From Netflix to Zyn Pouches, Here Are 6 Weird Things States Are Taxing in 2026

New year, new you — especially if you happen to be a state tax code. A slew of new tax legislation across the country kicked in on Jan. 1, and some of what the taxman wants a cut of might be surprising.

Here are some of the most impactful and unexpected items you’ll be digging deeper into your pockets for in different states in 2026, along with a couple of places where your wallet will get a little relief.

Rhode Island added a new 5% tax on short-term rentals if you book an entire house. That’s on top of the regular hotel tax, which the state also raised from 1% to 2% starting in 2026.

Gasoline

About half the states have gas taxes that automatically adjust when the calendar year rolls over. Above and beyond that, New Jersey hiked its gas tax by about 4 cents on Jan. 1, raising the total to just over 49 cents per gallon.

Michigan took things a step further, replacing its old 6% gas tax with a per-gallon tax that will add about 52 cents per gallon (that’s a base rate of 51 cents a gallon plus an inflation-indexed fraction of a percentage point on top of that). That shakes out to a increase of about 20 cents per gallon at current prices.

Gold

With gold prices rising some 65% in 2025 and retail investors snapping up the yellow metal, it was only a matter of time before a bureaucrat somewhere got the idea to start taxing gold purchases.

That distinction goes to Washington, which eliminated its sales tax carve-out for gold bars and bullion, as well as other precious metals — silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium — that had been covered by the exemption. While Washington has a flat 6.5% sales tax, the Tax Foundation notes that shoppers usually pay close to 10% once various local taxes are added to the total.

Thankfully, chilling is still free, but Netflix will cost more in Maine. The state created a 5.5% tax on digital streaming services. This streaming tax applies both to video services like Netflix and Hulu as well as music-streaming platforms like Spotify.

Streaming aficionados in other states might want to prepare themselves to pay more in the future, too. According to the Tax Foundation, multiple states are looking into adding or expanding taxes on “streaming, subscriptions, and some SaaS and digital services.” (SaaS is cloud-based software.)

Nicotine

Nebraska, Oregon and Washington added new taxes on certain categories of smokeless tobacco (like Zyn nicotine pouches) or amended their definition of cigarette-adjacent products to include these items. Depending on where they live, people now face paying between 65 cents and 95% more for their nicotine fix.

These are either excise taxes or wholesale taxes, so buyers won’t necessarily see them broken out on its own line on receipts, but customers will still be shouldering the cost.

(Some) vending machine treats

Ohio implemented a new tax on a relatively niche food category. Goodies purchased from refrigerated vending machines are now subject to the Ohio state sales tax rate of 5.75% that also applies to restaurant meals (but not groceries or takeout orders). Think: yogurt, hummus packs and wraps.

The news when it comes to food-related tax changes in 2026 isn’t all bad, though: Arkansas and Illinois each eliminated state taxes on groceries in 2026, although both states stipulate that municipalities can still levy local taxes.

Another place some shoppers’ budgets might get a break is Alabama, which debuted a new sales tax exemption for menstrual and maternity products, a category that includes period supplies like pads and tampons, as well as baby supplies like diapers, formula and wipes.