Montana's resort tax: no general sales tax, ten resort towns and a Glacier summer
Montana's Department of Revenue says plainly that the state "does not have a general-use sales tax," so a Shopify order shipped to a Montana address carries no state sales tax at checkout. The state still has a tax that a seller should know by name. Under Montana Code Annotated 7-6-1503, a resort community or resort area may levy a resort tax of up to 3 percent, with an extra 1 percent allowed for infrastructure, on the retail value of goods and services sold by hotels and other lodging, restaurants, bars and destination recreational facilities, and "establishments that sell luxuries" collect it on those luxuries. The Department's own list names ten places, from West Yellowstone, which enacted its tax in 1986, to Wolf Creek in 2015. Whether any of that reaches a package shipped from outside the town is the question a seller actually has, and neither the statute nor the Department's pages answer it, so this page does not either. What the sources do give is the season: Glacier National Park recorded 2,933,616 recreation visits in 2023, with monthly records in May and September. This page sets out the rules as written, and ends with a buy-one-get-one plan timed to that summer. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Montana Department of Revenue and the town.
A buy-one-get-one plan for a Montana summer
Shipping
Montana has 145,546 square miles of land and 1,144,694 residents, which is a small population over a very large area, and for an online store the useful rule is the plainest one: the Department of Revenue says Montana has no general sales tax, so shelf price and checkout price match for a Montana address. The resort tax is written for sales by lodging, restaurants, bars, destination recreational facilities and sellers of luxuries inside a resort community, and no source we read says how it treats a parcel shipped in from outside. For air freight, the FAA's 2025 all-cargo list ranks Billings 81st and Great Falls 101st by landed weight, both lower than in 2024.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates
Source: Montana Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Residents
Source: Montana Code Annotated 2025, 7-6-1503: Limit on resort tax rate, goods and services subject to tax
- Before you plan the offer
Confirm what your checkout shows for a Montana address. The Department says the state has no general sales tax, so there should be no state sales tax line, and a total that differs from the shelf price is a setting to fix before you advertise anything.
Source: Montana Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Residents
- If you sell from inside a resort town
Read section 7-6-1503 against your own business. The resort tax is written for lodging, food service, bars, destination recreational facilities and luxuries, and the Department says it does not administer the tax, so ask the town which of your sales it covers and whether a shipped order is one of them.
Source: Montana Code Annotated 2025, 7-6-1503: Limit on resort tax rate, goods and services subject to tax
- If you ship from Montana to other states
Do not assume Montana's lack of a sales tax follows the parcel. The Department says Montana businesses selling online to buyers in a state that requires collection must collect and pay that tax, so check each destination before you run a national offer.
Source: Montana Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Residents
- From late spring
Build the offer around a buy-one-get-one pairing, such as a layer with a pair of socks, and set it to run through the months the park's release puts in front: May and September had monthly visitation records in 2023 and June to August is the reported summer stretch. The park's 2023 total, 2,933,616 visits, is the context, not a promise about your traffic.
Source: National Park Service: Glacier National Park announces 2023 visitation data (March 6, 2024)
- In the summer
Keep the offer to one pairing at a time and state the condition beside the offer, then compare the summer weeks with the same weeks the year before before you repeat it. The park's own page said vehicle reservations were not required in 2026, which can change, so do not build a promise on it.
Source: National Park Service: Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park (updated June 11, 2026)
Build it with the Buy X, get Y template.
Questions merchants ask
- Does Montana have a sales tax?
- Not a general one. The Department of Revenue says Montana does not have a general-use sales tax, and that the Wayfair decision does not affect Montanans buying online because there is no general sales tax to collect. Other taxes exist, such as the local resort tax and taxes on lodging.
- What is the Montana resort tax?
- It is a local tax of up to 3 percent, with an optional extra 1 percent for infrastructure in some communities, on the retail value of goods and services sold in a resort community or resort area by lodging, restaurants, bars, destination recreational facilities and sellers of luxuries. The Department lists ten places and says it does not administer the tax.
- Does a resort tax apply to an online order shipped into a resort town?
