Taxes in Winston-Salem
North Carolina's flat state income tax is scheduled to step down from 4.25% (2025 tax year) to 3.99% (2026 tax year) under enacted phase-down legislation -- though at least one 2026-dated tax guide found this session still listed 4.25%, a discrepancy disclosed here rather than resolved. Forsyth County's combined sales tax rate is 7% (4.75% state plus 2.25% county), and property tax -- covered in full on its own topic page -- is where the more significant state-and-local tax exposure actually sits for a homeowner.
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Learn moreNorth Carolina's Flat Income Tax: A Scheduled Step-Down, With One Unresolved Discrepancy
North Carolina moved from a graduated income tax system to a flat rate in 2014 (starting at 5.8%) and has been reducing that flat rate on a legislated schedule since. The rate was 4.25% for the 2025 tax year, and enacted phase-down legislation schedules it to drop to 3.99% for the 2026 tax year. That said, at least one 2026-dated tax guide reviewed this session still cited 4.25% as the 2026 rate -- possibly a page that had not yet been updated for the new tax year, though this session could not independently confirm which figure is correct without a direct NCDOR (NC Department of Revenue) pull. Confirm the current-year rate directly with NCDOR before relying on either figure for tax planning.
Forsyth County's Combined Sales Tax Rate
The combined sales tax rate in Forsyth County is 7%, per 2026 sales-tax rate aggregators (Avalara, SalesTaxHandbook) reviewed this session: North Carolina's 4.75% state base rate plus a 2.25% Forsyth County local rate. This is meaningfully below the 8.25% combined rate cited for Houston in this dataset's Texas records, and below many other states' typical combined rates.
No Local Income Tax
North Carolina does not permit cities or counties to levy a local income tax on top of the state rate -- Winston-Salem and Forsyth County residents pay only the state's flat rate on income, a genuine simplicity advantage relative to states (or, in some cases, cities) that layer a local income tax on top of a state one.
Property Taxes (Summary -- See Full Topic Page)
Property tax is the more significant state-and-local tax exposure for a Winston-Salem homeowner specifically: the city carries the highest median effective rate within Forsyth County at a cited 1.34%, above the roughly 1.02% national median, following a 2025 reappraisal that pushed most assessed values up sharply. See the property-taxes topic page for the full breakdown, the elderly/disabled homestead exclusion, and how North Carolina's lack of an interim assessment cap compares with Texas's and Florida's -- detail this summary intentionally does not repeat.
Key takeaways
- NC's flat income tax is scheduled to drop from 4.25% (2025) to 3.99% (2026) under enacted phase-down law, though at least one 2026 source still listed 4.25% -- confirm the current rate directly with NCDOR.
- Forsyth County's combined sales tax rate is 7% (4.75% state + 2.25% county) -- below the 8.25% cited for Houston in this dataset's Texas records.
- North Carolina permits no local income tax on top of the state rate -- a genuine simplicity advantage.
- Property tax is the real state-and-local tax burden for a homeowner -- Winston-Salem's rate (1.34%) is the highest within Forsyth County; see the property-taxes topic page.
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