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Selling to US customers from outside the US: sales tax and what to check first

A US customer pays and your store is abroad. This guide explains state sales tax after the Wayfair decision, shows how thresholds differ, and gives a first-checks list.

ESTASOFT
10 min read
Cover for a guide to US sales tax for stores outside the United States
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      Your store is in Dubai, Erbil, London or Berlin, and a customer in Ohio or Texas has just paid. Do you owe US sales tax on that order? The honest answer is "it depends on the state and on how much you sell there". Each US state sets its own sales threshold and its own way of counting, and a seller outside the US can fall inside the rules once its sales into one state pass that line.

      This guide gives you the order in which to check things: what the Wayfair decision changed, how states count your sales, a vendor's threshold list read on 3 November 2026, what Shopify's tools do and do not do, and a short word on import duties. For the wider checklist of tax, delivery and returns, read Selling from the Middle East to the UK, Europe, the US and Canada. For the store build, see our eCommerce service. The tax decisions belong to you and your adviser.

      What changed in 2018

      For many years a US state could not make a seller collect its sales tax unless the seller had a physical presence there, such as a shop, a warehouse or staff. On 21 June 2018 the US Supreme Court decided South Dakota v. Wayfair. It held that this physical presence rule was wrong and overruled the two earlier decisions behind it. States may now require sellers without a physical presence to collect, if the seller has a substantial connection to the state. Lawyers call that connection nexus.

      The Court noted that the South Dakota law it reviewed applied only to sellers that delivered more than $100,000 of goods or services into the state in a year, or completed 200 or more separate transactions, and that the law was not retroactive. The ruling did not write one national rule. It let each state write its own. According to Kintsugi, a company that sells sales tax compliance products, all 45 states with a statewide sales tax and Washington, D.C. have since adopted an economic nexus rule.

      State thresholds at a glance, from a vendor list

      Economic nexus means that your sales into a state can create the duty to register, collect and pay, even with no office or stock there. Kintsugi's guide, which it marks as last verified on 26 September 2026, shows these tests, as we read it on 3 November 2026. It is a vendor page and not an official list, so use it to find your questions. Then open the tax department site of each state you ship to and confirm the amount, the period and what counts.

      • Most states: $100,000 in sales.
      • Alabama and Mississippi: $250,000.
      • California and Texas: $500,000.
      • New York: more than $500,000 and more than 100 sales, both together, over the previous four sales tax quarters.
      • Connecticut: $100,000 and 200 transactions, both together.
      • Fifteen places add a 200 transactions test where either one creates nexus: Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
      • Four states dropped their transaction test: Alaska on 1 January 2025, Utah on 1 July 2025, Illinois on 1 January 2026 and Kentucky on 1 August 2026.
      • Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon are shown with no state sales tax. Alaska is shown with a local tax only.

      Those four changes took effect between January 2025 and August 2026. Thresholds and dates can change again, so treat any list, including this one, as a starting point. The state's own tax site is the source to rely on.

      How states count your sales

      Two state pages show why a vendor list is not enough. They count differently.

      • California. The tax department says an out-of-state seller must register once combined sales for delivery in California pass $500,000 in the preceding or current calendar year. Nontaxable sales, such as sales for resale, count toward the total. The rule applies from 1 April 2019. The FAQ does not say whether it applies to sellers outside the US, so ask.
      • Texas. The Comptroller's page, last modified on 18 May 2026, looks at gross revenue over the preceding twelve calendar months. It includes taxable and nontaxable sales, separately stated handling and transport fees, and sales for resale. A seller that passes $500,000 must get a permit and start collecting by the first day of the fourth month after the month of the crossing. The page also says remote sellers located outside the US can register by sending a form, so a foreign seller is not left out.

      Shopify's help page adds that states use different periods: calendar year, rolling twelve months, and previous four tax quarters. If you sell through a marketplace, states also differ on whether those sales count. Texas says a seller that sells only through a marketplace provider that certifies it collects the tax does not need a permit. Kintsugi says the treatment depends on the state.

