States Without Sales Tax: What Online Sellers Still Owe (2026)

Five states have no statewide sales tax in 2026: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon, often remembered by the acronym NOMAD. The other 45 states and Washington, D.C. all levy one, according to the Tax Foundation's state sales tax rate data (rates as of January 1, 2026).

Here's the part most lists skip: for online sellers, "no sales tax" does not mean "no obligations." Alaska has more than 100 municipalities that charge local sales tax and a statewide registration system for remote sellers. Delaware and Washington tax your gross receipts instead. And if your business is based in Oregon or Montana, you can still owe sales tax to dozens of other states the moment your shipments cross their economic nexus thresholds. This guide covers what actually applies to you as a seller, in both directions.

Key Takeaways

• The five no-sales-tax (NOMAD) states in 2026 are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon (Tax Foundation).
• Alaska is the big asterisk: 100+ municipalities levy local sales taxes up to roughly 7.5%, and remote sellers over $100,000 in Alaska gross sales must register with the ARSSTC. The 200-transaction test was removed effective January 1, 2025.
• Sales tax follows the buyer, not the seller. Under South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018), the destination state's rules decide whether you collect.
• Being based in a NOMAD state exempts nothing. An Oregon or Montana seller shipping into California or Texas can owe those states' tax once past their $500,000 thresholds (CDTFA, Texas Comptroller).
• Delaware charges a gross receipts tax of 0.0945% to 1.9914% on the seller's total revenue with no deductions (Delaware DOR).

What Are the NOMAD States?

Definition: The NOMAD states are the five U.S. states with no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware. As of January 1, 2026, the remaining 45 states and the District of Columbia all impose a statewide sales tax (Tax Foundation). Alaska allows local-level sales taxes even though it has none at the state level.

The acronym is a memory aid, not a legal category. Each of the five states treats sellers differently, which is exactly why the label misleads people. If you're new to how states assert taxing authority over out-of-state sellers, start with our explainer on what economic nexus is, then come back for the state-by-state specifics below.

Which States Have No Sales Tax in 2026?

All five NOMAD states have a 0% statewide sales tax rate, but only three of them are genuinely clean for sellers. The table below shows the catch in each state, sourced from the Tax Foundation, the Delaware Division of Revenue, the Multistate Tax Commission, and the ARSSTC.

So the honest ranking for online sellers: New Hampshire, Oregon, and Montana are clean. Delaware taxes the seller instead of the buyer. And Alaska is only "no sales tax" if you ignore the 100+ municipalities that do tax sales.

The Alaska Exception: Local Taxes and the $100K ARSSTC Rule

Alaska has no state sales tax, but more than 100 of its municipalities levy their own local sales taxes at rates up to roughly 7.5%, including Juneau, Sitka, and Kodiak (Tax Foundation). To keep remote sellers from filing in dozens of individual boroughs and cities, those jurisdictions banded together under the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission (ARSSTC), which provides single-point registration and filing.

The registration trigger is a single revenue test. Per the ARSSTC, remote sellers and marketplace facilitators with more than $100,000 in gross sales into Alaska in the current or previous calendar year must register with the ARSSTC within 30 days of meeting the threshold. The old 200-transaction test is gone: the ARSSTC states it "was removed effective 1/1/2025," after the Commission amended its Uniform Code in July 2024. Sellers who stayed under $100,000 in 2024 gross sales were allowed to cancel their registration for 2025 (Sovos).

One practical note: the $100,000 test counts gross sales into Alaska, so marketplace and direct sales both matter for measuring the threshold. If you crossed the threshold and aren't sure what happens next, our guide on what to do when you've triggered nexus walks through the registration sequence.

Selling INTO No-Tax States vs Selling FROM One

This is the section that trips up the most sellers, so here is the rule stated plainly: sales tax collection follows the buyer's state, not yours. Since South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 585 U.S. 162 (2018), a state can require an out-of-state seller to collect its sales tax based purely on economic activity, meaning sales volume into that state, with no physical presence required. Each destination state sets its own thresholds.

That single rule answers both directions of the question:

Selling into a NOMAD state: Shipping orders to customers in New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, or Delaware creates no sales tax collection duty, because there is no statewide sales tax to collect (Tax Foundation; Delaware DOR). Alaska is the exception: pass $100,000 in gross Alaska sales and the ARSSTC registration requirement kicks in for its local taxes.

Selling from a NOMAD state: Your home state's 0% rate is irrelevant to every other state. An Oregon-based store shipping nationwide is judged, state by state, against the economic nexus thresholds of each buyer's state. Cross Texas's threshold and Texas expects you to collect Texas tax; your Oregon address changes nothing (Texas Comptroller).

If you remember one thing from this article, make it this asymmetry: the NOMAD label protects your buyers in those five states, not you as a seller shipping everywhere else. Our state-by-state nexus guides break down each destination state's specific rules.

Do You Still Owe If Your Business Is in Oregon or Montana?

