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Shop quickly: Measure M half-cent sales tax increase kicks in July 1
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FILE PHOTO: A cash register shows the purchase of an LCD screen TV. Residents in Los Angeles County will be paying a base of 9.25 percent sales tax as of July 1, 2017.
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Aranami via Flickr
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FILE PHOTO: A cash register shows the purchase of an LCD screen TV. Residents in Los Angeles County will be paying a base of 9.25 percent sales tax as of July 1, 2017.
(
Aranami via Flickr
)
If you’re planning a big purchase in Los Angeles County, you might want to do it Friday instead of Saturday when the Measure M sales tax increase takes effect.
In November, voters approved a half cent sales tax increase to fund transportation projects that will bump the base sales tax in L.A. County to 9.25 percent. Depending on where you live and local taxes, that could rise to as much as 10.25 percent.
Savvy shopper Michael Riddick made sure to get his big camera purchase in under the wire.
"I’m lucky that I ordered the camera about four days ago so I’m gonna get some kind of a discount before the increase comes," he said.
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Riddick bought a Canon DSLR camera at a price of $1,249. He paid $109.29 in sales tax but if he’d waited until Saturday it would have cost him $6.24 more.
Sales tax rates vary city by city in L.A. County with Compton, La Mirada, Long Beach, Pico Rivera and South Gate having the highest rates – all will bump up to 10.25 percent.
On Oct. 1, the voter-approved Measure H quarter-cent sales tax will take effect to fund services for the homeless. That will increase the base rate in L.A. county to 9.5 percent. Those cities with the highest rates will see a 10.5 percent sales tax – tying parts of Chicago for the most expensive in the country.
You can see the current sales tax rate in your city here. Add a half-cent to figure out the rate as of July 1 and another quarter-cent to calculate the rate as of Oct. 1.
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