      What your Shopify store can and cannot do

      • Tax is your responsibility. Shopify's tax overview says it files and remits for you only if you set up automated filing with Shopify Tax. For eligible US-based stores, Shopify can manage US sales tax on eligible orders. You stay responsible for orders that are not eligible.
      • Tool access depends on where you are. The overview says the tax services you can use depend on the location of your business. Manual Tax is the listed option for most countries, and paid third-party tax apps are available everywhere. Shopify Tax is listed for stores in the US, EU, UK and Canada. A separate Shopify page ties Shopify Tax calculations to the order's destination, and a Shopify changelog post dated 13 November 2023 says it supports international merchants who sell and ship to US buyers. The pages differ, so check what your admin offers for your business address before you plan around it.
      • Tax liability insights. If you set up US sales tax yourself, Shopify shows each state as "Action required" or "Monitoring". Monitoring starts at 80% of a state's threshold. It counts net sales, which leave out refunds, shipping and tax, so its number can differ from the state's gross figure. It does not track local taxes, it can lag by a few days, and it does not register you or file returns.
      • Register first, then switch on collection. Shopify says to get a permit from the state tax authority first. Then you add the sales tax ID in Shopify and turn on collection for that state.
      • Shopify Tax has its own fee. Its pricing page shows a free allowance, then a percentage on orders with calculated tax. For the US it shows 0.35% on Basic, Grow and Advanced, and 0.25% on Plus. Stores created before and after 13 May 2026 are treated differently, so read the page for your store.

      A first-checks list, in order

      1. Export 12 months of orders by shipping state, and again by calendar year. Mark every state above 80% of its threshold.
      2. Read each marked state's own tax page for the amount, the period and what counts.
      3. Ask whether you have a physical connection. Shopify says nexus can come from a business location in a state. Ask your adviser whether stock at a US fulfilment partner counts.
      4. Separate marketplace sales from your own store sales.
      5. Separate sales to resellers. California says sales for resale count toward the threshold even though they are not taxable, and a valid resale certificate lets you treat them as nontaxable.
      6. Register where you must, then turn on collection in Shopify.
      7. Set up filing: who files, how often, and where records are kept. Texas, for one, says sellers must keep records of marketplace sales for at least four years.
      8. Watch for trailing liability. Shopify says that falling below a threshold may not end liability at once, and the rule varies by state.
      9. Repeat the check every quarter and before each big campaign.

      Import duties, in brief

      Sales tax is charged on the sale. Import duty is a separate charge on goods entering the US, handled by US Customs and Border Protection. A CBP interim final rule effective on 24 June 2026 indefinitely suspends the duty-free exemption for goods valued at $800 or less, for all modes other than international post. A separate CBP rule covers post. The rule says shipments must now go through formal or informal entry. Its preamble says a federal law ends the exemption from 1 July 2027. The rule does not set duty rates, which depend on the product and its origin.

      Shopify's help pages say you can collect an estimate of duties and import taxes at checkout, and its pages on that feature cover a transaction fee and Harmonized System (tariff) codes, so read them first. Shopify's post dated 24 February 2026 says trade rules are shifting quickly. It also advises that if customers pay duties on delivery, you say so clearly. Ask your courier or a customs broker for the current rate on your own products before you promise a price.

      Questions for your adviser

      • Which states have we passed, or will we pass in the next twelve months?
      • Do we need to register now, and is there a way to deal with past sales?
      • Does stock held in the US, or a US partner, create nexus for us?
      • How do our wholesale and marketplace sales count?
      • Who files, how often, and what do we need to keep?
      • Do local taxes apply in the states where we sell?
      • Does selling into the US create any US income tax duty for our company? We have not covered that here.

      This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rules or ask a qualified adviser before you decide.

      How we can help

      ESTASOFT has offices in Dubai, Erbil and London. For the store side of selling to the US, see our eCommerce and Shopify services, then send a short brief on the contact page. To budget the store itself, read what a Shopify store costs for a US brand. If you plan to serve several countries, see Shopify Markets, and for return policies read returns and refunds rules for the UK, EU, US and Canada.

      Sources

      Written by
      ESTASOFT

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