We used to not pay anything for stuff, for instance I bought items that were dropped shipped from China under a certain value but that has ended. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-tariffs-trade-war-sto... Sales taxes are on a state by state basis and online companies are required to collect it from the buyer and forward/report it to the state. Local purchases all have sales tax paid to state governments, some to city in urban areas. Some food items are exempt. A state can choose to not have a sales tax but most do IIRC. There is no federal sales tax. Until these tariffs which are essentially taxes.