Kansas sales tax on invoices (2026 guide)

Kansas has a 6.5% state sales tax. Cities and counties can add local sales taxes, and the combined rate is based on the destination — where your customer takes delivery or first uses a taxable service.

Kansas is different from many states in how it treats labor. It doesn't tax professional services, but it does tax labor services that install, apply, repair, service, alter or maintain tangible personal property. If you're a handyman, repair technician or contractor, a lot of your work may be taxable. This guide covers rates, taxable services, registration and what your Kansas invoices should show.

Kansas sales tax rates

Local taxes need voter approval, but they're administered by the Kansas Department of Revenue, so you report and pay them on your state return. The Department publishes the rate for every city and county in Pub. KS-1700, Sales Tax Jurisdictions, and has an address-based rate locator on its website.

Which services are taxable in Kansas?

Kansas sales tax generally applies to three kinds of transactions:

1. the retail sale, rental or lease of tangible personal property,
2. labor services to install, apply, repair, service, alter or maintain tangible personal property, and
3. admissions to places providing amusement, entertainment or recreation.

The Department's examples of taxable labor include installing plumbing, wiring, cabinets or fixtures; planting trees, shrubs or grass; painting, wallpapering and waxing floors; furniture refinishing, upholstery and sewing; modifying or updating computer software; and appliance and car repair.

Services that are not taxable because they don't involve working on tangible personal property include accounting, architectural, broadcasting, child care, chimney sweeping, cleaning, consulting, engineering, excavating, hair styling, legal services, mowing, snow removal, towing and moving, and trash hauling.

There's also an important exception for building work: otherwise-taxable labor is exempt when performed in original construction of a building, or in the remodeling or renovation of a residence, among other listed projects. The Department's contractors publication (Pub. KS-1525) explains these rules in detail.

Registering to collect Kansas sales tax

If you sell goods or admissions, or provide taxable services, you must register with the Kansas Department of Revenue before collecting tax. That applies to every kind of business, including sole proprietors and nonprofits. Nonresident contractors performing labor services in Kansas also need a registration number.

Remote sellers: an out-of-state seller with economic nexus must begin collecting Kansas tax once its sales pass the $100,000 threshold, starting with the next transaction after it crosses the threshold. The Department says a remote seller should register no later than 30 days after its sales for the calendar year exceed $100,000.

Keep your sales tax records — invoices, sales records and exemption certificates — for the current year and at least three prior years.

What a Kansas 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 its own line, clearly labelled as sales tax — or a clear statement that the price includes all applicable sales taxes, and
• the total due.

The Department's rule is that every invoice for a taxable sale must either show that the sales tax was collected or be backed by a completed exemption certificate. Separately stated delivery charges aren't taxable when they're clearly labelled as delivery, transmission or transportation and reflect a reasonable cost of delivery. In Invoice Native, tick Tax on the taxable lines and use the combined rate for the customer's location.

Resale and exemption certificates

A business buying goods from you to resell gives you Form ST-28A, Resale Exemption Certificate. The goods must be for resale in the buyer's usual course of business, and the buyer generally needs a Kansas sales tax account number. Multistate buyers can use Form ST-28M, Multi-Jurisdiction Exemption Certificate. Both can be used as blanket certificates.

Two rules from the Department to remember:

• Get the certificate before you bill the customer or deliver the property. Don't send it to the Department — keep it with your records.
• Labor services on real property can't be resold. A subcontractor doing taxable work for a general contractor charges sales tax, and the general contractor can't use a resale certificate to avoid it.

For other exempt customers, see how to invoice a tax-exempt customer.

A worked example

Suppose you're a painter and you repaint a commercial office in a Kansas city where the combined rate is 8.5% (6.5% state plus 2% local, a hypothetical rate for this example). Painting is an "applying" service, so both the labor and the paint are taxable:

• $1,500 labor and $300 paint = $1,800 taxable
• sales tax: $1,800 × 8.5% = $153.00
• invoice total: $1,953.00

If the same job were the remodeling of a private home, the labor would fall under the residential remodeling exemption, and you'd handle tax on the materials under the contractor rules in Pub. KS-1525.

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 Kansas'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. If you sell across state lines regularly, check the thresholds and registration rules of each state you sell into — and use that state's rate on those invoices.

Common mistakes on Kansas invoices

• Assuming labor is never taxed. Repair, installation and similar labor on property is taxable in Kansas.
• Taxing nontaxable services such as consulting, cleaning or mowing.
• Using your own location's rate instead of the rate where the customer takes delivery or first uses the service.
• Taxing residential remodeling labor that's exempt.
• Accepting a resale certificate for real property labor, which can't be resold.

Quick checklist for Kansas invoices

• ✅ Registered with the Kansas Department of Revenue before your first taxable sale
• ✅ Checked whether your labor services are taxable or exempt
• ✅ Combined state and local rate for the destination
• ✅ Sales tax labelled on its own line (or tax-included statement)
• ✅ Forms ST-28A or ST-28M on file; records kept for the current year plus three