Taxes in Reno
Nevada has no state personal income tax, but this record explains plainly how the state actually funds itself instead of repeating generic 'no income tax' boilerplate: the employer-paid Modified Business Tax (1.17% on quarterly wages above $50,000), the Commerce Tax on larger businesses, an 8.265% combined sales tax rate in Washoe County, and -- more so statewide than in Reno itself -- gaming taxes, alongside genuinely low property taxes covered in full on the property-taxes topic page.
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Learn moreNo State Income Tax -- A Real, Structural Advantage
Nevada is one of nine states with no state personal income tax, and Reno residents pay $0 in state income tax on wages, investment income, or retirement income. This is a real, structural, and durable advantage, not a temporary promotional rate.
How Nevada Actually Funds Itself Instead
Rather than an income tax, Nevada relies on a real, disclosed mix of other revenue sources. The Modified Business Tax (MBT) is an employer-paid tax on total quarterly wages -- 1.17% for most General Business employers, with the first $50,000 of quarterly wages exempt (financial institutions pay a separate, higher 1.554% rate). The Nevada Commerce Tax separately applies to businesses with gross Nevada revenue exceeding $4 million in a fiscal year. Statewide, Nevada also leans heavily on gaming taxes -- though this is a genuinely more important revenue driver in Las Vegas, given the scale difference between the Strip and Reno's own, real but proportionally minor, downtown casino corridor.
Reno/Washoe County's Combined Sales Tax Rate
The combined 2026 sales tax rate in Reno and Washoe County is 8.265% (Nevada's 4.6% state rate plus Washoe County's 3.665% rate). Reno itself levies no additional city-specific sales tax on top of the county rate.
Property Taxes: Real and Genuinely Low -- Pointer to Full Detail
Reno's property taxes run genuinely low relative to national norms (an effective rate of roughly 0.6%-0.75% of market value, thanks to Nevada's 35%-of-assessed-value taxable base), covered in full on the property-taxes topic page rather than repeated here, including the real 3%/8% annual bill-increase caps under NRS 361.4723.
Retirement-Income Tax Treatment: A Real, Structural Advantage
Because Nevada has no state income tax at all, Social Security benefits, pension income, and retirement account withdrawals are all untaxed at the state level -- a real, structural advantage covered further on the retiring topic page in the companion file.
Key takeaways
- Nevada has no state personal income tax -- a real, structural, durable advantage on wages, investment income, and retirement income alike.
- Nevada instead funds itself through the employer-paid Modified Business Tax (1.17% on quarterly wages above $50,000), the Commerce Tax on larger businesses, sales tax, and -- more so statewide than in Reno specifically -- gaming taxes.
- The combined sales tax rate in Reno/Washoe County is 8.265% (4.6% state + 3.665% county); Reno adds no additional city sales tax.
- Property taxes run genuinely low (roughly 0.6%-0.75% effective rate of market value) -- see the property-taxes topic page for the full detail, including real statewide 3%/8% bill-increase caps.
- Because Nevada has no state income tax at all, Social Security and retirement income are untaxed at the state level -- see the retiring topic page for the full detail.
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