Retail + Ecommerce
Updated August 26, 2026
In most states, yes: if the product is taxable, the charge to ship it is taxable too. About 20 states exempt shipping when it appears as its own line on the invoice. Five states have no statewide sales tax at all. And a handful tax shipping no matter how you bill it.
That one variable, how the charge appears on the invoice, flips the answer more often than any other. This guide covers the rule in every state, what “separately stated” actually requires, and how to handle the cases that trip up online sellers: mixed carts, handling fees, and delivery in your own vehicle.
The table below covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia: whether shipping on taxable goods is taxable, whether separately stating the charge changes the answer, and the handling and allocation notes that matter.
Note: Use this table as an operational guide, not legal advice. Always confirm your interpretation with each state’s Department of Revenue before filing or invoicing.
| State / Jurisdiction | Shipping Taxable (for Taxable Goods) | Separately Stated Shipping Exempt? | Key Notes / Handling and Allocation Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama (AL) | Yes, if included in sale price | Yes, when separately stated via common carrier or USPS and paid directly or indirectly by the purchaser | Handling varies; charges included in price are taxable |
| Alaska (AK) | No state sales tax | N/A | Local jurisdictions may impose tax on shipping |
| Arizona (AZ) | Yes | Yes, if separately stated | Freight-in taxable if passed through |
| Arkansas (AR) | Yes | No, if common carrier bills customer directly. Freight charges billed directly to the purchaser by a common carrier are not subject to sales and use tax. | Allocate shipping for mixed taxable/exempt goods. Tax is imposed only on the percentage of taxable property. |
| California (CA) | Depends | Often yes if shipped directly to the purchaser by common carrier and billed at actual cost | Handling taxable; own-vehicle delivery taxable |
| Colorado (CO) | Yes | Yes, if also separable | Retail Delivery Fee applies for vehicle deliveries |
| Connecticut (CT) | Yes | No | Shipping taxable even if separately stated |
| Delaware (DE) | No state sales tax | N/A | Gross receipts tax may apply |
| Florida (FL) | Yes | Yes, if separately stated and pickup option offered | Handling taxable; customer option drives exemption |
| Georgia (GA) | Yes, | No | Delivery follows product taxability |
| Hawaii (HI) | Yes (GET applies) | Generally No | GET applies to gross receipts, including shipping |
| Idaho (ID) | No | Yes, if separately stated | Freight-in taxable; outbound separately stated exempt |
| Illinois (IL) | Depends | Yes, if optional and separate | No pickup option makes it taxable; allocate mixed carts |
| Indiana (IN) | Yes | No | Third-party billed delivery may be exempt. Postal charges billed through the U.S. Mail are also not subject to sales tax. |
| Iowa (IA) | Yes | Yes, if separately itemized | Freight-in taxable if passed through |
| Kansas (KS) | Yes | No | Included or bundled charges taxable |
| Kentucky (KY) | Yes | No | Delivery in sale price taxable; exempt if sale exempt |
| Louisiana (LA) | Depends | Yes, if separately stated | Local parish rules vary (home-rule state) |
| Maine (ME) | Yes | Yes, if shipped directly to the customer via carrier or USPS | Handling taxable even if separated |
| Maryland (MD) | Yes | Yes, if separately stated | Combined S and H always taxable |
| Massachusetts (MA) | Depends | Yes, if reasonable and reflects a cost of preparing and moving goods to a location designated by a retail customer | Excess charges or handling taxable |
| Michigan (MI) | Yes | No | Records required; otherwise taxable |
| Minnesota (MN) | Yes | No | Delivery part of sales price; allocate mixed carts |
| Mississippi (MS) | Yes | No | Shipping taxable unless good exempt. Other exemptions may apply when certain criteria are met |
| Missouri (MO) | Yes | Yes, if not required by sale | Optional charge must be separately stated for exemption to apply |
| Montana (MT) | No state sales tax | N/A | Local resort taxes possible |
| Nebraska (NE) | Yes when transaction is taxable and delivery charge paid to the retailer | Yes for U.S. postage on direct mail | Third-party billed delivery exempt |
| Nevada (NV) | Yes | Yes, if postage/shipping separate | Handling and packaging taxable; freight-in taxable |
| New Hampshire (NH) | No state sales tax | N/A | -- |
| New Jersey (NJ) | Yes | Generally No | Allocate mixed orders by price or weight |
| New Mexico (NM) | Yes (GRT applies) | Generally No | GRT covers delivery even if separate |
| New York (NY) | Yes | Only for exempt goods | Must allocate or entire shipping taxable |
| North Carolina (NC) | Yes | No | Allocation required for mixed carts |
| North Dakota (ND) | Yes | No | Third-party carrier billed to customer exempt |
| Ohio (OH) | Yes | No | Third-party billed delivery exempt |
| Oklahoma (OK) | Yes | Yes | Included in sale price taxable |
| Oregon (OR) | No state sales tax | N/A | Localities may add fees |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | Yes | No | Allocate or all taxable; 3rd-party billed exempt |
| Rhode Island (RI) | Yes | No | Allocate mixed taxable/exempt by price or weight |
| South Carolina (SC) | Yes | No | FOB terms affect delivery taxability |
| South Dakota (SD) | Yes | No | Delivery taxed like item; allocate if mixed |
| Tennessee (TN) | Yes | No | Shipping part of taxable sales price |
| Texas (TX) | Yes | No (follows item) | Shipping taxable if goods taxable; exempt if goods exempt |
| Utah (UT) | No, if separate | Yes | Freight-in taxable; outbound separate excluded |
| Vermont (VT) | Yes | No | Allocate based on price or weight |
| Virginia (VA) | Yes | Yes (shipping only) | Handling is taxable; combined S H taxable |
| Washington (WA) | Yes | No | Allocate by price or weight for mixed shipments |
| West Virginia (WV) | Yes | No | Delivery part of taxable purchase price |
| Wisconsin (WI) | Yes | No | Delivery taxable for taxable sales; allocate mixed |
| Wyoming (WY) | Yes | Yes | Included shipping taxable |
| District of Columbia (DC) | Yes | Yes, if separately stated | Combined S and H taxable; separate shipping exempt |
Quick tip: When in doubt, separately state shipping and keep documentation showing actual delivery cost. Avoid combining shipping with handling unless required; it often turns an exempt charge into a taxable one.
