Tax-Free by the Sea

One reason the crowds keep coming to Rehoboth Beach has nothing to do with sand or surf. It is the price tag. Delaware is one of only a handful of states in the entire country with no sales tax at any level, no state tax, no county tax, no city tax.

Whatever the sticker says is what you pay. For visitors from neighboring states that number feels almost magical. A shopper from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Maryland is used to paying an extra six percent or more on every purchase.

Cross into Delaware and that surcharge simply vanishes. Along Route One just outside Rehoboth, the Tanger Outlets have turned that quirk into a destination in its own right, with well over one hundred brand name stores across its outlet centers drawing carloads of bargain hunters who fold the trip into a beach weekend. The tax-free rule covers nearly everything on the shelf, clothing and electronics included, which is why Delaware pulls in shoppers from across its borders year round.

So when you carry an armful of boardwalk fudge or a bag of outlet clothes back to the car, remember that in Rehoboth the ocean is free and, in a sense, so is the sales tax.