2026 US Sales Tax Due Dates by State (With Full-Year Filing Calendar)

Sales tax penalties are rarely the result of a miscalculated rate. They are the result of a missed date. Fifty states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico each legislate their own deadlines, spread across the 15th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 30th and the last day of the month. A cross-border seller registered in twenty states is tracking more than 200 due dates a year.

Below is the complete 2026 picture: a state-by-state table of standard due dates, and a full-year calendar in which every weekend and US federal holiday rollover has already been calculated for you.

1. The five things that matter most in 2026

• Nevada changed. Under AB 594, effective January 1, 2026 Nevada moved its sales and use tax deadline from the last day of the month to the 20th day following the reporting period — cutting 8 to 11 days out of the compliance window in one step. It is the single most commonly missed change this year.
• The 20th is the norm, not the rule. Maine files on the 15th, Ohio on the 23rd, Kansas, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington on the 25th, Indiana and Massachusetts on the 30th, and nine states at month-end.
• Zero returns still have to be filed. No sales in the period, or all sales collected by a marketplace facilitator, does not remove the filing obligation while the permit is active. This is the most frequent penalty trigger we see among overseas sellers.
• Filing frequency changes without much warning. As volume grows, states reassign quarterly filers to monthly — usually notified by a single letter or a message in the state taxpayer portal.
• Seven states require prepayments, and one runs the other way. California, Arkansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan and Massachusetts all want money ahead of the return once a business passes a threshold — while South Dakota’s electronic payment is due five days after the return.

2. 2026 sales tax due dates by state

The table shows the standard monthly deadline, with annual and semi-annual dates noted where they apply. Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon impose no state sales tax; Alaska has local sales tax only.

Note: states marked “next business day” have rules expressly allowing the deadline to roll forward when it falls on a weekend or legal holiday. States whose statutes read “on or before the Xth” — Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia among them — generally accept the rollover in practice, but we recommend filing by the preceding business day in every case.

3. The 2026 filing calendar, adjusted for weekends and federal holidays

Deadlines are grouped by their standard date. Every entry below is the actual 2026 due date after accounting for New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day (observed July 3), Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Important: this calendar reflects federal holidays only. Individual states observe their own holidays, which can shift a deadline again. Check the relevant state notice before filing.

Two states where the payment date is not the filing date: Florida and South Dakota

The 20th-group row above is correct for Florida returns but not for Florida payments. Form DR-659, the Florida eServices Calendar of Electronic Payment Deadlines, states the rule plainly: a return deadline falling on a weekend or holiday moves forward to the next business day, but an electronic payment deadline moves back to the previous business day so that the funds reach the state on the due date. It is one of only two jurisdictions in this guide where the payment date and the filing date come apart — South Dakota is the other, and it runs the opposite way.

Florida’s published 2026 electronic payment deadlines for sales and use tax — payment completed and a confirmation number received by 5:00 PM ET on the date shown:

The dangerous months are June, September and December: the 20th falls on a weekend, so the return deadline rolls forward to Jun 22, Sep 21 and Dec 21 while the payment deadline pulls back to Jun 18, Sep 18 and Dec 18 — a gap of three to four days. Paying on the return date is late. January behaves the same way: with DOR closed for MLK Day on Jan 19, the payment deadline drops back to Jan 16.
Note too that Presidents’ Day (Feb 16), Juneteenth (Jun 19) and Columbus Day (Oct 12) are federal holidays on which Florida DOR offices stay open — but ACH does not settle, so payment deadlines still avoid them.

South Dakota runs the other way. The South Dakota Department of Revenue states that returns are due by the 20th of the following month while electronic payments are due on or before the 25th — five days after the return, each rolling independently to the next business day on a weekend or legal holiday. The same period’s money therefore has to leave early in Florida and may leave late in South Dakota; one blanket schedule will not serve both.

4. Quarterly, annual and semi-annual dates

Quarterly filers. In nearly every state, quarterly returns fall due in January, April, July and October on that state’s standard date. New York is the notable exception: its quarters run March–May, June–August, September–November and December–February, so quarterly returns are due on the 20th of March, June, September and December.

Annual returns due during 2026 (rollovers applied):

Semi-annual returns due during 2026 (rollovers applied):

5. Seven non-standard rules worth flagging

1. Arizona — electronic and paper deadlines differ. Returns e-filed through AZTaxes are due the last business day of the month; paper returns are due the 20th. Most cross-border sellers file electronically and therefore have roughly ten more days than they assume.

2. Florida — payment is due before the return. The return is not late until after the 20th, but an electronic payment must be initiated by 5:00 PM ET on the business day before the due date. Paying on the 20th itself is late.

