Invoice with US sales tax
When you do have to charge sales tax, the invoice mechanics are simple: taxable items, subtotal, then a visible tax line with the rate — “Sales tax (8.25%)” — computed on the discounted amount. The builder below arrives with the tax field open; enter your combined state-plus-local rate and it computes and prints exactly that.
The hard question is never the arithmetic — it’s whether your sale is taxable in your state at all, and at which combined rate. That varies by state, by locality, and by what you sell; this page gives you the honest map, not a rate table that would be wrong somewhere by Tuesday.
Preset: sales-tax invoice — edit the rate to your combined state + local rate
How it works
- Open this page — the invoice builder is already set up for “Invoice with US sales tax”.
- Fill in your details, the client, and your line items. The preview updates as you type.
- Everything is computed on your own device — totals, tax, the PDF itself. Nothing is uploaded.
- Click “Download PDF” and send the invoice to your client. Your details stay saved on this device for next time.
Where services stand, state by state — the shape of it
Five states charge no state-level sales tax at all: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon (Alaska allows local ones). At the other pole, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota and West Virginia tax services broadly by default. Everywhere else lives in between: goods are generally taxable, most professional services aren’t, and specific service categories — repair and installation, cleaning, photography with deliverables, digital products — get pulled into the tax base state by state.
The rate is layered too: state rate plus county, city and special-district add-ons make the combined rate, which is the one that belongs on your invoice. Your state’s department of revenue publishes both the taxability rules and a rate lookup — that, not a generic blog table, is the source to trust with your pricing. Our freelancer sales-tax guide walks through the questions in order.
Good to know
- Register for a sales-tax permit before collecting — collecting tax without registration is unlawful in most states, and “I was being cautious” doesn’t cure it.
- Show the rate in the label (“Sales tax (7.5%)”) — several states require tax stated separately, and every customer reconciles a visible rate faster.
- Selling to out-of-state customers can create obligations in their state past economic-nexus thresholds (commonly $100,000 in sales — thresholds vary and change). If you’re scaling past your home state, that’s the moment for professional advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is sales tax applied before or after a discount?
After, in the standard case: a discount you give reduces the sale price, and tax applies to what the customer actually pays. This builder computes it that way — discount off the subtotal, then tax on the result. (Manufacturer-reimbursed coupons at retail can differ, but that’s not invoice territory.)
What rate do I charge — my location or the customer’s?
Within your own state, it depends on whether the state uses origin- or destination-based sourcing; across state lines, it’s generally the destination state’s rules once you have obligations there. Your state DOR’s guidance for your business type answers your specific case — this genuinely isn’t a place for a universal rule, because there isn’t one.
Do I charge sales tax on labor?
In most states, standalone professional or personal-service labor is untaxed; repair and installation labor attached to goods is taxable in a fair number of them; and in the broad-base states (HI, NM, SD, WV) services are taxable by default. Search “[your state] sales tax on services” on your state DOR site — most publish a plain-language page.