Massachusetts sales tax on invoices (2026 guide)

Massachusetts charges a 6.25% sales tax on sales and rentals of tangible personal property and on telecommunications services. There are no general local sales taxes, so 6.25% is the rate on almost every taxable invoice in the state. The only local add-on is an optional 0.75% meals excise that some cities and towns charge on restaurant meals.

For most freelancers and service businesses, the key point is that services generally aren't taxed in Massachusetts. But software is a big exception: standardized software is taxable, whether you deliver it on a disk, by download or as access to software on a remote server. And Massachusetts is strict about invoices — the tax must be stated separately.

Massachusetts sales tax rates

The use tax is also 6.25%. It applies when your business buys something for use in Massachusetts and didn't pay at least 6.25% sales tax on it — for example, equipment ordered from an out-of-state seller.

What's taxable in Massachusetts?

Taxable:

• Tangible personal property — goods you sell or rent, including gas, electricity and steam (with exemptions for residential users and some small businesses).
• Telecommunications services, such as telephone and cellular services. Cable TV and internet access are exempt.
• Standardized (prewritten) software, delivered in any format, and charges to access or use software on a remote server.
• Meals sold by restaurants and similar businesses, including takeout.

Generally not taxable:

• Personal and professional services — the Department's examples include accounting, insurance, legal and medical services, haircuts and car repairs. Parts and products sold along with a service (like the parts in a car repair) are taxable and must be itemized separately on the bill.
• Digital products other than software, such as music, video and reading material delivered electronically.
• Clothing up to $175 per item (tax applies only to the amount over $175), and most food for home consumption.
• Separately stated installation charges for tangible personal property.

If your work mixes services and products, the Department points service providers to its regulation on service enterprises (830 CMR 64H.1.1).

Registering to collect Massachusetts sales tax

You're a Massachusetts vendor — and must register with the Department of Revenue through MassTaxConnect — if you sell, rent or lease taxable goods or telecommunications services in Massachusetts, have a business location there, or deliver, repair or install goods there, among other tests. After you register you get a Sales and Use Tax Registration Certificate (Form ST-1) for each location, which you display where customers can see it.

Remote sellers. An out-of-state seller must register if its Massachusetts sales exceed $100,000 in a calendar year.

Filing. How often you file depends on how much tax you collect in a year: annually for $100 or less, quarterly for $101 to $1,200, and monthly above $1,200. Returns are due on or before the 30th day after the period ends, and new businesses must file and pay electronically. You must file even when no tax is due.

What a Massachusetts 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,
• products itemized separately from services,
• sales tax as a separate line — this is required, and
• the total due.

In Invoice Native, tick Tax only on the taxable lines, such as products and standardized software, and leave your service lines untaxed.

Resale and exemption certificates

• Resale: a registered vendor buying to resell gives you a Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-4). Keep it as proof the sale was exempt. You can check a customer's registration and resale certificate online through MassTaxConnect. Resale certificates are not valid for tobacco products.
• Exempt organizations: a 501(c)(3) organization gives you a signed Sales Tax Exempt Purchaser Certificate (Form ST-5) together with a copy of its Certificate of Exemption (Form ST-2) issued by the Department.
• Exempt uses: manufacturers and certain other buyers use an Exempt Use Certificate (Form ST-12).

Keep certificates with your records — at least three years from when the return was filed or due, whichever is later. See how to invoice a tax-exempt customer.

A worked example

Suppose you're an IT consultant in Boston, registered as a vendor, and you invoice a client for:

• $3,000 for consulting hours (a non-taxable service), and
• $600 for an annual license to a standardized software product you resell to the client.

Only the software is taxable: $600 × 6.25% = $37.50. The invoice total is $3,000 + $600 + $37.50 = $3,637.50. Showing the tax as its own line isn't just good practice here — Massachusetts requires 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 Massachusetts'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 Massachusetts invoices

• Folding the tax into the price. It must be separately stated and charged.
• Not taxing standardized software or hosted software access you resell or provide.
• Taxing professional services that Massachusetts doesn't tax.
• Accepting an ST-5 without the organization's ST-2 Certificate of Exemption.
• Adding a local rate to anything other than restaurant meals.

Quick checklist for Massachusetts invoices

• ✅ Registered through MassTaxConnect, Form ST-1 displayed
• ✅ 6.25% on goods, telecommunications and standardized software
• ✅ Services and products itemized separately
• ✅ Sales tax stated as its own line on every invoice
• ✅ Forms ST-4, ST-5 with ST-2, and ST-12 on file