Excite Tax keeps books online for Draper, Sandy and West Valley City firms; sales tax runs 7.45% to 9.05% across Salt Lake County (Utah State Tax Commission, October 1, 2026).
Yes. Excite Tax keeps the books for small businesses in Salt Lake City, Draper, Sandy, West Jordan, South Jordan, West Valley City, Murray, Millcreek and Herriman, and the rest of the valley, entirely online. There is no Excite Tax office in the county to visit, and none is needed: statements and receipts are shared electronically.
It depends on the city. As of October 1, 2026 it is 8.45% in Salt Lake City, 7.65% in Murray and 7.45% in Draper, Sandy, West Jordan, South Jordan, West Valley City, Millcreek and Herriman. The rate table lists each city's location code.
The rate for each place the business sells from. A company with a store in Salt Lake City and another in Sandy collects 8.45% at one and 7.45% at the other, and the books have to keep the two apart. The worked example shows what one wrong rate costs.
Yes. Catch-up bookkeeping works from the oldest open month forward. Unfiled Utah returns come first, because a late one owes the greater of $20 or 2%, 5% or 10% of the unpaid tax. More in catch-up bookkeeping below.
Excite Tax keeps the books and ties them to your payroll provider's reports; the provider files the payroll returns, which is not a service Excite Tax lists yet. See payroll and bookkeeping.
Excite Tax has not published the programs it works in, so this page promises none. What any program needs here is set out under software: one sales-tax rate per location, not one for the whole county.
Ask a candidate why Salt Lake City's sales-tax rate is higher than Sandy's, and where your collected sales tax sits in the books. The right answers are on this page; the rest of the checklist is under choosing a bookkeeper.
Rates In effect as of October 1, 2026 … Salt Lake County 18-000 4.85% * 1.00% 0.25% 0.30% 0.25% 0.25% 0.25% 0.20% 0.10% 7.45% … Alta 18-003 4.85% * 1.00% 0.25% 0.30% 0.25% 0.25% 0.25% 0.20% 0.10% 1.60% 9.05%
In plain terms: a sale inside Salt Lake County carries between 7.45% and 9.05% combined state and local sales tax as of October 1, 2026, and which rate applies depends on the city the sale is sourced to. That rate is the number a Salt Lake County business charges its customers and owes on its return.
Combined sales and use tax rates in effect as of October 1, 2026, from the Utah State Tax Commission chart.
| City | Location code | Combined rate |
|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 18-122 | 8.45% |
| Draper | 18-039 | 7.45% |
| Sandy | 18-131 | 7.45% |
| West Jordan | 18-155 | 7.45% |
| South Jordan | 18-138 | 7.45% |
| West Valley City | 18-167 | 7.45% |
| Murray | 18-096 | 7.65% |
| Millcreek | 18-094 | 7.45% |
| Herriman | 18-060 | 7.45% |
| Unincorporated Salt Lake County | 18-000 | 7.45% |
Most of the county shares one stack of state, county and transit taxes, which is why Draper, Sandy, West Jordan, South Jordan, West Valley City, Millcreek and Herriman all land on 7.45%. Salt Lake City's row adds two further 0.50% taxes, listed as the Correctional Facility Tax and the Capital City Revitalization Tax, for 8.45%. Murray adds a 0.20% City or Town Option Tax, for 7.65%.
The top of the range is up the canyons. Alta and Brighton carry a resort community tax, which puts them at 9.05% and 8.55%. A few special taxing areas that are not cities run higher still: the MIDA Salt Lake City area is at 10.05%.
The quarter before was the same: the chart in effect from July 1, 2026 shows the same 7.45%, 7.65% and 8.45% city rates, the rates the worked example below uses. The Tax Commission publishes a new chart every quarter, so the rates in the books are checked against each one.
A gift shop has two stores, one downtown and one in Sandy, and each sells $40,000 of taxable goods from July through September: the downtown store collects 8.45% and the Sandy store 7.45%.
Sales tax on $40,000 of taxable sales per store in one quarter, at the July 1, 2026 rates.
| Store | Rate | Taxable sales | Sales tax owed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 8.45% | $40,000 | $3,380 |
| Sandy | 7.45% | $40,000 | $2,980 |
Food and food ingredients are taxed at 3.0% statewide, not at the city rate. A Salt Lake City market that sells $5,000 of groceries collects $150, while $5,000 of general merchandise at 8.45% collects $422.50, so the register has to tag the two correctly.
Restaurants and hotels owe more than the combined rate: the chart says transient room, short-term vehicle leasing, restaurant, telecommunications and municipal energy taxes are added on top. That is why restaurant books carry more than one sales-tax account.
At the Point of the Mountain the county line runs through Draper, and the Tax Commission lists the two sides separately: Draper at 7.45% in Salt Lake County and Draper City South at 7.35% in Utah County. A Draper mailing address does not settle the rate. The Utah County page covers the other side of the line.
Excite Tax works the same way on the Salt Lake side as anywhere in Utah: online, from downtown Salt Lake City and Millcreek to West Jordan and West Valley City on the west side and Draper, Sandy, South Jordan and Herriman at the south end of the valley. These are the services:
Tax preparation follows from the same books. Excite Tax keeps the books and prepares the return they feed; a licensed CPA at TBD CPA LLC signs every return Excite Tax prepares.
The programs Excite Tax works in, the industries it takes on and its Salt Lake County prices are pending confirmation and will appear here, with a reviewed date, once confirmed.
Catch-up work starts by listing every month and every return that is open. For a Salt Lake County business, the sales-tax returns get the closest look: each quarter's sales are split by store and by rate, then compared with what was filed, so an underpayment from a wrong rate surfaces before it grows.
Late Utah returns owe the greater of $20 or 2%, 5% or 10% of the unpaid tax, depending on how late, so they come before the tidy-up of older expense coding. What the work costs, and how long it takes, is in catch-up bookkeeping cost and two years behind on bookkeeping.
Excite Tax keeps the books and matches them to the reports from your payroll provider, which files the payroll returns. Filing payroll is not a service Excite Tax lists yet.
Utah withholding returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31 in every city in the county. Closing the books against each one finds a gap between the ledger and the payroll report within the quarter. Registering for a withholding account is covered in Utah withholding registration.
No program is required by law: IRS Publication 583 accepts any system that clearly shows income and expenses. What matters in Salt Lake County is the setup. A business with a Salt Lake City store and a Sandy store needs two tax rates in its program, 8.45% and 7.45%, each tied to its location, and a rate changed only when the Tax Commission's quarterly chart changes it.
How the common programs compare is in bookkeeping software for small business.
Search results for bookkeeping services companies in the valley are long, and an office nearby says little about the work. These questions separate the candidates:
Excite Tax's own answers are on the service area page and credentials. The longer checklist is in how to choose a bookkeeper, and whether you need one at all is in do I need a bookkeeper.
Ranked and explained on the sources page.