You check out online. You pay for the item. You pay sales tax. And now — depending on where you live — you may pay one more charge: a retail delivery fee.
It's not sales tax. It's not a shipping charge. It's a separate, government-imposed fee just for the act of having something delivered to your door.
Colorado was first to the table with a retail delivery fee in July 2022. Minnesota followed in July 2024. Now a growing list of states is watching those two experiments — and lining up to do the same. WTHR
For ecommerce businesses, this is the compliance trend that doesn't get nearly enough attention. And it's moving fast.
The short answer: roads are expensive, gas tax revenue is shrinking, and online shopping is exploding.
Highways, roads, and bridges have historically been maintained with fuel tax revenues. But as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles rise in popularity, these taxes are failing to keep pace with the costs of upkeep and expansion.
At the same time, U.S. ecommerce sales reached $1.1 trillion in 2023, accounting for 22% of total retail sales, with projections suggesting an increase to $1.9 trillion by 2029. 95.3 MNC
The logic states are following: ecommerce deliveries depend on roads. Delivery vehicles are straining infrastructure. Gas tax revenue from those vehicles is declining as fleets go electric. Therefore — charge a fee on the deliveries themselves to fill the gap.
It's a simple argument. The compliance implications are anything but.
The two states that have already implemented retail delivery fees have taken meaningfully different approaches — which is exactly what makes this trend complicated for multi-state sellers.
Colorado: Colorado imposes a flat per-order fee on retail deliveries involving tangible personal property subject to state sales tax — currently 29 cents per order, with annual inflationary adjustments. A retailer is not liable for this fee if its total retail sales in Colorado in the prior year were $500,000 or less. WNDU
Minnesota: Minnesota introduced its retail delivery fee at 50 cents per order, which applies when the retail delivery transaction equals or exceeds $100. Businesses with $1,000,000 or more in Minnesota retail sales during the previous calendar year are required to collect and remit this fee.
Same concept. Different rate. Different threshold. Different trigger amount. Minnesota's approach diverges further in its applicability — sometimes extending the fee to items like clothing even though clothing is traditionally exempt from sales tax within the state. WNDU
This is the central compliance problem with retail delivery fees: every state that adopts one writes its own rules. There is no uniform standard. What applies in Colorado may not apply in Minnesota, and what applies in Minnesota may not apply in Vermont or Virginia.
The list of states actively considering retail delivery fees in 2026 is long — and growing.
Vermont is among the closest to the finish line. Vermont's House Bill 863 would impose a 30-cent retail delivery fee on taxable tangible personal property delivered in the state, effective July 1, 2026 — with no small-seller exemption, meaning all retailers registered for Vermont sales tax would be responsible. WFYI
Virginia has multiple competing proposals. Senate Bill 638 would establish a 50-cent statewide retail delivery fee plus an additional 25-cent fee for deliveries in the Northern Virginia Transportation District. House Bill 900 would apply a 20-cent fee specifically in the Northern Virginia Transportation District. Fox 59
Washington State commissioned a full study on the topic. A fee of 30 cents per order in Washington could generate between $45 million and $112 million in revenue in 2026, according to the report — growing to between $59 million and $160 million by 2030. Fonoa
New York has proposed a 25-cent per delivery fee into the state, collected from customers and separately stated on invoices.
Retail delivery fee legislation is currently under consideration in Hawaii, Nebraska, and New York as well.
States including New York, Ohio, Nevada, Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington are all exploring taxing delivery fees for road repair revenue.
It's worth being precise here, because businesses often confuse retail delivery fees with existing sales tax rules on shipping charges.
In most states, shipping charges on taxable goods are already subject to sales tax. That's a separate issue — and one that predates retail delivery fees entirely.
A retail delivery fee is a distinct, additional charge imposed specifically on the act of motor vehicle delivery to a customer's location. Retail delivery fee proposals share a common structure: a flat, per-delivery charge applied to retail transactions involving delivery, charged in addition to existing sales and use excise taxes. Fox 59
So in a state with both a sales tax on shipping and a retail delivery fee, a business could be dealing with three separate charges on a single transaction: the sales tax on the product, the sales tax on the shipping charge, and the retail delivery fee. All three are separate obligations with separate rules.
Here's what makes retail delivery fees genuinely difficult to manage — especially for businesses selling across multiple states.
In most cases, the retail delivery fee will be a separate return from your sales tax return — with the same due date, but possibly a different filing frequency. That means registering separately, filing separately, and tracking separately — on top of everything else. WABX 107.5
The trigger rules vary by state. In Colorado, it's any order with at least one taxable item. In Minnesota, the fee only kicks in on orders of $100 or more. Vermont's proposed version would apply to all taxable deliveries with no minimum order. Virginia's competing proposals would apply differently depending on which version passes — and whether you're delivering into Northern Virginia or elsewhere in the state.
The largest U.S. ecommerce and delivery companies, including Amazon, DoorDash, and Uber, have already expressed concerns about the fees' negative impact on profit margins. And should companies decide to transfer these fees to consumers, it could lead to reduced demand for delivery services as consumers seek to avoid additional costs. Indiana Capital Chronicle
For smaller ecommerce sellers, the concern isn't just cost — it's the administrative weight of tracking yet another obligation in yet another state, with yet another set of rules.
If you sell physical goods online and ship to customers in Colorado or Minnesota, you already have a retail delivery fee obligation. Check whether you exceed the applicable thresholds and whether you're collecting and remitting correctly.
If you sell into Vermont, Virginia, New York, Hawaii, Nebraska, or Washington, watch these proposals closely. The timeline from "proposal" to "effective date" on retail delivery fees has been short in the states that have acted. Vermont's bill, if it passes, would take effect July 1, 2026 — leaving minimal runway for compliance preparation.
The practical checklist:
As one tax expert put it: "The most important thing is to establish clear, practical rules. Policymakers should spell out whether there's a small-seller exemption, exactly what transactions are in scope, how returns and cancellations are handled, and how the fee is reported and remitted. Those details will determine whether a retail delivery fee is a minor line item or a meaningful compliance project for retailers."
For now, that clarity varies dramatically by state. Which means staying on top of it is on you.
Selling physical goods online and not sure whether retail delivery fees apply to your business in Colorado, Minnesota, or states considering new fees? Book a free consultation with our team at sales.tax. We'll review your delivery footprint, identify your obligations, and make sure you're set up correctly before the next fee goes live.