Expands Sales Tax to Streaming, gaming and digital content and Digital Services from July 2026
Utah has approved legislation extending sales and use tax to a wider range of digital products and subscription-based services from 1 July 2026.
Under S.B. 162, the state will impose sales tax on amounts paid for access to digital audio and video content, regardless of whether the content is permanently downloaded, temporarily accessed, or streamed via subscription platforms. The changes reflect the continuing shift by US states to modernise indirect tax rules for digital consumption and cloud-based business models.
Digital services in sales tax net
The legislation specifically targets:
- Subscription streaming services
- Digital video and audio works
- E-books and digital publications
- Music and gaming subscriptions
- Cloud-hosted and seller-hosted software
- Other electronically delivered digital content
See our US sales tax rate coverage.
A notable feature of the new rules is that the taxability hinges on payment for access, rather than ownership or download of the content. This broadens the scope considerably compared with older sales tax frameworks focused on tangible goods or downloaded software.
The bill also clarifies that prewritten software remains taxable in all forms, including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud deployments. This continues the broader US state trend of aligning sales tax rules with subscription and platform-based software delivery models.
At the same time, Utah confirmed that services already taxed under the state’s Multi-Channel Video or Audio Service Tax Act will remain exempt from the new sales and use tax provisions. This is intended to avoid double taxation between overlapping digital media regimes.
The changes will require many digital service providers, streaming platforms, SaaS vendors, gaming businesses, and online content providers to reassess their Utah sales tax obligations ahead of July 2026.
US Sales Tax rates and selling thresholds
| State | State sales tax rate | Remote seller annual thresholds | Digital services taxable? | |||||
| $ threshold | Transactions threshold | |||||||
| Alabama | 4.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $250,000 | Yes | ||||
| Alaska | 0% | - | n/a | No state-wide tax | ||||
| Arizona | 5.6% | 1 Oct 2019 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Arkansas | 6.5% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| California | 6.0% | 1 April 2019 | $500,000 | - | No | |||
| Colorado | 2.9% | 1 Dec 2018 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Connecticut | 6.35% | 1 Dec 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Delaware | 0.0% | - | n/a | No state sales tax | ||||
| Florida | 6.0% | 1 July 2021 | $100,000 | - | No | Communications Tax. E-books exempt | ||
| Georgia | 4.0% | 1 Jan 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | No | |||
| Hawaii | 4.0% | 1 July 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | General Excise Tax | ||
| Idaho | 6.0% | 1 June 2019 | $100,000 | Yes | Software exempt | |||
| Illinois | 6.25% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - (since Jan 2026) | No | |||
| Indiana | 7.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - (since Jan 2024) | Yes | |||
| Iowa | 6.0% | 1 Jan 2019 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Kansas | 6.5% | 1 July 2021 | $100,000 | - | No | |||
| Kentucky | 6.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - (since Aug 2026) | Yes | |||
| Louisiana | 4.45% | 1 July 2020 | $100,000 | - (since Aug 2023) | Yes | |||
| Maine | 5.5% | 1 July 2018 | $100,000 | - (since 2022) | Yes | |||
| Maryland | 6.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Massachusetts | 5.6% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | No | ||||
| Michigan | 6.0% | 30 Sep 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | No | |||
| Minnesota | 6.875% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Mississippi | 7.0% | 1 Sep 2018 | $250,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Missouri | 4.225% | 1 Jan 2023 | $100,000 | - | No | |||
| Montana | 0.0% | - | n/a | No state sales tax | ||||
| Nebraska | 5.5% | 1 April 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Nevada | 4.6% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | No | |||
| New Hampshire | 0.0% | - | n/a | |||||
| New Jersey | 6.625% | 1 Nov 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| New Mexico | 5.0% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| New York | 4.0% | 21 July 2018 | $500,000 | 100 transactions | No | |||
| North Carolina | 4.75% | 1 Nov 2018 | $100,000 | - (since 2024) | Yes | |||
| North Dakota | 5.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - | No | |||
| Ohio | 5.75% | 1 Aug 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Oklahoma | 4.5% | 1 Nov 2019 | $100,000 | - | No | |||
| Oregon | 0.0% | - | n/a | No state sales tax | ||||
| Pennsylvania | 6.0% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | Yes | ||||
| Puerto Rico | 10.5% | 1 Jan 2021 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Rhode Island | 7.0% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| South Carolina | 6.0% | 1 Nov 2018 | $100,000 | - | No | |||
| South Dakota | 4.2% | 1 Nov 2018 | $100,000 | - (since Jul 2023) | Yes | |||
| Tennessee | 7.0% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Texas | 6.25% | 1 Oct 2019 | $500,000 | - | Yes | Only if physcial equivilaent is taxable (e.g. books) | ||
| Utah | 4.7% | 1 Jan 2019 | $100,000 | - (since Jul 2025) | Yes | |||
| Vermont | 6.0% | 1 July 2018 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Virginia | 4.3% | 1 July 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| Washington | 6.5% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - | Yes | |||
| Washington, DC | 6.0% | 1 Jan 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | |||
| West Virginia | 6.0% | 1 Jan 2019 | $100,000 | 200 transactions | Yes | Streaming services only | ||
| Wisconsin | 5.0% | 1 Oct 2018 | $100,000 | - (since 2021) | Yes | |||
| Wyoming | 4.0% | 1 Feb 2019 | $100,000 | - (since 2024) | Yes | |||
