Collect tax in California
Learn how to use Stripe Tax to calculate, collect, and report tax in California.
In California, Stripe Tax supports calculation and collection of sales tax (including seller use tax) and additional tax types.
When to register for tax collection
See Thresholds to get insights about your potential tax registration obligations in California. Stripe also notifies you with email and Dashboard alerts when you need to register to collect tax. Learn more about how the monitoring tool works.
Sales tax
Remote sellers must register to collect and remit sales tax in California when, in the previous or current calendar year, they exceed a sales threshold of 500,000 USD.
The threshold includes sales of tangible personal property, including wholesale sales (sales for resale) and marketplace sales. The threshold excludes sales of services, whether taxable or nontaxable.
If your Origin address in the tax settings page of the Dashboard is in California, you’re not a remote seller and you must register due to your physical presence in the state.
Other taxes
We also support calculation and collection of Admissions taxes in many California local jurisdictions. These taxes apply to participant and spectator based entertainment or recreational activities. Stripe doesn’t include transactions for this tax in its threshold monitoring.
Register to collect tax
Register for sales tax in California at the tax authority:
Read our guide to navigate sales tax registration for help. You can also use Stripe to register on your behalf.
After registering, add your registration in the Stripe Dashboard to start collecting tax on your transactions in California. You must add registrations for types other than sales tax, such as the Indian Wells Admissions Tax, as separate registrations in Stripe.
How we calculate taxes
If your origin address is in the US and differs from your customer’s state, Stripe always calculates tax based on your customer’s location.
If your customer is in California and your origin address is also in California, Stripe applies tax based on your origin address, depending on the type of product or service you sell.
Report and file your taxes
Stripe provides reports of your completed tax transactions. Go to Registrations to access these reports.
Exports
The tax transaction data export provides a comprehensive and aggregated view of transactions by location, including a breakdown of individual tax amounts. Learn more about tax reporting exports.
Location reports
Location reports offer a summary of transaction and refund data for specific US locations and align with California filing requirements. You have the option to report on an annual, fiscal year, semiannual, quarterly, or monthly basis.
Filing
Stripe Tax has filing partners—Taxually, Marosa, and Hands-off Sales Tax (HOST)—to help automate your tax filing. These partners automatically sync your tax transaction data in real time, eliminating the need for manual data entry or file transfers. Learn more about tax filing.