3. Colorado — home-rule cities self-administer. Roughly seventy municipalities, including Boulder, Colorado Springs and Aurora, issue their own licences, returns and deadlines. Filing the state return does not discharge the local obligation.

4. Vermont — February moves. Vermont files on the 25th every month except February, when the deadline moves up to the 23rd.

5. Prepayments — seven states want money before the return. California quarterly prepayments fall on the 24th of the first two months of each quarter; certain Missouri businesses remit quarter-monthly on dates that shift month to month; Illinois filers averaging $20,000 of monthly liability pay on the 7th, 15th, 22nd and last day; Michigan filers above $720,000 of prior-year liability prepay 75% by the 20th; Massachusetts filers above $150,000 remit tax collected through the 21st by the 25th; Arkansas filers above $200,000 of monthly net sales pay on the 12th and 24th; and North Carolina filers above $20,000 of monthly liability prepay with the monthly return. Past any of those thresholds, the cash-flow schedule has to be managed separately from the filing schedule.

6. Indiana and Massachusetts — the 30th is not month-end. Both file on the 30th, which in February collapses to the last day of the month and then rolls forward — March 2 in 2026.

7. South Dakota — the payment deadline is five days later than the return. Returns are due the 20th and electronic payments the 25th, the only state in this guide where the payment window is wider than the filing window. The extra five days are real, but the return itself cannot slip — a late return is penalised on its own.

6. Filing frequency changes, and nobody reminds you twice

States set filing frequency by sales volume or tax liability. The thresholds and measurement periods differ: New Jersey looks at whether more than $30,000 of sales tax was collected in the prior year, New York at whether taxable sales reached $300,000 in any quarter, Indiana at whether average monthly liability exceeded $1,000 in the prior fiscal year.

The reassignment is made unilaterally by the state and communicated by email, letter or a portal message. For sellers registered at an overseas address who rarely log into state portals, these notices are easy to miss — and by the time the change is noticed, several periods have already been missed. Log into each state portal at least twice a year to confirm your current frequency rather than waiting to be told.

7. Three assumptions that cost sellers money

“The marketplace collected it, so there is nothing to file.” Marketplace facilitator laws determine who remits, not who files. While your permit is active you must still file, reporting marketplace sales as exempt or already-collected. Most states penalise a late zero return exactly as they penalise a late payment return.

“There were no sales this month, so we can skip it.” A zero return is still a return. Skipping a period typically triggers a minimum penalty of $25 to $100; skipping several can lead to permit revocation and a requirement to file all historical periods on re-registration.

“Filing on the due date is safe.” Alabama requires submission by 4:00 PM CT and Wisconsin by 4:00 PM CST. Florida goes further: electronic payment is due a full business day early, and when the 20th falls on a weekend the payment date moves back rather than following the return forward. In 2026 the June, September and December returns are due Jun 22, Sep 21 and Dec 21 while the payments are due Jun 18, Sep 18 and Dec 18 — paying on the return date is simply late. For teams working from Asia or Europe, a US-time cut-off means finishing another full business day ahead of that.

8. Turning the calendar into a process

An accurate calendar is only the starting point. What actually reduces risk is a routine: lock the period’s sales data five business days before each state deadline, complete review three business days out, initiate payment one business day out — and keep a single register of every permit, its filing frequency and its portal credentials, reconciled twice a year.

VATaxus is a team of licensed US and Canadian accountants working with cross-border ecommerce businesses on nexus analysis, registration, monthly and quarterly filings, voluntary disclosure agreements and state notice resolution. We currently maintain filing calendars covering all 46 US sales tax states and every Canadian province. If you would like a 2026 filing schedule built around your own portfolio of permits, book a complimentary 30-minute review.

Disclaimer: The dates in this article are compiled from state statutes and revenue department notices current as of September 2026 and are provided for general information only. They are not tax advice. States can change due dates and filing frequencies at any time; rely on the written notice issued to your business, or speak with one of our licensed accountants.

Sources: state department of revenue notices; South Dakota DOR sales and use tax laws and regulations; Massachusetts DOR Advance Payment Requirements; Illinois DOR IDR-825, “Guidelines for Quarter-monthly (Accelerated) Payments”; Michigan Treasury Accelerated EFT Filers; Florida Department of Revenue Form DR-659, “Florida eServices Calendar of Electronic Payment Deadlines” (R. 01/26); Nevada AB 594 (2025). Rollover dates in the calendar above were independently recalculated against the 2026 US federal holiday schedule.