The tax free zip codes for the Nintendo eShop are any five-digit codes located in Alaska (in a city with no local sales tax), Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon. The eShop matches your account’s zip code to a tax jurisdiction and applies whatever combined state and local rate it finds, so a zip code in one of these areas produces $0.00 on the sales tax line at checkout. Commonly used examples include:
- 97330 – Corvallis, Oregon
- 97201 – Portland, Oregon
- 19901 – Dover, Delaware
- 03222 – Bristol, New Hampshire
- 59717 – Bozeman, Montana
- 99501 – Anchorage, Alaska
Nothing is special about these particular codes. Any valid zip code from Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon works, as does any Alaska zip code in a city with no local tax.
Why These States Produce Zero Tax
Five states impose no state-level sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. 1Tax Foundation. State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2026 Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire charge zero at both the state and local level, so any zip code inside those states gives you a tax-free checkout. Oregon does the same.
Alaska is the exception that catches people. There is no statewide sales tax, but individual cities and boroughs can set their own rates, and some run as high as 7%. Anchorage and Fairbanks sit at 0%, so their zip codes are functionally tax-free. Pick a random Alaska zip code from a smaller community and you may still see tax added at checkout.
How to Change the Zip Code on Your Nintendo Account
You can update the zip code on the Switch itself or through the Nintendo Account website in a browser. On the console, open the eShop and go into your account settings (often under your profile icon). The zip code field lives in the location or payment settings area. Enter a five-digit code from one of the tax-free jurisdictions, confirm, and the eShop will refresh. Future purchases will show $0.00 on the sales tax line.
Spend down any remaining eShop balance before making changes, and check that active subscriptions and pre-orders are settled, since location edits can occasionally interfere with those. Changing your country or region (as opposed to just the zip code within the United States) is a stricter process that requires your balance to be exactly zero.
Credit Card Billing Address Mismatches
The eShop verifies your credit card during checkout, and billing address errors are a common reason transactions fail. Nintendo’s support page attributes these errors to “the address information not matching up” and advises checking your full billing address against your card statement. 2Nintendo Support. Billing Address Error The billing address must also be in the same country as your account’s region.
Many users report that the eShop calculates tax from the account zip code and processes the transaction even when the card’s billing zip code differs, but this is not guaranteed. If your card is registered to a Texas address and your account says Oregon, you may hit a verification wall. Nintendo also warns that any incorrect credit card information will stop the charge from processing. 3Nintendo Support. Error Message – The Credit Cards Issuing Country Is Not Compatible With This PayPal or eShop gift cards bought with cash sidestep billing verification, which is why gift cards are popular with this approach.
Use Tax You May Still Owe
This is the part most guides skip. If you live in a state that charges sales tax and you buy something without paying that tax, nearly every such state expects you to report and pay the equivalent amount yourself as use tax. Many states now include a use tax line on their income tax returns. Use tax applies to digital goods in most states that tax them at the point of sale.
The rate you owe is your home state’s rate, not the rate of the state whose zip code you entered. Live in a state with a 6.25% sales tax, buy a $60 game through an Oregon zip code, and you technically owe $3.75 to your own state. Enforcement on individual digital purchases is rare, but the obligation is legal, not optional. Failing to pay use tax is technically tax evasion rather than a loophole.
Oregon is the only one of the five states that also has no use tax. Actual Oregon residents owe nothing at any level. Everyone else remains subject to their home state’s rules.
Account Risk Under Nintendo’s Terms
Nintendo’s Switch User Agreement states that “your rights under this Agreement will immediately terminate if you do not comply with any term of this Agreement.” 4Nintendo Support. Nintendo Switch – User Agreement The agreement also carves out an exception to its liability limits for “intentional misconduct or fraud.”
There are no widespread reports of Nintendo banning accounts solely for an out-of-state zip code, and the company appears to have larger enforcement priorities. Still, your entire digital library is tied to that account. If Nintendo ever chose to enforce location accuracy, you would have no grounds to argue compliance. The practical risk is low; the stakes are every game you have ever purchased.
What the Savings Actually Come To
Your savings depend on your home state’s rate and how much you spend. On a $60 game at a 7% combined rate, you save $4.20 at checkout. Around $300 in digital purchases over a year saves roughly $21. Heavier spenders on full-price titles and DLC packs save proportionally more. Whether that outweighs the use tax obligation, potential billing address hassle, and theoretical account risk is a personal call. Anyone already living in one of the five tax-free states pays the listed price with nothing extra, no zip code changes required.