How to Complete and Submit Kansas Form CR-18: Filing and Common Mistakes

Kansas Form CR-18 is the one-page notice you send to the Kansas Department of Revenue when owners, partners, members, or corporate officers are added to or removed from a business. Filing it updates the state’s records so the right people are linked to the business’s sales tax, withholding, and other tax accounts, and so liability for unpaid taxes attaches to the correct individuals for the correct time periods.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

When CR-18 Is the Right Form

Use CR-18 when the people behind the business change. That covers a sale of the business, a partner joining or leaving, a new corporate officer, or an LLC member coming in or going out. Each entry on the form is marked either “Adding a name” or “Removing a name,” and both can appear on the same form if space allows.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

If the business itself is shutting down or being sold as a going concern, CR-18 is not the right form. Kansas uses Form CR-108, Notice of Business Closure, to close tax accounts.2Kansas Department of Revenue. Business Closed, Sold or No Activity to Report In a sale, you often file both: CR-108 to close the seller’s accounts and CR-18 to add the new owner to the buyer’s accounts. A change in mailing address alone needs neither; contact the Department directly for that.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Pull two things first: the business’s Federal Employer Identification Number and the full legal business name exactly as it appears on your existing Kansas tax registration. A mismatch here is the most common reason filings get held up, because the Department can’t match the submission to the right account.3Kansas Department of Revenue. Business Tax Registration and Business Closure

For each person being added or removed, you’ll also need their Social Security Number (or EIN if the “person” is an entity), home address, phone, email, title in the business, ownership percentage, and the effective date of the change. The form is downloadable from the Department’s business tax registration page.3Kansas Department of Revenue. Business Tax Registration and Business Closure

Filling Out the Form

The top section is business identification: enter the legal business name and FEIN exactly as registered.

Below that, the form provides three identical blocks, one per person. If your change involves more than three people, submit additional CR-18 forms.

Each block asks you to do the same things. Check the box for Adding or Removing. The person being added or removed prints their full legal name and signs their own entry — a form missing those signatures will likely be sent back. Circle whether the identifier provided is an SSN or an EIN and enter the number. List the title (owner, partner, president, treasurer, member, and so on). Give the home address, phone, and email for the individual, not the business address. Enter the ownership percentage.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

Two fields deserve extra care because they drive liability.

The first is control over funds. The form asks yes or no: does this person have or had authority over how business funds or assets are spent? Answering yes puts you within reach of Kansas’s personal liability rules for trust-fund taxes during the period you held that role. Answer honestly, because the answer defines who the state can pursue later.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

The second is the effective date. This is the date the person became, or stopped being, an owner, partner, officer, or member. Leaving it blank leaves ambiguity about where one person’s responsibility ends and the next person’s begins. Fill it in precisely.

The form also notes that any payments owed should accompany the submission. If the business has outstanding tax balances at the time of the change, resolve them before or alongside the filing so a departing owner isn’t left with lingering exposure.

Where to Send It

Kansas does not offer online submission for CR-18. You have two options:

Fax gives you an immediate transmission confirmation. If you mail the form, use a service with delivery tracking so you have proof it arrived. For questions about the form or the status of a submission, call the Department of Revenue at 785-368-8222.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

Keep a copy of the completed form along with your fax confirmation or mailing receipt. If a dispute later arises over who was responsible for the business’s taxes during a particular period, that paperwork is your proof that you notified the state on time.

Why Filing Quickly Matters

Kansas treats sales tax and compensating use tax as trust-fund taxes. The tax a business collects from its customers belongs to the state, held in trust until it’s remitted. Every person with control over those funds is personally on the hook if the business fails to pay, no matter whether the business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or LLC.5Kansas Department of Revenue. Pub. KS-1510 Sales Tax and Compensating Use Tax

Filing the CR-18 promptly when you leave a business sets a clear cutoff date in the Department’s records. Skip it, and the state’s records still show you as a responsible party. If the business later falls behind, Kansas can pursue you personally for the debt, penalties, and interest tied to any period when you were listed as having control over funds. The form also authorizes the Secretary of Revenue to research the credit history of any individual identified as responsible for the business’s taxes.1Kansas Department of Revenue. CR-18 Ownership Change Form

For incoming owners, the same logic runs in reverse. Getting your name on the tax registration starts the clock on your accountability, and it also ensures tax notices, filing reminders, and other Department correspondence come to you rather than continuing to the previous owner.

Mistakes That Cause Delays

  • Business name doesn’t match the one on existing Kansas tax registration. If the legal name recently changed with the Secretary of State but wasn’t updated with Revenue, fix that first.
  • Missing signatures. Each person listed signs their own block.
  • Wrong form. CR-108 closes a business; CR-18 changes who is tied to one that keeps operating.
  • Blank effective date, which leaves open the question of when liability shifted.
  • Running past three people on a single form instead of using additional CR-18s.