Usually no. California does not tax a separately stated shipping, freight, or postage charge when the goods ship by common carrier, contract carrier, or U.S. Mail straight to the buyer and the charge does not exceed your actual delivery cost. Charge more than cost and the markup is taxable. Handling fees, own-vehicle delivery, and freight-in that you bill to the buyer are taxable, and so is the whole delivery charge if you keep no record of its actual cost. Source: California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
Yes. Texas treats shipping as part of the sales price, so separately stating it changes nothing. If the goods are taxable, the shipping is taxable. If the goods are exempt, the shipping is exempt. Source: Texas Comptroller.
Yes, unless two things are true: the charge is separately stated and the buyer had the option to pick the goods up or arrange their own delivery. No pickup option means the shipping is taxable even on its own line. Source: Florida Department of Revenue.
Yes. New York taxes delivery charges on taxable sales no matter how they appear on the invoice. On a mixed order, allocate the charge or the state taxes all of it. Source: New York Department of Taxation and Finance.
Yes. Delivery charges are part of the price of a taxable sale, separately stated or not. The exception: delivery billed directly to the buyer by an independent third party is not part of your sale. Source: Ohio Department of Taxation.
No, if separately stated. Arizona’s transaction privilege tax excludes freight-out shown as its own line item. Inbound freight you pass through to the customer is part of your taxable base. Source: Arizona Department of Revenue.
Generally yes. Delivery charges on taxable goods are taxable, and separately stating them does not help. Shipping terms matter here: under FOB origin, where the sale completes at your dock, the delivery charge may fall outside the taxable price. Source: South Carolina Department of Revenue.
No, when the shipping or postage is separately stated. Handling and packaging charges are taxable, so a combined “shipping and handling” line makes the whole charge taxable. Source: Nevada Department of Taxation.
Yes. Shipping is part of the taxable sales price, however it appears on the invoice. Exempt goods carry exempt shipping. Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue.
Yes. New Mexico’s gross receipts tax applies to everything you take in on the sale, delivery included, even as a separate line. Source: New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department.
Yes. Shipping on taxable goods is taxable whether bundled or separately stated. Deliveries to buyers outside Kansas fall outside Kansas tax, though another state’s rules may pick up where Kansas stops. Source: Kansas Department of Revenue.
No, when separately stated. Idaho exempts outbound shipping shown as its own line. Inbound freight built into your cost is another story: pass it through and it is taxable. Source: Idaho State Tax Commission.
Yes. Connecticut taxes shipping on taxable sales even when separately stated. The invoice format does not matter; the taxability of the goods does. Source: Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.
No, if the charge is separately stated, reasonable, and reflects the actual cost of getting the goods to the buyer. Inflate the charge or fold in handling and the excess is taxable. Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
If you ship goods to another state, the taxability of shipping usually follows destination sourcing: the state where the customer receives the product.
Rule of thumb: Sales tax on shipping stops where your nexus stops. Compliance does not.
One state cares how the charge is labeled. Another cares who owns the truck. Another cares whether the buyer could have picked the order up. Multiply that by every jurisdiction you ship into, then add the newer wrinkle: Colorado and Minnesota now charge flat retail delivery fees on top of sales tax, and other states are studying them.
A tax engine handles this at the transaction level: it reads the delivery method, applies each destination’s rule, allocates mixed carts, and keeps the audit trail. CereTax does this in real time inside the platforms you already run, including Shopify, NetSuite, QuickBooks, and Dynamics 365. No spreadsheet of 51 rules, and no manual fixes after the fact.
In most states, yes. Tax follows the product, so taxable goods usually mean taxable shipping. The main exception is the roughly 20 states that exempt shipping when it is separately stated on the invoice.
For outbound delivery to a customer, states treat freight, shipping, postage, and delivery charges the same way; California’s tax agency, for example, lists shipping, delivery, freight, and postage as one kind of charge. Inbound freight (freight-in) is different: many states, California included, tax it when you pass it through to the buyer, even where outbound shipping is exempt.
Almost always, even in states that exempt shipping. A combined “shipping and handling” line is taxable in most states, which is why separating the two often lowers the tax on the order.
Usually yes. Most exemptions apply to common carrier or postal shipments. Delivery in your own truck is part of the sale in most states, and Colorado adds a retail delivery fee on top.
Allocate the delivery charge between taxable and exempt items, by price or by weight, and keep the math. In states like New York, failing to allocate makes the entire shipping charge taxable.
Only if you have nexus there, and then you apply the destination state’s shipping rule, not your own state’s.
Shipping tax is 51 sets of rules applied one transaction at a time. See how CereTax calculates shipping tax in real time. Talk to CereTax
