In nearly every US state that has a sales tax, yes. Marketplace facilitator laws require Amazon, as the marketplace, to calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on your behalf for sales made through Amazon. This has removed most of the day-to-day collection burden from sellers, but it does not automatically clear every registration or filing obligation, which vary by state.
Do I still need to register for sales tax if Amazon collects it?
It depends on the state. Some states still expect sellers with nexus to register and file returns even when Amazon collects and remits the tax, sometimes as informational or zero returns. Others do not. Because the rules differ by state and change, this is exactly the kind of question to confirm with a sales tax professional rather than assume.
Andrew Erickson is the founder of Inventory Hero. He has spent years working with Amazon FBA sellers on demand forecasting, restock planning, and the cash flow side of running a private-label brand. Inventory Hero exists because every spreadsheet-based inventory system he tried eventually broke — usually right before Q4.
What about sales tax on my own website or other channels?
Marketplace facilitator laws only cover sales made through the marketplace. If you also sell on your own website or through channels that do not collect for you, you are generally responsible for sales tax on those sales wherever you have nexus. Those direct channels are where most of the remaining sales tax work for FBA sellers now lives.
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Sales tax for Amazon FBA sellers looks very different than it did a few years ago. The short version: marketplace facilitator laws now require Amazon to collect and remit sales tax on your Amazon sales in nearly every US state that has one, which removed most of the burden, but it did not remove every obligation, and the details vary by state. This is an overview to help you understand the landscape and ask the right questions, not tax advice; sales tax rules change often and differ by state, so confirm your specific situation with a professional.
The single most important thing to understand is how much has changed. Following the 2018 Wayfair decision, states passed marketplace facilitator laws that put the sales tax collection duty on the marketplace, not the individual seller:1
Amazon now collects and remits sales tax on your Amazon sales in essentially every US state that has a sales tax.
You generally do not calculate or collect it yourself on those Amazon transactions; Amazon handles the rate, the collection, and the remittance.
This dramatically reduced the seller burden that used to involve tracking rates and filing in many states.
For most FBA sellers, that means the day-to-day sales tax mechanics on Amazon are handled. But "handled by Amazon" is not the same as "you have no obligations," which is where sellers still trip.
Sales tax obligations hinge on nexus, the connection to a state that creates a duty there. Two kinds matter:
Physical nexus. A physical presence in a state, which still includes inventory stored in a fulfillment center there. FBA spreads your inventory across many states, so you can have physical nexus in many of them. What changed is not the nexus; it is that Amazon now handles collection on your Amazon-channel sales. The nexus itself persists, which is why it still matters for registration and for your other channels.
Economic nexus. Since Wayfair, a state can assert nexus based on sales volume alone, once you cross a threshold of revenue or transactions into that state.
Marketplace facilitator laws shifted collection to Amazon, but nexus still governs whether you personally have registration or filing duties in a state. That is why nexus has not stopped mattering even though Amazon now collects.
Registration in some states. This is the question sellers actually come with, so here is the shape of the answer. States fall into two camps: many exempt marketplace-only sellers from registering, so if every one of your sales runs through Amazon you may owe nothing in those states; but several still expect sellers with nexus to register and file even when Amazon remits, sometimes as zero or informational returns. California is the most-cited example of a state that has expected registration despite marketplace collection. Which camp each of your states is in is published on that state's Department of Revenue marketplace-facilitator guidance page, which is the authoritative and current source. Start there, and if you sell only on Amazon, check specifically whether your nexus states exempt marketplace-only sellers.
Filing returns. Where you are registered, you generally still file, reporting the sales and often reconciling what Amazon collected. The forms and frequency differ by state.
Non-Amazon channels. Marketplace facilitator laws only cover marketplace sales. If you sell on your own website or through channels that do not collect for you, you are typically responsible for sales tax on those sales wherever you have nexus. This is where most of the remaining sales tax effort now sits.
Keeping records. Amazon's tax reports show what was collected and remitted; find them in Seller Central under Reports then Tax Document Library, and keep them, because they support your filings and reconcile your state returns against what Amazon actually remitted.
For a concrete pattern: a seller holding FBA inventory in Texas, Washington, and Pennsylvania has physical nexus in all three, and Amazon collects and remits in all three. Whether that seller must also register and file in each is the state-specific part, and it is exactly the question to settle against each state's guidance or with a professional rather than assume. The point of the example is the shape, not the specifics: collection is handled, registration is not automatically handled.
None of this is a reason to panic; it is a reason to map your specific state footprint rather than assume Amazon covers everything. Keeping this side clean also keeps your cash flow planning honest, since collected tax is not your money to spend.
A common confusion worth clearing up: sales tax and income tax are entirely separate.
Sales tax is collected from the buyer and remitted to the state; it is not your money and, for Amazon sales, Amazon now handles it.
Income tax is on your business profit and is your own obligation, federal and often state, regardless of the marketplace facilitator rules.
Getting your net profit margin and your contribution margin per SKU right feeds your income tax return; the marketplace facilitator changes do nothing to reduce that side.
This guide is about US sales tax, which is what "FBA sales tax" usually means. If you also sell abroad, know that VAT and equivalent consumption taxes are an entirely separate topic with their own registration thresholds and marketplace rules by country; treat that as its own project and get market-specific advice before you sell into it.
For most US FBA sellers today, the practical picture is: Amazon collects and remits sales tax on your Amazon sales, you keep the records, you confirm whether any of your nexus states still want you registered and filing, and you handle sales tax yourself on any non-Amazon channels. That is a far lighter load than a few years ago, but it is not zero.
The right move is not to guess. Map your nexus, understand what Amazon is and is not doing for you, and have a sales tax professional confirm your obligations state by state. The rules change, so revisit it periodically rather than assuming last year's answer still holds.
FBA sales tax in 2026 is mostly handled by Amazon under marketplace facilitator laws, which collect and remit on your Amazon sales in nearly every state with a sales tax. What remains is state-specific: possible registration and filing where you have nexus, and full responsibility for sales tax on non-Amazon channels. Keep clean records, keep sales tax separate from income tax in your mind, and confirm the specifics with a professional, because this is an overview, not tax advice. For the profitability side of your accounting, see Amazon net profit margin.
South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) allowed states to require sales tax collection based on economic activity, and states subsequently enacted marketplace facilitator laws. Amazon's current collection and remittance coverage is described in Seller Central's Tax Policies and Marketplace Tax Collection help pages (sellercentral.amazon.com). Rules and state coverage change; confirm current details there or with a tax professional. ↩