The Town of San Tan Valley's sales tax takes effect Thursday, Oct. 1, and businesses operating inside the town limits will need a town business license.

The general rate is 2.25%. It applies to retail sales, restaurants and bars, rentals, utilities and use tax. It is added to the 6.7% already charged across the San Tan Valley area, so the general rate inside the town limits becomes 8.95%. Outside the town limits, the rate stays at 6.7%.

Construction contracting is taxed at 5%, and hotels at 4.25%. Construction contracts signed before Oct. 1 may qualify for what the state calls pre-existing contract treatment, and the Arizona Department of Revenue tells contractors with those contracts to contact the town for instructions.

Groceries Are Not Included Yet

Food bought for home consumption is not part of the Oct. 1 change. A separate 2.25% tax on retail food for home consumption starts Jan. 1, 2027.

Who Receives It

Businesses charge the tax on their sales and report it to the Arizona Department of Revenue on their TPT returns. The department passes the town's share to the town. The town does not receive it directly. For questions about your own account or what you owe, the state revenue department is the authority.

What Business Owners Need to Do

Business licenses can be processed starting Oct. 1, and businesses have until Dec. 31, 2026 to finish. Any business that signs up during that early period is covered through Dec. 31, 2027.

Licenses go through the town's permitting portal, where a licenses section opens Oct. 1. Our guide, Do You Need a Town of San Tan Valley Business License?, explains who needs one, who is exempt and what the application asks for.

There Are Two Licenses, and They Are Not the Same Thing

Businesses in the town limits need both.

The first is the state tax license, called a transaction privilege tax, or TPT, license. It comes from the Arizona Department of Revenue, and it is the license a business uses to charge and report sales tax. Once the town's tax starts, the town charges a fee on that license. For 2026 the fee is $0 for a business that already holds a TPT license by Sept. 30, and $2 for a business that first gets one between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Every business inside the town limits will pay the town's $2 renewal fee on it for 2027.

The second is the town's own business license, which costs $50 for most businesses and covers operating inside the town limits.

Town staff compare the two to a state vehicle registration and a city permit. One does not replace the other.

If You Already Have a TPT License

The Arizona Department of Revenue says it is adding the town's code, SZ, to the licenses of businesses inside the town limits, and will mail the updated licenses to the address on file. A business owes the applicable town tax on its taxable sales beginning Oct. 1, even if its updated license has not arrived by then.

Adding the town to your AZTaxes account is how your TPT returns pick up the town's rate. The town says to log in at AZTaxes.gov, open the business list, choose the license, select account update, and add San Tan Valley as a reporting jurisdiction on each business location. After that, the combined rate applies automatically on future TPT returns. That update is for your returns.

Charging customers the new rate at the register is a separate step. The state revenue department tells businesses to reprogram their point of sale systems to add the town's tax, every system handles it differently, and the town advises asking your own provider.

Where to Get the Details

We have put the full steps, the fees and the dates on one page that stays up to date: what businesses need to do for the Town of San Tan Valley sales tax.

Earlier this month we reported that the town tax had been approved but was not yet active, and that shoppers charged it early could ask for a refund. That changes on Oct. 1, when the tax becomes real and is owed.