Sales Tax in Mississippi: A Complete Guide for Ecommerce Sellers

Mississippi enacted economic nexus rules in December 2017 (before the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision) making it one of the earliest states to act. Mississippi uses a higher $250K threshold, and its 7% state rate is one of the highest base rates in the country. Counties do not levy additional sales taxes, making the rate structure simple for most Mississippi addresses. Mississippi is not an SST member state.

Quick reference

Economic nexus

Mississippi’s threshold: $250,000 in annual sales into Mississippi OR 200 or more separate transactions. Either condition alone triggers registration.

Mississippi enacted its economic nexus rules effective December 1, 2017, one of the first states to do so, predating Wayfair. The $250K threshold is higher than the $100K standard most states use.

Physical nexus

Physical presence in Mississippi creates nexus without any threshold:

• Warehouse, office, or storage facility in Mississippi
• Amazon FBA inventory in Mississippi fulfillment centers
• Employees, agents, or independent contractors in Mississippi
• Sales representatives in Mississippi

Registration

Register with the Mississippi Department of Revenue through its Taxpayer Access Point (tap.dor.ms.gov). Registration is free. Mississippi issues a Sales Tax Permit.

Tax rates

State rate: 7% for most tangible personal property. 0% for food and food ingredients.

No county additions: Mississippi counties do not levy additional sales taxes. The 7% state rate applies uniformly across most Mississippi addresses.

Municipal additions: Some Mississippi municipalities have adopted local option sales taxes, but these are not universal. Most ecommerce deliveries to Mississippi addresses are at the 7% state rate.

What’s taxable

Generally taxable: Electronics, clothing, furniture, sporting goods, toys, most tangible personal property.

Generally exempt:

• Prescription medications
• Food and food ingredients (fully exempt from state tax — 0% state rate)
• Agricultural equipment and supplies
• Manufacturing machinery

Notable Mississippi rules:

• Food: Mississippi fully exempts food and food ingredients from the state 7% rate. Unlike many states that use a reduced rate, Mississippi’s exemption for qualifying grocery items is complete at the state level
• Clothing: Taxable in Mississippi, no clothing exemption
• Digital products: Mississippi taxes specified digital products including downloaded software and digital audio/audiovisual works
• SaaS: Mississippi taxes remotely accessed software (SaaS) as a taxable service

Shipping taxability

Mississippi taxes delivery charges when the shipped goods are taxable. When all goods in a shipment are exempt, the delivery charge is also exempt.

Marketplace facilitator rules

Mississippi enacted marketplace facilitator rules effective July 1, 2020. Qualifying marketplace facilitators collect and remit Mississippi sales tax on marketplace-facilitated sales.

Remote sellers with no Mississippi physical nexus whose only Mississippi sales are through marketplace facilitators may not need to separately register. Sellers with Mississippi physical nexus must register regardless.

State-specific notes

High base rate, simple structure: Mississippi’s 7% state rate (combined with no county additions) makes it easy to apply: most Mississippi addresses are 7%. For sellers already managing states with complex local rate structures, Mississippi’s simplicity is a relief despite the high rate.

$250K threshold filters smaller sellers: Mississippi’s higher threshold means sellers below $250K in annual Mississippi sales do not trigger economic nexus, even if those sales would trigger nexus in most other states at $100K.

Food fully exempt: Mississippi’s complete exemption of food (not a reduced rate) means qualifying grocery orders have 0% state tax. Sellers of food products need to confirm their calculation engine applies 0% for Mississippi on qualifying food items.

Early Wayfair actor: Mississippi’s 2017 nexus rules were among the earliest in the country. The $250K threshold was set before Wayfair established the $100K norm, and Mississippi has maintained its higher threshold.