POS system for Arizona businesses
Arizona doesn't have a sales tax in the usual sense. It has a transaction privilege tax, or TPT, at 5.6% for retail, plus county and city rates. SeroPOS holds the state, county and city parts as rates inside one tax group, so the total you pass on is right.
Arizona in SeroPOS
State, county and city group
Add the 5.6% state TPT and your county and city rates, then combine them into one group for your location.
City food tax
Many Arizona cities tax food for home use even though the state doesn't, so groceries may need a city-only group.
Restaurant and bar rates
Some cities use a different rate for restaurants and bars, which you can set up as its own group.
Prices with or without tax
Each product has a "price includes tax" setting, so tax-in pricing at a bar or event works without manual maths.
Global Payments or Gravity
Take card and tap payments on terminals that get the amount straight from the till, with tips coming back to the receipt.
Tax collected by period
The Tax Report shows tax on sales, purchases and expenses for any date range and location, with the invoices behind it.
Arizona TPT at a glance
Arizona's transaction privilege tax (TPT) is a tax on the seller for the privilege of doing business, though most businesses pass it on to customers. The state rate for retail is 5.6% as of 2026, administered by the Arizona Department of Revenue, which also collects county and most city TPT. Combined rates in Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa commonly run above 8%.
TPT is charged by business activity, and rates can differ between retail and restaurants or bars in some cities. Food for home use is exempt from the state rate, but many cities tax it. Confirm your rates by activity and location with the Department of Revenue before you open, and check your city's rates each year.
Building your tax group in SeroPOS
In the back office go to Settings, then Tax Rates, and add the state rate of 5.6%. Then add each local rate that applies at your address, such as your county's rate and your city's retail rate, ticking "for tax group only" so they can't be picked alone. In the SeroPOS app the same screens are under Admin, then Taxes.
Open Tax Groups and combine the rates into one group named after the place and the total, for example "Phoenix retail". Make it the default tax so new products pick it up, and add a 0% rate for exempt items. If your city taxes restaurants and bars at a different rate, build a separate group for food and drinks served on site.
Groceries and city taxes
Because the state exempts food for home use but many cities don't, a Phoenix or Tucson grocer may need two groups: the full state, county and city group for general merchandise, and a city-only group for groceries. In SeroPOS the tax sits on each product, so a mixed basket is taxed as the cashier scans.
Restaurants, cafés and food trucks usually only need the restaurant group for prepared food and drinks. If you also sell retail goods, such as merchandise or packaged items, they can use the retail group. Check your city's TPT schedule, then filter the back office product list by tax to review each group before you open.
Cards on Global Payments or Gravity Payments
SeroPOS sends the amount straight to the card terminal, so nobody keys the total twice. With Global Payments you can use Global Pay Cloud, which needs no cable or IP address, or run SeroPOS on the Global Payments T650P handheld itself through Terminal Plus. With Gravity Payments you enter your account details and device name in Gravity Pay Settings.
A tip entered on the terminal comes back and prints as Tip / Gratuity. Partial approvals ask for the balance on another card or in cash. If a card is approved but the sale doesn't save, SeroPOS keeps the approval in an outbox and records it again, and a duplicate-charge guard warns before the same card is charged twice.
Already have a merchant account? Keep it if your processor is supported. If you want to compare costs, send us a recent statement and we'll quote a rate. Card processing is arranged separately from your SeroPOS plan. Tell us your monthly card volume and the terminals you use today, and we can say which setup fits your counter before you commit.
Tax reports and QuickBooks Desktop
The Tax Report in the back office shows tax collected on sales, tax paid on purchases and tax on expenses, with an overall figure and the invoices behind each number, filtered by location and date range. Run it for your filing period, and use the Product Taxes section of the daily sales summary to see which products the tax came from.
On the Pro plan SeroPOS sends sales, payments, customers and items to QuickBooks Desktop, US edition 2021 or later (Pro, Premier or Enterprise on Windows), through the Web Connector. It can build your sales tax items, groups and tax agency in QuickBooks for you, matched by rate rather than by name. The QuickBooks Online connection is set up for Canadian companies today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the sales tax rate in Arizona?
Arizona uses a transaction privilege tax. The state rate for retail is 5.6% as of 2026, and counties and cities add their own rates, so combined rates in the larger cities are often above 8%. Confirm your rates by business activity with the Arizona Department of Revenue.
How do I combine the Arizona state rate and my local rate in a POS?
Create the state rate (5.6% state TPT) and your local rate (your county and city rates) as separate tax rates, tick "for tax group only" on the local ones, then combine them in a tax group, for example "Phoenix retail". Assign the group to taxable products. Customers see one tax total, while reports keep each part.
Are groceries taxed in Arizona?
Food for home use is exempt from the state TPT, but many Arizona cities tax it. Check your city's rate, then create a group in SeroPOS with only the parts that apply to groceries and assign it to those products. General merchandise and prepared food use your full group.
Are these Arizona sales tax rates current?
The rates on this page are well-known public rates as of 2026. State and local rates change, often at the start of a quarter, so confirm the rate for your exact address with the Arizona Department of Revenue before you open. In SeroPOS each rate is stored once, so a change is a single edit.
How much does SeroPOS cost?
Standard is $30 a month and Pro is $50 a month, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed. Standard covers the full POS for one location and three users. Pro adds the floor plan designer, multi-till, CRM, recipes, advanced reports, QuickBooks and WooCommerce. Extra locations are charged at the plan price.