Sales Tax in Arkansas: A Complete Guide for Ecommerce Sellers

Arkansas is an SST member state with a 6.5% state rate and county and city additions. Arkansas has been progressively reducing its state tax on groceries, as of 2023, the state rate on food and food ingredients is 0.125%, effectively near zero, though local taxes still apply to food purchases. Combined rates vary significantly across the state’s municipalities, with some cities exceeding 10%–11% when all local layers are counted.

Quick reference

Economic nexus

Arkansas’s OR threshold: $100,000 in gross sales OR 200 or more separate transactions into Arkansas in the current or prior calendar year. Either condition alone triggers registration.

Arkansas enacted its economic nexus rules effective July 1, 2019.

Physical nexus

Physical presence in Arkansas creates nexus without any threshold:

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

Registration

Arkansas is an SST member state. Register through a Certified Service Provider for simultaneous registration in Arkansas and all other SST states at no charge.

Sellers can also register directly with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration through Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point (atap.arkansas.gov). Registration is free.

Tax rates

State rate: 6.5% for most tangible personal property. 0.125% for food and food ingredients (reduced from prior higher rates; 0.125% effective January 1, 2023).

County and city additions: Arkansas counties and cities levy additional rates. County rates and city rates stack on the state rate. Combined rates in major Arkansas cities:

• Little Rock (Pulaski County): approximately 9.625% combined
• Fort Smith: approximately 9.75% combined
• Fayetteville: approximately 9.75% combined
• Jonesboro: approximately 9.5% combined
• Some smaller municipalities with additional special taxes: 10%–11%+ combined

What’s taxable

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

Generally exempt:

• Prescription medications
• Food and food ingredients (at 0.125% state rate, effectively near zero for the state portion, but local taxes still apply)
• Agricultural equipment and supplies

Notable Arkansas rules:

• Food: Arkansas reduced its state grocery tax to 0.125% effective January 1, 2023. The state portion of tax on groceries is negligible, but county and city local taxes typically still apply to food at their standard local rates. Combined food tax rates in many Arkansas cities remain 2%–3%+ when local rates are included
• Clothing: Taxable in Arkansas, no clothing exemption
• Digital products: Arkansas taxes specified digital products including downloaded software and digital audio/audiovisual works
• SaaS: Arkansas taxes remotely accessed software (SaaS) as taxable digital products

Shipping taxability

Arkansas 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

Arkansas enacted marketplace facilitator legislation effective July 1, 2019. Qualifying marketplace facilitators collect and remit Arkansas sales tax on marketplace-facilitated sales.

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

State-specific notes

Food tax near-elimination: Arkansas’s reduction of the state grocery rate to 0.125% is a meaningful change for food sellers: the state portion is negligible. However, local taxes still apply at full local rates. Food sellers need to confirm their calculation engine applies 0.125% for the state rate on qualifying food while still applying the full local rates.

High city rates: Arkansas’s base state rate of 6.5% combined with city additions creates some of the higher combined rates in the region. Cities with multiple overlapping local taxes regularly exceed 10%.

SST membership: Arkansas’s SST membership enables efficient multi-state registration through a single CSP application.