Yes, potentially in up to 45 states plus D.C., and this is the most expensive misconception in this article. Sellers based in Oregon, Montana, or New Hampshire often assume that because they have never collected sales tax at home, they never need to collect it anywhere. Wayfair ended that logic in 2018: the collection obligation is set by the destination state's economic nexus thresholds, so an Oregon or Montana seller shipping into California or Texas can owe those states' tax despite having no home-state sales tax at all (Supreme Court opinion).

The thresholds you're measured against vary by state. The most common economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales into the state, but the two biggest markets are notable exceptions at $500,000: Texas requires remote sellers to obtain a permit only above $500,000 in Texas revenue in the preceding twelve months (Texas Comptroller), and California requires registration above $500,000 in total California sales in the current or preceding calendar year (CDTFA).

A concrete example: a Montana seller doing $2 million a year spread across the country might owe registration and collection in a dozen states while legitimately owing nothing in Montana. The trap is that no one tells you when you cross a threshold; each state expects you to track it yourself. For the two $500K states specifically, see our Texas nexus guide and California nexus guide for what counts toward the threshold and when the clock starts.

Gross Receipts Taxes: The "Not a Sales Tax" Taxes

Two states prove that a 0% sales tax rate can coexist with a real tax on sellers: Delaware among the NOMAD five, and Washington as the cautionary comparison. A gross receipts tax is levied on the seller's total revenue rather than added to the buyer's receipt, and it typically allows no deductions, so it applies even to low-margin or unprofitable sales.

Delaware has no state or local sales tax (Delaware DOR), but it levies a gross receipts tax on the seller's total gross revenues with "no deductions for the cost of goods or property sold, material or labor costs." Rates range from 0.0945% to 1.9914% depending on business activity, with petroleum-related rates variable up to 2.4218% (Delaware gross receipts tax FAQs).

Washington is the flip side: it has a statewide sales tax and a business and occupation (B&O) tax, a gross receipts tax with no deductions for labor, materials, taxes, or other costs. The retailing classification rate is 0.471% (Washington DOR). Remote sellers with Washington nexus can face both obligations; our Washington nexus guide covers how they interact.

The lesson for sellers evaluating "tax-free" states: always ask who the state taxes, not just whether a sales tax exists. Delaware buyers pay nothing at checkout, but a Delaware-based seller still writes a check on every dollar of revenue.

The Trend: States Dropping Transaction Thresholds

The direction of travel is clear: states are moving to revenue-only nexus tests and scrapping the old 200-transaction trigger. This matters most for low-price, high-volume sellers, who under the old rules could trigger nexus with 200 sales of a $10 item, just $2,000 in revenue. States that have eliminated the transaction threshold include (Avalara; ARSSTC):

• Louisiana (2023)
• Indiana (2024)
• North Carolina (July 1, 2024)
• Wyoming (July 1, 2024)
• Alaska (ARSSTC) (January 1, 2025)
• Utah (July 1, 2025)

For sellers, this is genuinely good news: revenue-only tests mean fewer surprise registrations triggered by order count alone. But it cuts both ways. As more states standardize on a dollar threshold, tracking your rolling revenue into each state becomes the entire game, and the thresholds are checked against each state's measurement period and definition of gross sales, which vary.

FAQ

Do I charge sales tax when shipping to Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, or Delaware?

No. These four states have no statewide sales tax to collect (Tax Foundation), and Delaware confirms it has no state or local sales taxes (Delaware DOR). Alaska is different: local jurisdictions tax sales, and sellers over $100,000 in Alaska gross sales must register with the ARSSTC.

My business is in a no-sales-tax state. Do I ever need to collect sales tax?

Very likely yes, if you sell into other states at volume. Under Wayfair, each destination state's economic nexus threshold applies to you regardless of your home state, most commonly $100,000 in sales, though Texas and California use $500,000 (Texas Comptroller; CDTFA). See what economic nexus is for how thresholds are measured.

Is Alaska really a no-sales-tax state?

Only at the state level. More than 100 Alaska municipalities levy local sales taxes up to about 7.5% (Tax Foundation), and remote sellers above $100,000 in gross Alaska sales must register with the ARSSTC within 30 days of crossing the threshold. The 200-transaction test was removed effective January 1, 2025 (ARSSTC).

Does Delaware's "no sales tax" mean sellers there pay no tax on sales?

No. Delaware levies a gross receipts tax directly on the seller's total gross revenue, at rates from 0.0945% to 1.9914%, with no deductions for cost of goods, materials, or labor (Delaware DOR). Buyers pay nothing at checkout; the seller pays on revenue.

The Bottom Line for Sellers

The NOMAD list answers a consumer question, not a seller question. For sellers, the useful facts are these: shipping to New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, and Delaware is collection-free; Alaska requires ARSSTC registration above $100,000; Delaware and Washington tax gross receipts; and being based in a no-tax state exempts you nowhere else, because Wayfair made the buyer's state the one that counts.

Selling from a no-tax state doesn't exempt you in the other 45. If you ship nationwide, the real question is which destination states you've already crossed thresholds in. Run Taxero's free nexus check to see where you stand, state by state.

---

This article is for general information only and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Rules change and your situation is specific, so consult a tax professional or the state's own guidance.