Sales tax on invoices, state by state
The rate you print is the state rate plus the local rate where the customer takes delivery, applied only to what that state taxes.
On a US invoice, sales tax is a line you add only if you hold a permit to collect it in the state where the sale is taxed, and the amount on that line is built from two parts. The first is the general state rate, which ranges from 2.9% in Colorado to 7.25% in California among the 46 jurisdictions that have one; Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon have none. The second is the local rate of cities, counties and special districts, allowed in 38 jurisdictions and set by the delivery address, which is why it cannot be printed in a national table. A $1,500 taxable sale delivered in a Texas city with a 2% local rate carries $123.75 of tax at 8.25%. The table on this page gives each state's rate with a link to the revenue department or statute it was read from, and the calculator above adds your local rate to it.
Sales tax on an invoice, state rate plus local rate
Sales tax to add
$123.75
| Invoice total | $1,623.75 |
| Texas state rate | 6.25% |
| Local rate used | 2% |
Local rates depend on the delivery address: look it up with the state.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
The two numbers that make the rate
A sales tax line has a state part and a local part. The state part is fixed by state law and is the same everywhere in the state; it is what the table below lists. The local part is the sum of the city, county, transit or special district taxes at the place where the customer takes delivery. Two customers in the same city can sit in different districts, so states publish address-based lookup tools, linked in the table where the state has one. 10 of the taxing states do not allow local sales taxes at all, which makes their invoices the simplest: the state rate is the whole rate.
The generator keeps the two apart on purpose. You choose the state, the state rate fills itself in, and you type the local rate you found for the delivery address. The printed line then shows the combined rate and how much of it is local.
Only the taxable lines
Sales tax falls on what the state taxes, not on everything you bill. A typical invoice from a contractor or a retailer that also installs mixes taxable goods with labor or services that the state may not tax. With the generator, each line is either "taxable" or "not taxable", and the tax is computed on the taxable lines only. A North Carolina electrician who bills six hours of installation at $85 and two ceiling fans at $249, with installation treated as not taxable in this example and a 2.25% local rate, charges $34.86 of tax on the fans only, for a total of $1,042.86. Whether a given service is taxable is a question for your state revenue department; the invoice simply has to reflect its answer line by line.
Taxable goods and a non-taxable service on one invoice
Sales tax on the goods only
$34.86
| Invoice total | $1,042.86 |
| Combined rate | 7% |
| If the service were wrongly taxed | $70.56 of tax |
Out-of-state customers
A sale to a customer in another state is normally taxed where the customer receives it, and you only add that state's tax if you are required to collect there. Since the Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018, states may require sellers with no physical presence to collect once their sales into the state pass the state's own threshold. Each state sets that threshold, so check the destination state's revenue department before you start charging, or stop charging, its tax. If you are not registered there, invoice without that state's tax; the buyer may owe use tax on its side.
Exemption and resale certificates
Businesses that buy goods to resell, and some organizations, give their suppliers a certificate so they are not charged sales tax. On the invoice this looks like any other invoice with the covered lines marked "not taxable". The work is in the file, not on the page: keep the certificate, check that it covers the state of delivery and the type of goods, and link it to the customer so the next invoice is also right.
Deposits, credits and rounding
When a customer has paid a deposit, the tax is still computed on the full taxable price of the invoice and the deposit is deducted from the total. On a $2,400 order of custom shelving in Washington with a 3.6% local rate and $500 paid up front, the invoice shows $242.40 of tax and a balance due of $2,142.40; the deposit invoice guide covers billing the deposit itself. To correct a rate after sending, issue a credit memo and a new invoice. The generator rounds the tax to the nearest cent on the invoice total for the taxable lines.
All 51 jurisdictions and their sources
Each general rate below was read on the page of the state's revenue department or in its statute; the scheduled check of October 16, 2026 found 51 of them automatically on that page, and the methodology page lists the result for every state. Special taxes on lodging, vehicles or meals are not in this table; the most frequent reduced rates and exemptions on food and clothing follow it.
Food and clothing: frequent reduced rates and exemptions
Several states tax grocery food at a lower rate, or exempt grocery food and clothing. The cases below are read on the state's own text by the same weekly check; the generator still applies the general rate, so mark exempt lines "not taxable" and check a reduced rate with the state before invoicing it. A state that is not listed may still have exemptions of its own.
| State | Reduced rate or exemption | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Food and grocery items: 2% state rate since 1 September 2025 (general rate 4%) | revenue.alabama.gov |
| Kansas | Food and food ingredients: 0% state rate since 1 January 2025 (most prepared food excluded); local taxes still apply | kslegislature.gov |
| Maine | Grocery staples for human consumption: exempt | maine.gov |
| Massachusetts | Food for home consumption (not restaurant meals) and clothing up to $175 per item: exempt | mass.gov |
| New Jersey | Most grocery food and most clothing and footwear: exempt | nj.gov |
| Pennsylvania | Grocery store food and everyday clothing: exempt (formal apparel and sporting clothing are taxable) | pa.gov |
| Rhode Island | Food and food ingredients bought for human consumption: exempt | rules.sos.ri.gov |
| Tennessee | Food and food ingredients: 4% state rate; prepared food, candy, dietary supplements, alcohol and tobacco stay at 7% | revenue.support.tn.gov |
| Utah | Grocery food: 1.75% state rate, 3% combined everywhere in Utah | utah.gov |
For the full generator with these rates built in, use the US invoice generator; contractors who split labor and materials can start from the contractor invoice template.