United States Invoice Template

United States sets its own rules for what an invoice must contain and how Sales tax appears on it: including where your ein or tax id has to appear. This template handles both: pick your rate and the lines, the wording and the arithmetic follow.

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Last reviewed 3 November 2026, against the sources listed below.

What Internal Revenue Service requires on the document

5 things have to appear before this counts as a valid invoice in United States. The one people miss most often is the ein or tax id, which belongs near your business details where an accounts team looks for it.

Your business name and address
The invoice date and a unique invoice number
The customer's name and address
A description of the goods or services
The amount due and the payment terms

Verified against Internal Revenue Service on 2026-09-11.

Sales tax registration and the value thresholds

The rules below only bite past a certain amount, which is what makes them easy to miss: an invoice that was fine last month becomes non-compliant the first time it crosses the line.

There is no federal sales tax. Rates and nexus rules are set per state and often per city or county, so the correct rate depends on where the customer is, not where you are.

Sales tax rates

Pick the rate matching what you supply. The generator applies it as a named line, which is how a client's accounts team expects to see it.

Sales tax rates for United States
Applies to	Sales tax	Combined	Notes
Services, most states	No tax line	—	Most services in most states. Sales tax is set by state and locality, not federally, there is no national rate to default to.
Goods, where your state applies tax	Sales tax	0%

Note: Rates shown for United States, checked against Internal Revenue Service on 11 September 2026. Tax rates change by legislation, not on a schedule, so confirm yours before sending an invoice.

Sources

The requirements on this page come from the authorities that set them. Rules change, check the source before relying on it.

Recordkeeping for businesses · Internal Revenue Service

Frequently asked questions

What Sales tax rate should I charge in United States?

Custom rate, enter your local rate. Choose the one matching what you supply; the generator adds the line and does the arithmetic.

Do I need a tax ID to invoice?

No single federal agency handles this: sales tax registration is done state by state, not through the IRS. Register in each state where you have nexus (generally a physical presence or enough sales activity there) before charging that state's tax. The IRS governs federal income tax, not sales tax registration.

Is a PDF invoice valid in United States?

Yes. United States places no format requirement on an invoice: it must contain the required information, not arrive in a particular file type. Keep a copy for your records for as long as your authority requires.

Can I use this template if I am not registered for Sales tax in United States?

Yes, and you should not show a tax line at all. Charging Sales tax while unregistered is an offence in most jurisdictions. Pick the "no tax" option and the line is omitted rather than shown as zero, which is a different statement.

Do I have to invoice in USD if my client is in United States?

The generator defaults to USD for United States, which is what a domestic client expects. You can invoice in another currency for an overseas client, just state the currency clearly so there is no ambiguity about what is owed.

What has to legally appear on a Sales tax invoice in United States?

United States requires Your business name and address, The invoice date and a unique invoice number, The customer's name and address, A description of the goods or services, among other items. The generator includes all of them automatically once you select United States.

Does my invoice number have to be sequential?

There is no federal requirement for sequential invoice numbers. Most small businesses still number them consecutively because it makes a missing or duplicated invoice obvious during bookkeeping, and an auditor will ask about the sequence you actually used.

How long do I need to keep a copy of this invoice?

Check with Internal Revenue Service; most comparable countries require five to seven years.

Do I charge Sales tax on an invoice to a client outside United States?

Generally no: exports are commonly zero-rated or outside the tax's scope, but you still need evidence the customer is genuinely outside United States (for goods, shipping/delivery proof) and the invoice should state why no tax was charged, e.g. "zero-rated export", rather than omitting the line silently.

Does the invoice need a signature, or does it have to be in a specific language?

No signature is required for a standard invoice, and there is no mandated language for domestic use, so write it in whatever language your client will actually read.

Related templates

Billed differently, but close enough to united states work that it's worth checking these too.

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