Sales tax on an invoice: what we do, and what is still yours
This one is short, because the useful part is a boundary rather than advice.
What we do
You can put a sales tax line on an invoice. We will calculate the amount from the rate you enter, show it separately, add it to the total, and collect it along with the rest when your customer pays. The tax appears on the invoice as its own line, which is what your customer's bookkeeper needs to see.
That is genuinely useful and it is genuinely all of it.
What we do not do
We do not know your rate. We do not look up what applies at your customer's address, and we do not maintain a table of jurisdictions. The rate on the invoice is the one you typed.
We do not track nexus. Where you have an obligation to collect at all — because of where you are, where your customers are, or how much you have sold into a state — is not something we watch or warn you about.
We do not file anything. No returns, no registrations, no calendar of due dates.
We are not a CPA firm. We do not audit, review or compile financial statements, and we do not issue any report carrying assurance. Those are acts reserved to licensed accountants.
Why we are saying so rather than quietly not doing it
Because the failure is silent. Software that accepts a tax rate looks exactly like software that verified one. An invoice with 8.25% on it looks correct whether or not 8.25% was the right number for that address on that date — and the moment you find out is the moment it is expensive.
We would rather you knew on day one that this part is yours.
What that means in practice
If your sales tax situation is simple — one state, one rate, customers in the same place you are — putting the rate on the invoice yourself is not a burden, and what we do is enough.
If it is not simple — multiple states, remote sales, a product mix where some things are taxable and some are not — you want either a tax service that does the lookup and the filing, or an accountant who does. Use us for the invoice and the payment, and let them handle the part that has a deadline attached.
What changed
Updated 21 October 2026. We promised to say what changed, so here it is. The books are now American: a chart of accounts in English, in dollars, with the sales tax you collect booked to its own liability account, so it is never counted as your income. Your EIN goes on your invoices.
What has not changed is everything above. We still do not look up the rate, track nexus or file. When that changes, this guide gets rewritten again, and until then the line is where this page says it is.
