Use tax is a tax charged on items that you purchase for use without paying sales tax. In most cases, this is charged on items because you purchased an item from out of state or you purchased an item online and did not pay sales tax on it. Don’t let advertising fool you (“No Sales Tax!”). You’re still obligated to pay the tax, you just pay it in a different form and pay it to your home state. Unless you are in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, you should probably be filing and paying use tax. States are getting more aggressive at coming after businesses who are not paying use tax. It’s costing them a lot of revenue.