New Jersey Issues Guidance on Taxability of Tariff Mark Ups

The New Jersey Division of Taxation (DOT) has issued guidance regarding the sales tax treatment of tariff mark ups. Tariffs are a federal tax imposed on importers when goods are imported into the U.S. Per the DOT’s guidance, when a seller passes along the cost of a tariff to the consumer/purchaser, the charges are subject to New Jersey sales tax as part of the taxable sales price, even if the tariff is separately stated to the purchaser.

The DOT points out that New Jersey defines the “sales price” as the amount subject to sales tax. It means the total amount of consideration for which personal property or services are sold, leased, or rented, without any deduction for the following:

• The seller’s cost of the property sold
• The cost of materials used, labor or service cost, interest, losses, all costs of transportation to the seller, all taxes imposed on the seller, and any other expense of the seller
• Charges by the seller for any services necessary to complete the sale
• Delivery charges

Affected sellers making sales into New Jersey will want to make sure they follow the DOT’s guidance in order to correctly collect and remit sales tax on the affected transactions. (Sales Tax Treatment of Tariff Markups webpage, New Jersey Division of Taxation website, accessed January 29, 2026)