Arkansas sales tax on invoices (2026 guide)

Arkansas charges a 6.5% state sales and use tax, and cities and counties add their own local sales taxes on top. The total rate you charge depends on where the sale takes place.

Arkansas also taxes more services than many states — from lawn care and cleaning to pest control and repairs. If you run a service business, check the list before you assume your invoices are tax-free. This guide covers rates, taxable services, the sales tax permit and what your Arkansas invoices should show.

Arkansas sales tax rates

The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) publishes local rates and offers local tax lookup tools so you can find the city and county rate for an address.

Arkansas used to cap local taxes on single large transactions. DFA says that as of January 1, 2008, those caps no longer apply, except on sales of motor vehicles licensed for highway use, aircraft, watercraft and manufactured housing. For everything else, local tax applies to the full price.

Which services are taxable in Arkansas?

Arkansas taxes the sale of tangible personal property and a list of specific services. DFA's gross receipts tax rules list services that include:

• Repair and installation services — the initial installation, alteration, addition, cleaning, refinishing, replacement and repair of many kinds of property, including motor vehicles, farm machinery, motors, tires, boats and electrical appliances. DFA's FAQs note that repair of farm machinery is taxable on both parts and labor.
• Lawn care and landscaping — the rules cover lawn care of nonresidential property and landscaping of both residential and nonresidential property.
• Cleaning and janitorial work, plus cleaning of parking lots and gutters.
• Pest control, security and alarm monitoring, and locksmith services.
• Pet grooming and kennel services, dry cleaning and laundry, pool cleaning, towing, mini-warehouse and self-storage rental, and body piercing, tattooing and electrolysis.

Services that aren't on the list — for example most consulting, design, writing, accounting and legal work — aren't subject to Arkansas sales tax.

Getting an Arkansas sales tax permit

You need a sales tax permit from DFA before you make taxable sales. You register online through the Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point (ATAP). DFA says:

• the sales tax permit fee is $50, paid electronically when you apply,
• the business location can't be a P.O. box,
• other tax liabilities must be cleared before a new permit is issued, and
• processing can take up to two weeks.

Remote sellers

Out-of-state sellers and marketplace facilitators must register and collect Arkansas tax once their sales of tangible personal property, taxable services, digital codes or specified digital products delivered into Arkansas exceed $100,000, or they make 200 or more taxable transactions, in the current or previous year.

What an Arkansas sales tax invoice should show

• your business name and address,
• the customer's name and address,
• a unique invoice number and the invoice date,
• a description and price for each item or service,
• sales tax as a separate line, with the rate you applied, and
• the total due.

Watch delivery charges. DFA says freight, shipping and transportation charges are part of the taxable total when the product is taxable — only charges billed directly by a common carrier aren't. In Invoice Native, tick Tax on the taxable lines, including any delivery line for taxable goods.

Resale and exemption certificates

A business buying to resell gives you Form ST391, Exemption Certificate. The buyer certifies that they hold an Arkansas sales and use tax permit — or a similar permit from another state — describes what they're buying and gives the reason it's exempt.

The form includes a notice that matters to you as the seller: if you follow the exemption requirements, you're relieved of the tax even if the buyer claimed the exemption improperly. You lose that protection if you fraudulently fail to collect tax or help a buyer make an unlawful claim. Keep each certificate with your records. See how to invoice a tax-exempt customer.

A worked example

Say you run a landscaping business and install new beds and plantings for a client at a location where the combined state and local rate is 9% (6.5% state plus a hypothetical 2.5% local rate). Landscaping is taxable in Arkansas for both homes and businesses.

For a $1,800 landscaping job, the tax is $1,800 × 9% = $162.00, and the invoice total is $1,962.00.

If you also mow lawns, remember the difference in the rules: lawn care is listed for nonresidential property, so check how DFA treats a homeowner's weekly mowing before you add tax to it.

Selling to customers in other states

If you ship goods or deliver taxable services to customers in another state, that state's rules may apply instead of Arkansas's. Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require out-of-state sellers to register and collect their sales tax once sales into the state pass a threshold the state sets. Check the thresholds and registration rules of each state you sell into, and use that state's rate on those invoices. Our sales tax calculator can help with the math.

Common mistakes on Arkansas invoices

• Assuming services are never taxed. Repairs, landscaping, cleaning and more are on the list.
• Leaving labor untaxed on repairs of property on the list — the repair service itself is taxable.
• Not taxing delivery charges on taxable goods.
• Applying old local tax caps to sales that aren't vehicles, aircraft, watercraft or manufactured housing.
• Selling tax-free without a completed Form ST391 on file.

Quick checklist for Arkansas invoices

• ✅ Sales tax permit from DFA ($50) before your first taxable sale
• ✅ Checked whether your services are on Arkansas's taxable list
• ✅ State rate plus the correct city and county rate
• ✅ Delivery charges taxed when the goods are taxable
• ✅ Form ST391 on file for every resale or exempt sale