Chicago Sales Tax 11.25- 12%

For all those who eat out in the city and near OHare - Sales Tax on restaurant food including fast food is between 11.25% to 12% (including Downtown). OUCH!!!

This is due to a recent Cook County sales tax hike by Todd Stoger.

Chicago Sales Tax 11.25- 12%

Another thing that is interesting is some areas of chicago have a ';entertainment tax'; of another point. Downtown, Rush area up to North/Wells add the point so don%26#39;t buy the non essentials over there. I used to go to Walgreens in the loop but now I don%26#39;t.

Chicago Sales Tax 11.25- 12%

Also, visitors should be aware that parking meters in the Loop cost $3.50 per hour. (Yes, that’s $84 per day.)

Meters downtown are not designed for long term parking. It%26#39;s cheaper in a garage.

OUCH indeed... no city income tax does that I suppose. What a gouge.

Thanks Scott, been a while since you posted this : )

The taxes (and parking) are the No.1 reason why we stay in Chicago much less frequently than in the past (1/yr vs 5-6x/yr). And we always figure in the taxes when we are considering the per night cost - usually end up staying one less evening as a result.

When we do stay, we strategize.

We look for a hotel w/ a free brkfst (Embassy Suites when travelling w/ children used to be our preference). We scour the web for discount coupons and look to do more of the free things (including planning the trip to catch at least one free museum day).

We take plenty of our own snacks and water bottles. We go to the grocery store and buy sandwich fixings to eat at Millenium Park or some other interesting place 1-2 times. Other days we eat a good lunch late in the afternoon, and then light in the evening, except for the one evening we plan on a good meal at a nice restaurant. We bring a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy in our hotel room, and limit the amt we drink at dinner.

We also mostly ';window'; shop now -- often w/ paper and pencil in hand. I%26#39;ve found 99% of the things that I first saw in Chicago elsewhere, including on the web, w/o the prohibitive taxes. This also means that we are not lugging home lots of extra bags --- avoiding any risk of additional baggage charges. (Further - any number of things that I might have purchased at the time (w/ lower sales tax), I realize later that I don%26#39;t want/need and I come out ahead all the way around :-)

Finally, we are planning a tr.ip to Milwaukee instead of Chicago later this summer. Museums, ballgames, restaurants --- lots of good things going on there, and less $$$

Chicago is ridiculous with the taxes, meters etc. The bottled water tax takes the cake, 5 cents on every bottle. I work for the City of Chicago but REFUSE to shop in the city. I conduct my shopping in Indiana for groceries, personal items, gas, etc. I am addicted to bottled water and Yes I buy it in Indiana also.

Way to go to encourage people to visit Chicago. I live local and love to stay downtown and find other ways to save a little money so the tax is not so hard to stomach.

Wow - that%26#39;s steep!

How about on clothes etc??? Maybe I should have stuck with Boston- thought we%26#39;d try Chicago for a change!

Downtown Chicago for clothes is 10% tax.

The Subway sandwich shop in the building that I work in downtown is 11.5% tax and it lists the 7 different taxes that are collected.