Shopify Sales Tax: Nexus, Collection and Filing (US)

US sales tax on Shopify comes in four steps: find out where you have nexus, register for a sales tax permit in those states, turn on collection for them in Settings > Taxes and duties > United States, and file returns on each state’s schedule. Shopify calculates and collects the tax at checkout. Filing and remitting stay with you unless your store is one of those Shopify now manages: the Fall ’26 Edition (October 28, 2026) added “Shopify Tax managed for you”, where for businesses new to the platform Shopify also remits the tax to each state. This article explains the mechanics and is not tax advice; check each state’s rules with its Department of Revenue or a tax professional.

Where you owe: nexus

You owe sales tax in a state where your business has nexus, a connection the state recognizes. Shopify’s guide on charging sales tax (updated October 23, 2026) describes two kinds:

• Physical nexus: an office, warehouse, distribution center, employee, a third-party affiliate, stored inventory, or even a temporary presence such as a trade show.
• Economic nexus: sales or transactions into a state above its threshold, with no physical presence. Thresholds are commonly around $100,000 in sales, but they differ: the guide gives Illinois at over $100,000 in a 12-month period and Texas at over $500,000, and some states also use a count such as 200 transactions.

Shopify Tax, available to all merchants on any plan for US sales, includes a state-by-state view of your obligations that shows when you are approaching a threshold, according to Shopify’s Tax page. That view uses the sales Shopify records, so read the last section before you rely on it.

Register and turn on collection

1. Register first. On each state’s Department of Revenue site, apply for a sales tax permit; Shopify’s guide says permits are free or low cost, often under $100, and the state assigns your filing frequency (monthly, quarterly or annually). If you sell into several of the 24 Streamlined Sales Tax states, you can register once through that system.
2. Turn on collection in Shopify. Go to Settings > Taxes and duties > United States, choose Shopify Tax or manual tax, select the state and turn on collection for it. The Tax page states that “Shopify will not start collecting sales tax on your behalf”, so you decide where.
3. Categorize products. Shopify Tax suggests a category for each product, which decides the rate where states treat products differently, such as clothing or food.

For stores created on or after May 13, 2026, with under $25 million in annual sales, Shopify Tax is free on the first $100,000 of lifetime sales, then charges 0.35% (0.25% on Plus) on orders to states where you have turned on collection and nothing on orders to other states, per the Tax page read on October 31, 2026. Older stores have separate pricing shown in their admin.

Filing: you or Shopify Tax

Shopify’s Help Center page on US taxes, read on October 23, 2026, said Shopify does not remit or file your taxes unless you use Shopify Tax and set up automated filing; since then, managed sales tax has been added for businesses new to Shopify, and the Tax page sends registration and filing to App Store apps that work with Shopify Tax. If Shopify does not manage your tax, you file yourself or through an accountant or a filing app from the App Store:

1. For each period, total gross sales, taxable sales, exempt sales and tax collected, by jurisdiction; Shopify’s tax reports give you the Shopify side.
2. Submit the return and payment on the state’s schedule.
3. File a zero return for periods with no taxable sales if the state requires it; Shopify’s guide warns that skipping one can trigger penalties.

How the numbers reach your books is covered in Shopify bookkeeping and QuickBooks and Xero.

Sales outside Shopify count too

A state’s threshold counts all your sales into that state, not only the ones made on Shopify. If you also sell on a marketplace, at markets or through another site, Shopify’s liability view does not see those sales, so add them up yourself before you decide you are under a threshold. Who collects the tax on marketplace sales, and whether they count toward your own threshold, depends on each state’s rules, so check them with the state or your accountant. Selling to other countries brings VAT, GST and duties instead; see international taxes and duties. Other operations guides are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

Does Shopify file sales tax for me? Shopify remits US sales tax for you only when your store’s tax is managed by Shopify, which the Fall ’26 Edition introduced for businesses new to the platform, or when it was already enrolled in automated filing. Otherwise Shopify calculates and collects the tax at checkout, and you file and pay each state yourself or through an accountant or app.

What is economic nexus? Economic nexus is an obligation to collect sales tax in a state because your sales or transactions there passed the state’s threshold, even with no physical presence. Thresholds are commonly around $100,000 in sales, with some states higher or using a transaction count.

Do I charge tax on shipping? That depends on the state. Shopify’s guide says that in most states shipping is not taxable when it is stated separately on the invoice and not marked up, while some states tax it as part of the sale.