Do I pay New York sales tax on a website build?

Probably not on the design and build itself, but confirm it. A 2020 advisory opinion from the New York tax department found website creation, development and hosting by the petitioner weren't taxable services. That opinion only binds the department for the business that asked, so check with a New York accountant. Remotely accessed prewritten software is taxable, so a subscription tool may carry tax.

Do I need an LLC before I buy a website?

No law says you must, but sort out your legal name first so the site matches it. Forming a New York LLC costs US$200 to file the articles. You then have 120 days to publish notice in two newspapers for six weeks and file a US$50 Certificate of Publication, and the newspapers charge their own fees. Missing the deadline suspends the LLC's authority to do business.

I work in Brooklyn and Queens with three services. What does that cost?

A home page, three service pages and one page each for Brooklyn and Queens is six pages: US$500 plus five at US$180, so US$1,400. Add the EightySixOS Editor at US$100 a year, paid upfront, and the first-year total is US$1,500, with 12 months of hosting and SSL included.

How much should I hold back for after launch?

Our calculator says hosting is free for year 1. Year 2 isn't priced on the page, so get it in writing. The Editor renews at US$100 a year if you use it. If you want ongoing SEO, AEO and GEO, it is from US$360 a month, which is US$4,320 over 12 months.

How Much Does a Website Cost in New York: A Budget Guide to Build in Stages

The price of a New York website on our pricing is easy to work out: US$500 for one page, US$180 for each extra page. What trips people up is everything around that number. The business name paperwork that comes first, the tax question, and the yearly and monthly costs that arrive after launch.

So here is a budget you can build in stages. Each stage has a price taken from our New York web design page, and you can stop at whichever stage fits your cash.

I’m not going to quote a “typical New York website price”. I can’t source one, and a made-up range is worse than none. Everything below is our published pricing multiplied out, plus rules I checked on government sites.

Stage 0: settle your business name before the website

This stage costs nothing from us, but it can cost you money and it affects the site. Your legal name, the name on your site, your contact page and your privacy policy should all say the same thing.

If you are forming an LLC. The New York Department of State says the fee to file Articles of Organization is US$200. Then comes the New York quirk. Section 206 of the LLC Law requires you to publish a copy or notice in two newspapers of your county, one weekly and one daily, once a week for six successive weeks, within 120 days of the articles taking effect. The county clerk designates the papers, and they charge their own fee. You then file a Certificate of Publication with a separate US$50 fee. If proof isn’t filed within the 120 days, the LLC’s authority to do business in the state is suspended. Newspaper fees vary, so get the quotes before you budget.

If you are a sole proprietor using a trade name. The NYC Business portal says a business operating under any name other than its legal name must file a Certificate of Assumed Name, and that a sole proprietor only needs one if they use a trade name. The portal lists the county clerks for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. The portal doesn’t state a fee, and it is a little unclear about the state filing, so ring the clerk.

This isn’t legal advice. It is the reason I’d get the name nailed down before the domain, the site copy and the Google profile all get stamped with it.

Stage 1: the one-page launch, US$500

US$500 buys a single-page New York website. Our page says every build includes SEO, AEO and GEO in the code, GA4, Search Console and Tag Manager, 12 months of hosting on a global CDN and SSL, with no plugins to renew and no lock-in contract. You own the site.

One page is enough if you sell one thing, work from one phone number and mostly get work by word of mouth, with the site there to prove you are real. It is not enough if you want to be found for several different services, because each service is a separate search.

Stage 2: add pages, US$180 each

Our page says Google ranks individual pages, not whole websites, and that a dedicated page for each service or borough you cover gives it more reasons to rank you. Here is the build price at different sizes.

Pages	Build price
1	US$500
2	US$680
3	US$860
5	US$1,220
6	US$1,400
8	US$1,760
10	US$2,120
15	US$3,020

Choose pages by what you want calls for. One page per paid service, then one per borough you really travel to, and not all five boroughs because it sounds bigger. A plumber who never leaves Brooklyn doesn’t need a Staten Island page.

Decide the page count up front. The Editor’s description on our page says new pages are quoted separately, so don’t assume a page added later costs the same US$180. Ask what it would cost before you size the build.

Stage 3: the Editor, US$100 a year

The EightySixOS Editor is US$100 a year, paid upfront with your build and renewing annually. It lets you change existing text, replace images and upload finished blog posts through a private dashboard, without WordPress, a page builder or code. Our page says redesigns, copywriting, new pages and extra functionality are quoted separately.

Skip it if you never expect to change a word. Take it if you want to update prices, swap photos or post the odd article without waiting on someone.

Stage 4: pay for traffic, from US$360 a month

A site that nobody visits earns nothing. Our page lists two optional monthly services:

SEO, AEO and GEO management from US$360 a month. That is US$4,320 over 12 months.
Google Ads management from US$360 a month, plus your ad spend.

Doing both at the “from” prices is US$8,640 a year in management fees before a single ad click is paid for. That is a big gap from a US$500 website, so decide on purpose. How Much Does SEO Cost in New York goes through the SEO side, and SEO vs Google Ads for New York Businesses helps you pick which to fund first. The site itself is covered by Local SEO for New York Businesses.

Three 12-month budgets

All of these use our published prices and the “from” rates. None includes domain registration or newspaper fees, and we add no tax.

Budget	What is in it	Year-one total
Lean	1 page	US$500
Steady	6 pages plus the Editor	US$1,500
Pushing	6 pages, the Editor and SEO, AEO and GEO management	US$5,820

The Steady row is the Brooklyn and Queens example from the FAQs: US$1,400 for six pages plus US$100 for the Editor. The Pushing row adds US$4,320 of monthly management. Google Ads would be on top of it, along with the ad spend.

Sales tax: what I verified and what I didn’t

Tax rules differ by state, so here is what the New York tax department says, and where its limits are.

Advisory opinion TSB-A-20(70)S, issued in November 2020, concluded that a company’s creation, hosting and operation of mobile websites and apps was not subject to state and local sales and use tax, because those weren’t enumerated taxable services. The department says an advisory opinion is binding only on the business that asked, and only if it described its facts fully. So treat it as a good sign, not a guarantee.

A separate department bulletin on computer software says prewritten software is taxable when it is accessed remotely, and that custom software designed to a particular purchaser’s specifications generally is not. In plain terms: a monthly subscription to someone’s website builder or booking tool may carry sales tax. A build made specifically for you is different.

Our prices in USD are charged as shown, with no tax added by us. Whether New York sales tax applies to you depends on your own situation, so run it past a New York accountant, and ask any other provider for the final figure you will pay.

Questions to ask about any New York quote

How many pages is that price for?
What is the all-in figure including any tax?
Does the price include 12 months of hosting, and what does year two cost?
Is any of it a subscription to a third-party tool?
If I want to add a page next year, what does it cost?
Who owns the site and the domain?

If you want a number for your own business, get in touch and I’ll give you a fixed price. Our New York digital marketing page covers how the site fits with SEO and Google Ads.