- We could not confirm it. Section 7-6-1503 describes sales made within the community by the types of business it names, and neither the statute nor the Department's page addresses online or shipped sales. Ask the town directly, since the Department says it does not administer the tax. This is not tax advice.
- Which towns have a resort tax?
- The Department's page lists Red Lodge, Virginia City, West Yellowstone, Whitefish, Big Sky, Cooke City, Craig, Gardiner, St. Regis and Wolf Creek, each at 3 percent, and gives the year each enacted its tax. Check the Department's page for changes.
- How busy is Glacier National Park in summer?
- The park reported 2,933,616 recreation visits for 2023, with monthly records in May and September, and its release reports June to August visits by entrance, for example 869,026 at the West Entrance. Those are 2023 figures from the park, not a forecast.
The year at a glance
Related reading
Facts and sources
The Department of Revenue's sales tax guidance says "Montana does not have a general-use sales tax."
Montana Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Residents (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department says the Wayfair decision does not affect Montanans purchasing goods or services online because Montana has no general sales tax, and that Montana businesses selling online to buyers in a state that requires online retailers to collect sales tax must collect and pay those taxes.
Montana Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Residents (accessed October 10, 2026)
Section 7-6-1503 of the Montana Code Annotated 2025 says the resort tax is a tax on the retail value of all goods and services sold, except goods and services sold for resale, within the community by lodging and camping facilities, restaurants and other food service establishments, bars and other places serving alcohol by the drink, and destination ski resorts and other destination recreational facilities, and that establishments that sell luxuries shall collect a tax on those luxuries.
Montana Code Annotated 2025, 7-6-1503: Limit on resort tax rate, goods and services subject to tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
The same section says the rate set by the petition or resolution may not exceed 3 percent, allows an additional levy of up to 1 percent whose revenue must fund infrastructure, and bars a resort community above the population limit from levying the additional tax unless it was established before January 1, 2025.
Montana Code Annotated 2025, 7-6-1503: Limit on resort tax rate, goods and services subject to tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
Section 7-6-1501 defines a resort community as an incorporated municipality with a population under 5,500 in the most recent federal census that derives more than 50 percent of its economic well-being from businesses serving the recreational and personal needs of people passing through, and a resort area as an unincorporated contiguous area with a population under 2,500 that meets the same test, each designated by the Department of Commerce.
Montana Code Annotated 2025, 7-6-1501: Definitions (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department of Revenue's local resort tax page lists ten resort areas at 3 percent, with the year each enacted its tax: Red Lodge 1998, Virginia City 1991, West Yellowstone 1986, Whitefish 1996, Big Sky 1992, Cooke City 2006, Craig 2010, Gardiner 2014, St. Regis 1993 and Wolf Creek 2015, and says the Department does not administer the local resort tax.
Montana Department of Revenue: Local Resort Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
The National Park Service says Glacier National Park hosted 2,933,616 recreation visits in 2023 and that monthly records were set for May and September.
National Park Service: Glacier National Park announces 2023 visitation data (March 6, 2024) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The same release reports June to August visits by entrance, with 869,026 at the West Entrance in 2023.
National Park Service: Glacier National Park announces 2023 visitation data (March 6, 2024) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The park's Going-to-the-Sun Road page, last updated June 11, 2026, says vehicle reservations are not required in 2026.
National Park Service: Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park (updated June 11, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The FAA's calendar year 2025 list of all-cargo airports by landed weight puts Billings Logan International 81st at 279,255,047 pounds, 42.4 percent below its 485,177,130 pounds in 2024, and Great Falls International 101st at 156,104,195 pounds, 21.6 percent below 2024.
Federal Aviation Administration: CY 2025 All-Cargo Airports by Landed Weight (ARP-CY2025-all-cargo-airports.xlsx, added 9/22/2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts Montana at 1,144,694 residents on July 1, 2025, up from 1,137,557 a year earlier.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates (accessed October 10, 2026)
Montana has 145,546 square miles of land area and 147,040 square miles of total area.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.