Kentucky E-commerce Sales Tax Nexus Guide — 2026

For a direct-to-consumer store (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or custom) shipping to Kentucky buyers, the economic nexus trigger is $100,000 or 200 transactions in KY-destination revenue (effective 2018-10-01). Crossing that bar obligates registration, collection, and periodic filing.

Once registered, charge 6.00% state tax on most tangible personal property. Digital products, subscriptions, and professional services have different treatment — see the Kentucky SaaS page if you sell software or digital goods.

1. Register with the Kentucky Department of Revenue for a sales tax permit.
2. Configure your cart platform to collect tax at the destination rate. Enable KY in your tax settings.
3. Charge the combined state + local rate at the customer's delivery address (most states source to ship-to, not ship-from).
4. File returns on the cadence your DOR assigns (monthly, quarterly, or annually).
5. Track your Kentucky-sourced revenue monthly so you know when you're approaching or below threshold for the next period.

• Using origin-based rates (your HQ state's rate) instead of destination rates. Kentucky sources to the buyer's ship-to address — charge the KY rate, not your home state's.
• Counting marketplace sales toward the Kentucky threshold. Amazon, Etsy, and eBay sales are usually excluded in Kentucky; check the specific rule before adding them to your nexus-tracking spreadsheet.
• Waiting until year-end to register. If you cross $100,000 mid-year, you must begin collecting on sales made after the threshold-crossing date — back-tax exposure grows until you register.
• Forgetting to file zero returns once registered. Missing filings trigger penalties even when you owe no tax.

Kentucky sales tax nexus and economic nexus threshold: through July 31, 2026, a remote retailer must register and collect Kentucky sales tax once it has $100,000 or more in gross receipts from sales into Kentucky OR 200 or more separate sales into Kentucky in the previous or current calendar year — meeting either test triggers the requirement (Kentucky Department of Revenue Wayfair guidance, HB 487; collections required beginning October 1, 2018). Effective August 1, 2026, House Bill 757 (2026 Regular Session, enacted over the Governor's veto) removes the 200-transaction test for both remote retailers and marketplace providers, leaving a $100,000 sales-only threshold that counts tangible personal property, digital property, and services delivered, transferred electronically, or provided to a Kentucky purchaser; sellers registered solely because of transaction volume should review whether they can deregister under Kentucky's trailing-nexus rules. Kentucky's marketplace facilitator law (HB 354) has been effective since July 1, 2019 — Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and Walmart collect and remit Kentucky sales tax on facilitated sales, registering once for all third-party sellers per KRS 139.450 (procedure clarified by HB 249, effective July 1, 2021). Kentucky levies a flat 6% statewide sales tax with no local sales taxes, so the rate is identical at every Kentucky delivery address. HB 757 also extends Kentucky sales and use tax to data brokering services beginning August 1, 2026. Direct-to-consumer sales outside any marketplace remain the seller's own collection responsibility once nexus is met.

Read the full Kentucky overview for thresholds, filing frequency, marketplace facilitator rules, and registration links. Use the nexus calculator to check whether you have crossed the threshold. For background on the post-Wayfair economic nexus framework, see the pillar guide.

• Kentucky · Shopify
  Shopify-specific sales tax guidance
• Kentucky · Marketplace Facilitator
  Marketplace facilitator law for the state
• Kentucky · Thresholds
  Economic and transaction nexus thresholds