Is it taxable?
Is Toilet Paper Taxed?
In most of the country, yes — toilet paper is ordinary taxable goods, with no necessity carve-out. The two famous exceptions sit next door to each other: Pennsylvania and New Jersey both sell it tax-free, each by its own quirk of law.
The carve-outs worth knowing
- Pennsylvania marks toilet tissue nontaxable in its retailer guide — one of the household staples the state simply chose not to tax.
- New Jersey exempts disposable household paper products by statute: toilet tissue, paper towels, napkins, paper plates and cups — bought for household use. The same roll sold to a business is taxable.
- Almost nowhere else gets this treatment: unlike groceries, clothing, or medicine, household paper sits outside every other state's necessity exemptions and pays the general rate.
- Texas is typical and explicit: its grocery-store guide lists toilet tissue — and all paper items — as taxable, right alongside the exempt food.
- Virginia's "essential personal hygiene" discount reaches diapers and menstrual products but stops before the paper aisle — toilet paper pays the full rate.
Toilet paper, state by state
10 states checked: 7 exempt · 3 taxable
| State | Tax status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska No state sales tax; local city and borough sales taxes can still apply. | Exempt | Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission, Seller FAQs |
| Delaware No state or local sales tax at all. | Exempt | Delaware Division of Revenue, Doing Business in Delaware |
| Hawaii The general excise tax reaches all retail sales — paper goods included. | Taxable | Hawaii Department of Taxation, Tax Facts 37-1 |
| Montana No general sales tax. | Exempt | Montana Department of Revenue, Sales Tax Guidance |
| New Hampshire No general sales tax on goods. | Exempt | New Hampshire DRA, "Does New Hampshire have a sales tax?" |
| New Jersey Exempt by statute as a disposable household paper product — along with paper towels, napkins, and paper plates — when bought for household use. Business and commercial use is taxed. | Exempt | New Jersey Division of Taxation, S&U-4 Sales Tax Guide |
| Oregon No general sales tax. | Exempt | Oregon Department of Revenue, Sales Tax in Oregon |
| Pennsylvania Toilet tissue is nontaxable in Pennsylvania — listed that way in the state's own retailer guide. | Exempt | Pennsylvania DOR, REV-717 Retailer's Information Guide |
| Texas Toilet tissue — and all paper items — are taxable in Texas; the grocery-store guide lists them by name next to the exempt food. | Taxable | Texas Comptroller, publication 96-280: Grocery and Convenience Stores |
| Virginia Virginia's reduced "essential personal hygiene" rate is defined to cover incontinence and menstrual products only — toilet paper isn't on the list, so it pays the full rate. | Taxable | Virginia Tax, Tax Bulletin 22-12 |
Local sales taxes can differ — a city or county rate can apply even where the state rate doesn't, and a few local carve-outs go the other way. The linked guidance is the place to check your town.
Still being checked
These 40 states are not in the table yet because we haven't finished checking the official guidance — and a guessed row is worse than no row. Until then, the agency itself:
- Alabama — Alabama Department of Revenue
- Arizona — Arizona Department of Revenue
- Arkansas — Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration
- California — California CDTFA
- Colorado — Colorado Department of Revenue
- Connecticut — Connecticut DRS
- Florida — Florida Department of Revenue
- Georgia — Georgia Department of Revenue
- Idaho — Idaho State Tax Commission
- Illinois — Illinois Department of Revenue
- Indiana — Indiana Department of Revenue
- Iowa — Iowa Department of Revenue
- Kansas — Kansas Department of Revenue
- Kentucky — Kentucky Department of Revenue
- Louisiana — Louisiana Department of Revenue
- Maine — Maine Revenue Services
- Maryland — Comptroller of Maryland
- Massachusetts — Massachusetts Department of Revenue
- Michigan — Michigan Department of Treasury
- Minnesota — Minnesota Department of Revenue
- Mississippi — Mississippi Department of Revenue
- Missouri — Missouri Department of Revenue
- Nebraska — Nebraska Department of Revenue
- Nevada — Nevada Department of Taxation
- New Mexico — New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department
- New York — New York State Tax Department
- North Carolina — North Carolina Department of Revenue
- North Dakota — N.D. Office of State Tax Commissioner
- Ohio — Ohio Department of Taxation
- Oklahoma — Oklahoma Tax Commission
- Rhode Island — Rhode Island Division of Taxation
- South Carolina — South Carolina Department of Revenue
- South Dakota — South Dakota Department of Revenue
- Tennessee — Tennessee Department of Revenue
- Utah — Utah State Tax Commission
- Vermont — Vermont Department of Taxes
- Washington — Washington Department of Revenue
- West Virginia — West Virginia Tax Division
- Wisconsin — Wisconsin Department of Revenue
- Wyoming — Wyoming Department of Revenue
Toilet paper questions, answered
Which states don't tax toilet paper?
Pennsylvania and New Jersey — plus the five states with no general sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Everywhere else it's ordinary taxable goods.
Why is toilet paper taxed when groceries aren't?
Necessity exemptions are written item by item, and household paper almost never made the list. Grocery exemptions cover food for humans; clothing and medicine have their own carve-outs; paper goods were left at the general rate nearly everywhere.
What's New Jersey's household-use condition about?
The exemption is written for households: toilet tissue, paper towels, napkins, and paper plates bought for home use are exempt, but the identical case sold to a restaurant, office, or other business is taxable.
Every row checked by hand against the linked guidance on 2026-08-19. More everyday items on the is-it-taxable index.