonBurlington, Vermont's food makers: 57 food manufacturers in Chittenden County, a city on the local option list and a farmers market, with a cycle pricing plan.
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.
Run the Vermont plan in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab.
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