POS system for Illinois businesses
Illinois charges 6.25% on general merchandise, and Chicago and other home-rule cities, counties and transit districts stack their own rates on top. SeroPOS keeps each part as a rate inside one tax group, and a separate group for qualifying food and drugs.
Illinois in SeroPOS
State, county and city group
Add 6.25% and each local rate that applies, then combine them into one group for general merchandise.
A food and drug group
Qualifying groceries and medicines are taxed differently, so they take their own group with the local parts that apply.
Restaurant food on the full group
Prepared food sold by restaurants is taxed at the general merchandise rate plus local taxes.
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.
Illinois sales tax at a glance
Illinois taxes general merchandise at 6.25% as of 2026, administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue. Home-rule cities, counties, transit districts and other local bodies add their own rates. In Chicago the combined rate on general merchandise is 10.25%, among the highest in the country.
Qualifying food for home use, prescription and non-prescription medicines and some medical appliances are taxed differently. The state's 1% tax on groceries ended on January 1, 2026, and many cities and counties, including Chicago, adopted their own local grocery tax in its place. Restaurant meals are taxed at the full rate. Confirm the rates for your address with the department.
Building your tax group in SeroPOS
In the back office go to Settings, then Tax Rates, and add the state rate of 6.25%. Then add each local rate that applies at your address, such as your county rate, a transit district rate and your city's home-rule 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 "Chicago 10.25%". Make it the default tax so new products pick it up, and add a 0% rate for exempt items. Then build a second group for qualifying food and drugs that holds only the parts that apply to them in your area.
Grocers, pharmacies and convenience stores
A Chicago corner store may ring up three tax setups in one basket: soft drinks and snacks on the general merchandise group, qualifying groceries on the food group and medicines on their own rate. In SeroPOS the tax sits on each product, so the cashier scans and each line is taxed correctly.
Because the grocery rules changed in 2026, check your food products before you open. Filter the back office product list by tax to see everything on the food group, and use bulk edit to move a selection of products to a new group in one go. The Product Taxes section of the daily sales summary then confirms what was charged.
Taking card payments
The cashier picks Debit or Credit on the payment screen and SeroPOS hands the amount to the terminal. Global Payments terminals connect through Global Pay Cloud, bound to each till by the terminal's device reference, or SeroPOS can run directly on a T650P. Gravity Payments terminals are set up with your account details and device name.
A tip typed on the terminal prints on the receipt as Tip / Gratuity, and batch close runs from the till's terminal menu. If a sale fails to save after an approval, the charge is kept and recorded again, so the books match the batch. SeroPOS also has an optional credit card surcharge of up to 2%, if your state and card network rules allow one.
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 Chicago?
As of 2026 the combined rate on general merchandise in Chicago is 10.25%, made of the 6.25% state rate plus county, transit and city rates. Groceries, medicines and some other items are taxed differently. Confirm the current rates for your address with the Illinois Department of Revenue.
How do I combine the Illinois state rate and my local rate in a POS?
Create the state rate (6.25%) and your local rate (your county, transit 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 "Chicago 10.25%". Assign the group to taxable products. Customers see one tax total, while reports keep each part.
Did Illinois stop taxing groceries in 2026?
The state's 1% tax on qualifying groceries ended on January 1, 2026. Many cities and counties, including Chicago, adopted a local grocery tax to replace it, so groceries may still carry a local rate at your address. Check with the Illinois Department of Revenue and set up a food tax group to match.
Are these Illinois 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 Illinois 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.