New York Sales Tax on Digital Products (2026)

Last reviewed: August 15, 2026 — tax law changes; verify with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

Selling ebooks, courses, templates, or software to buyers in New York? As of August 2026, New York taxes prewritten software in every delivery form — download, disk, or SaaS — while ebooks, music and video downloads, and most other digital goods sit outside the tax. The category your product falls into is the whole story. Here is where the lines are.

The quick answer

New York sales tax reaches tangible personal property plus a specific list of enumerated services — and state law treats prewritten computer software as tangible personal property. Per Tax Bulletin TB-ST-128, prewritten software is taxable whether sold on a disk, by electronic transmission, or by remote access. That last clause captures SaaS — remote access gives the customer constructive possession, so a license to remotely access software is subject to state and local sales tax.

On the other side of the line, New York has no general digital-goods tax as of August 2026. Under TSB-M-11(5)S, an ebook that meets the department's conditions is not a taxable information service, and digital media such as music and video downloads are generally not subject because they are neither tangible personal property nor an enumerated service — a documented gap Albany periodically proposes closing. The category, not the delivery method, decides.

What's taxable and what isn't

The table below summarizes New York's general treatment by category as of August 2026. Classification of an individual product is ultimately the department's call, not ours.

The ebook exemption has conditions. Under TSB-M-11(5)S (April 7, 2011), an ebook is not a taxable information service provided, among other things, it is sold as a single download, is advertised as an ebook, entitles the customer to no additional goods or services (updates no more than annually), and works only with the software needed to read it. Products that are, or include, prewritten software are outside the memo entirely. One more trap: information services — furnishing collected or compiled information and reports — are taxable under Tax Law section 1105(c)(1), so a "digital product" that is really a data feed or research database gets a different analysis. When a product straddles categories, ask the department rather than guessing.

Rates

When New York sales tax applies (for digital sellers, chiefly software and SaaS), the rate is the state rate plus the local rate for the delivery jurisdiction, per the department's Find sales tax rates page:

• State rate: 4% — the statewide base before local additions.
• Local rates — counties and cities add their own tax on top, plus an additional 0.375% within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD).
• Combined rates currently run from 7% to 8.875%, per Publication 718 (2/25 edition, effective March 1, 2025). New York City's combined rate is 8.875%.

Because the combined rate depends on the buyer's jurisdiction, use the department's Jurisdiction/Rate Lookup by Address — or a checkout that calculates by address — rather than hard-coding a "New York rate." One software wrinkle from TB-ST-128: when a customer's users sit both inside and outside New York, tax on remotely accessed software is based on the portion attributable to the New York users.

Economic nexus: when remote sellers must register

Since South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018), states can require out-of-state sellers to collect based on sales volume alone. New York's rule, described on the department's registration requirement page for businesses with no physical presence, presumes a remote business must register when, for the immediately preceding four sales tax quarters, it both:

• exceeded $500,000 in cumulative gross receipts from sales of tangible personal property delivered into New York State, and
• made more than 100 sales of tangible personal property delivered into the state.

Note the and: unlike the $100,000-or-200-transactions rule common elsewhere, New York requires both prongs — over a rolling four-quarter lookback, not a calendar year. And the test counts tangible personal property, which in New York generally includes prewritten software — so software and SaaS revenue can count toward the threshold, while a seller of only nontaxable digital goods generally is not selling tangible personal property at all. Near the numbers? Confirm with the department before deciding not to register.

Marketplace provider rules

Under the department's marketplace provider rules, a marketplace provider — generally a platform that lists third-party products and collects payment from customers — must collect New York State and local sales tax on the taxable sales of tangible personal property it facilitates, regardless of whether the seller is itself required to register. Remote providers register once they cross the same $500,000-and-more-than-100-sales threshold, counting sales made or facilitated, over the preceding four sales tax quarters.

Sellers should receive either Form ST-150 (Marketplace Provider Certificate of Collection) or a public agreement stating the provider is a registered vendor collecting on all taxable facilitated sales. Keep it — and remember sales through your own website are not marketplace sales; that side remains yours to track and collect on.

Registering and filing

If you must collect New York sales tax, you register for a Certificate of Authority — the license that lets you collect tax and issue and accept most exemption certificates. Per Tax Bulletin TB-ST-360 (How to Register for New York State Sales Tax) and the department's Register as a sales tax vendor page, you apply online through New York Business Express, at least 20 days before you begin making taxable sales. Once registered, display the certificate at your place of business and file on the schedule the department assigns — even for periods with no tax due.

The multi-state picture

New York's category lines only answer for New York buyers. If you sell nationwide, at least 41 states plus DC tax some form of digital goods, each drawing the software-versus-content line differently — our state-by-state guide to sales tax on digital products maps the landscape, and the Digital Seller's Sales Tax Checklist condenses the compliance steps into a printable two-pager. SurcoPay's built-in tax tooling applies the right treatment per state at checkout and tracks your sales against each state's nexus threshold.

FAQ

Does New York charge sales tax on digital products?

It depends on the category. Prewritten software is taxable — on physical media, downloaded, or as SaaS (Tax Bulletin TB-ST-128). But New York has no general digital-goods tax: ebooks meeting the TSB-M-11(5)S conditions are not taxable, and music and video downloads are generally not subject as of August 2026. Not tax advice; verify with the Department of Taxation and Finance.

Is SaaS taxable in New York?

Yes, generally. Under Tax Bulletin TB-ST-128, prewritten software is taxable however it is conveyed, including by remote access: the department treats remote access as constructive possession, so a license to remotely access software is subject to state and local sales tax.

What is New York's economic nexus threshold?

A business with no physical presence in New York must register and collect if, in the immediately preceding four sales tax quarters, its gross receipts from sales of tangible personal property delivered into the state exceeded $500,000 and it made more than 100 such sales. Both prongs must be exceeded — unlike the $100,000-or-200-transactions rule common in other states.

Sources

Official New York State Department of Taxation and Finance pages relied on for this guide, with the secondary references used to cross-check them listed last:

• Tax Bulletin TB-ST-128 — Computer Software (prewritten software taxable in any delivery form; remote access; custom software; New York-user apportionment)
• TSB-M-11(5)S — Whether E-Books Constitute Information Services (PDF) (ebook conditions for non-taxability)
• Registration requirement for businesses with no physical presence in New York State ($500,000 and 100-sales thresholds; four-quarter lookback)
• Sales tax requirements for marketplace providers (provider collection duty; Form ST-150)
• Tax Bulletin TB-ST-360 — How to Register for New York State Sales Tax (Certificate of Authority; 20-day rule)
• Register as a sales tax vendor (New York Business Express application)
• Find sales tax rates (4% state rate; local rates; 0.375% MCTD)
• Publication 718 — Sales and Use Tax Rates by Jurisdiction (PDF) (combined rates by jurisdiction, including New York City's 8.875%)
• Jurisdiction/Rate Lookup by Address
• Secondary cross-checks: NYC Independent Budget Office — Digital Goods and Sales Taxes in New York (PDF) and TaxJar — Is SaaS taxable in New York?

Keep reading

• Do You Need to Collect Sales Tax Selling Digital Products? A State-by-State Guide
• The Digital Seller's Sales Tax Checklist (free download)
• California Sales Tax on Digital Products (2026)
• Maryland Sales Tax on Digital Products (2026)
• Platform Fee Calculator