Sales tax on an Amazon order runs anywhere from 0% to roughly 10%, and the exact figure depends almost entirely on your shipping address and what you’re buying. Five states add no state sales tax at all. At the other end, combined state and local rates top 10% in parts of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Amazon calculates the amount at checkout before you confirm the order, so the tax you’ll owe is visible on the order summary rather than something you have to work out yourself.
What Sets Your Rate
Amazon uses destination-based sourcing, meaning the rate follows your shipping address rather than the warehouse the package leaves from. Send a gift to a relative in another city and the tax on that order is calculated for their address, not yours.
The rate itself is built in layers. The state sets a base percentage, then counties, cities, and special districts (transit, schools, and the like) stack their own rates on top. State-level rates currently span from 2.9% in Colorado to 7.25% in California. Once local taxes are added, the combined figure can climb well past the state number alone. Louisiana’s average combined rate, for example, sits at about 10.11%.
Local rates change through the year as governments and voters adjust them. Amazon tracks thousands of taxing jurisdictions and updates the rate applied to each delivery address as those changes take effect.
States Where Amazon Adds No Sales Tax
If your package ships to Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, no state sales tax is added. Alaska is a partial exception: it has no statewide tax, but some cities and boroughs impose local sales taxes, and Amazon collects those where they apply.
Why Third-Party Sellers Charge the Same Tax
A large share of what you can buy on Amazon is actually sold by independent businesses. You pay the same rate whether Amazon or a small merchant owns the inventory. Marketplace facilitator laws, now in place in more than 45 states and the District of Columbia, require the platform to collect and remit sales tax on orders processed through the site, so Amazon is treated as the seller for tax purposes.
The legal foundation for taxing out-of-state sellers came from the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., which held that states can require tax collection from sellers with significant economic activity in the state (for example, more than $100,000 in sales or 200 or more transactions annually) even without a physical location there.1Supreme Court of the United States. South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.
Tax on Shipping, Digital Items, and Prime
Sales tax doesn’t stop at the product price. Whether your shipping charge is taxed depends on your state. Many jurisdictions tax the combined total of item plus delivery; others exempt shipping when it’s listed as a separate line and reflects the actual cost of transport. Handling fees (packaging, labor, order prep) are usually taxable even where pure shipping isn’t. When shipping and handling are lumped into a single line, many states tax the whole amount because the handling portion can’t be broken out.
If you have Prime and the shipping is free, this is largely moot. It comes up on expedited orders and on third-party items that carry their own shipping charge.
Digital products carry their own patchwork. About 38 states tax at least some digital goods, but what counts as taxable varies: some tax all downloads, others only music or video, and some exempt ebooks. Amazon Prime memberships themselves are taxable in certain states because Prime bundles shipping with streaming and other services, and states that tax digital services or bundled subscriptions require Amazon to collect on the fee. Cloud-based software (software-as-a-service) is taxed in roughly 25 states and exempt in others.
Items That May Be Tax-Free
Several categories are partially or fully exempt in many states, and Amazon applies these exemptions automatically at checkout based on how a product is classified and the rules at your delivery address.
- Groceries. Many states exempt unprepared food for home consumption. Prepared foods, candy, and soft drinks are usually excluded from the exemption and taxed at the standard rate or higher.
- Prescription medications and medical devices. Most states exempt prescription drugs entirely, and some also exempt over-the-counter medications and durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs or glucose monitors.
- Clothing. A handful of states permanently exempt clothing and footwear below a set price per item, commonly $100 or $110. Anything above the cap is taxed at the full rate.
If you think something was taxed incorrectly (a grocery item charged at the general merchandise rate, for instance), you can ask Amazon customer service to review it.
Sales Tax Holidays
More than a dozen states hold annual sales tax holidays, typically in late July or August, that suspend tax on certain purchases for a short window. The most common version is a back-to-school weekend covering clothing, school supplies, and sometimes computers, with per-item price caps that commonly run from $100 for clothing up to $1,500 for computers. Some states also run separate holidays for severe weather supplies, Energy Star appliances, or outdoor recreation gear.
Amazon participates and removes tax on qualifying items shipped to eligible states during the holiday window. The exemption is triggered by the delivery address and the order date, not the shipment date. Because dates, eligible items, and caps change each year, check your state revenue department’s website before a holiday to confirm what qualifies. In 2026, for example, Florida’s back-to-school holiday runs all of August, while most other participating states hold shorter weekends in early August.
How Coupons and Discounts Change the Amount
The structure of a discount decides whether it lowers your taxable amount. A store discount set by the seller reduces the sale price before tax, so if Amazon marks an item down from $50 to $35, you pay tax on $35. Amazon promotional credits, Lightning Deal prices, and Subscribe & Save discounts work the same way.
Manufacturer coupons behave differently. Because the manufacturer reimburses Amazon for the coupon’s value after the sale, many states treat the full pre-coupon price as taxable. Use a $10 manufacturer coupon on a $50 item and you may still pay tax on the full $50 in those states.
Tax on Returns
When you return an item, the sales tax you paid on it comes back with your refund, calculated at the same rate that was charged originally. On a partial return, only the tax attributable to the returned item is refunded. If a coupon or promotion changed the taxable amount, the refunded tax reflects what you actually paid rather than the item’s full retail price. Refunds usually post to the original payment method within a few business days after Amazon processes the return.
Getting Sales Tax Removed if You Qualify
Buying on behalf of a tax-exempt organization such as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, government agency, or educational institution? You can enroll in the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP) to have sales tax removed from qualifying orders. Enrollment requires uploading your organization’s tax-exempt certificate through an Amazon Business account, and once Amazon verifies the documentation, eligible future purchases process without tax.2GSA SmartPay. Amazon.com Tax Exemption Procedures
Federal government purchasers using a centrally billed account (such as a GSA SmartPay card) are exempt from sales tax in every state under the Supremacy Clause, but they still need to enroll in ATEP for the exemption to apply automatically at checkout. States set their own rules about which organizations qualify and which categories of purchases are exempt, so the documentation you’ll need depends on your location and the nature of your organization.
Small businesses buying inventory for resale can also avoid paying sales tax by supplying a valid resale certificate. Most states accept the Multistate Tax Commission’s Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, and you’ll need an active sales tax registration number in the state where the goods will be delivered.
A Note on International Orders
Sales tax is separate from customs duties and import fees. If you buy through Amazon’s Global Store or from an international seller shipping from outside the United States, customs duties and import taxes apply on top of any domestic sales tax, and Amazon estimates and collects those as an import fee deposit at checkout.3Amazon. About Import Tax and Fees As of February 2026, the federal government has suspended the de minimis exemption that previously let imports valued at $800 or less enter duty-free, so even small international orders now carry import charges.4The White House. Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries