Ohio Sales Tax Permit: Who Needs One, How to Apply, and Filing

If you plan to sell taxable goods or services in Ohio, you need an Ohio sales tax permit, officially called a vendor’s license, from the Ohio Department of Taxation before you make your first sale. It costs $50 per fixed location, does not expire, and is issued through the Ohio Business Gateway or on paper using Form ST 1. Once you hold it, you collect the state’s 5.75% sales tax plus the local rate for the delivery location, then remit what you’ve collected on the filing schedule the state assigns you.¹

Who Needs a Vendor’s License

Ohio Revised Code 5739.17 bars anyone from making taxable retail sales as a business without a valid vendor’s license.² That reaches tangible goods and most taxable services: shops, restaurants, online stores, food trucks, landscaping crews, anything where you collect payment on something Ohio taxes.

Physical presence is the straightforward trigger. An office, warehouse, storefront, or employees in Ohio means you need to register. Out-of-state sellers get caught by economic nexus if, in the current or previous calendar year, they exceed either $100,000 in gross receipts from Ohio customers or 200 separate transactions with Ohio customers.¹ Cross either line and you must register even without any physical footprint in the state.

Which License You Need

Ohio issues two vendor’s licenses, and the right one depends on how you sell.

A regular (county) vendor’s license is for businesses operating from a fixed location, like a store, restaurant, or office from which work is dispatched. You need a separate license for each fixed location, and the $50 fee goes to the county auditor where that location sits. A transient vendor’s license is for sellers who move goods to temporary places of business, such as flea markets, trade shows, fairs, or door-to-door sales, in counties where they have no fixed location. The transient license is statewide, costs $50, and is issued by the Ohio Department of Taxation.

One nuance saves many sellers an unnecessary license: if you already hold a regular vendor’s license for a county, you can sell at temporary events in that same county without a transient license. The transient license only matters for counties where you have no fixed location.²

The $50 fee is current. It rose from $25 to $50 on April 9, 2025, under House Bill 366.³

What to Gather Before You Apply

Have the following ready before you open the application:

Your federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). Sole proprietors without a separate EIN can use their Social Security number instead.
Your NAICS code, the industry classification for your business activity. The Department of Taxation’s registration page has a lookup tool.⁴
The physical business address where sales will occur.
Names and contact details for primary owners or responsible parties.
The date you expect to begin making taxable sales.

Pick the start date carefully. The Department uses it to assign your first return period, and the wrong date can create confusion about when your first filing comes due.

How to Apply

Online Through the Ohio Business Gateway

The fastest route is the Ohio Business Gateway at gateway.ohio.gov. Create an account, complete the vendor’s license application, and you can receive your license almost immediately, along with a confirmation number for tracking.⁵

Paper Application (Form ST 1)

You can also download Form ST 1 and mail it with your $50 fee. Send it to the Ohio Department of Taxation (with payment to the Ohio Treasurer of State) or to your county auditor’s office.⁶ Paper applications can take four to six weeks to process.⁵ If you’re opening soon, that delay can hold you up.

What You’ll Collect at the Register

Ohio’s state sales tax rate is 5.75%. Every county adds a local rate, and some areas layer on a transit authority tax. Local additions come in 0.25% increments and can stack up to 3% above the state rate, making the legal maximum 8.75%.¹ Across Ohio’s 88 counties, combined rates generally run from about 6.50% to 8.00%, with a few transit-authority areas slightly higher.⁷

The rate is set by where the customer receives the product or service, not where your business sits. Ship an item to a customer in a 7.25% county and you collect 7.25%, regardless of your own county’s rate. The Department’s rate map lists the combined rate for every county.

Filing Returns and Paying the State

Holding the license commits you to a filing schedule. Ohio assigns you one of three frequencies based on your tax liability:¹

Monthly, the default for most vendors. Returns and payment are due by the 23rd of the following month.
Semi-annual, available if your tax liability is under $1,200 per six-month period. Due by the 23rd of the month after each period closes.
Quarterly, generally reserved for direct-pay permit holders and consumer use tax accounts with less than $15,000 in quarterly liability.

Vendors with more than $75,000 in annual sales tax liability must file and pay electronically. Everyone else can still use the Ohio Business Gateway or OH|TAX eServices portal, and it’s the faster route either way.

File and pay on time and Ohio allows a timely-filing discount of 0.75% of the tax due. Starting with returns filed on or after January 1, 2026, that discount is capped at $750 per vendor’s license for each month covered by the return, and it does not apply to motor vehicle sales.¹ One day late and the discount is gone, so set a calendar reminder for the 23rd.

Exemption Certificates

Not every sale will be taxable. When a buyer purchases for resale or another exempt purpose, they should hand you a completed exemption certificate rather than paying tax. Ohio uses two forms. The STEC U (Unit Exemption Certificate) covers a single purchase and should be attached to that invoice.⁸ The STEC B (Blanket Exemption Certificate) covers all future exempt purchases from a repeat buyer until that buyer revokes it in writing.

Every sale is presumed taxable until you have a properly completed certificate on file. In an audit, a missing certificate puts you on the hook for the uncollected tax plus penalties and interest. This is where most audit problems start: the seller assumed the buyer was exempt, never collected the paperwork, and ended up paying the tax personally. Keep the certificates organized from day one.

Penalties, Interest, and Personal Liability

Ohio’s penalty structure scales with the nature of the failure. On assessments under the sales tax chapter, the Department of Taxation can add:⁹

Up to 50% of the amount assessed for failure to collect and remit tax.
Up to 50% for tax collected but not remitted. The state treats this most seriously, because you’ve held money that belongs to Ohio.
Up to 15% for other assessments.

Interest runs on top of the penalty. For calendar year 2026, Ohio’s annual interest rate is 7.0%, or 0.58% per month, and it accrues from the original due date rather than from the date the Department discovers the underpayment.¹⁰

Corporate form does not insulate you from these obligations. Officers, employees, and trustees of a corporation, LLC, or business trust can be held personally liable for sales tax the entity fails to remit.¹¹ If a responsible-party assessment arrives, respond quickly. Ignoring it leaves you permanently on the hook for the balance.

Keeping the License Valid

You must display the vendor’s license prominently at every place of business where customers can see it.² Multiple locations need multiple licenses, each displayed on site.

Ohio vendor’s licenses don’t expire, which is convenient but puts the burden on you to act when things change. Move locations, change ownership, or restructure the entity, and you need to update or replace the license. When you close the business, notify the Department of Taxation to cancel it. If you don’t, you stay on file as an active vendor, the state keeps expecting returns, and late-filing penalties pile up even though you haven’t sold anything.

1
Ohio Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.17 – Vendors License
3
Ohio Department of Taxation. Vendors License Fee Change Coming Soon
4
Ohio Department of Taxation. Register for a Vendors License or Sellers Use Tax Account
5
Ohio Department of Taxation. Application for Vendors License to Make Taxable Sales
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Ohio Department of Taxation. ST 1 Application for Vendors License to Make Taxable Sales
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Ohio Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Rate Map
8
Ohio Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Unit Exemption Certificate
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5739.133
10
Ohio Department of Taxation. Interest Rates
11
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code Rule 5703-9-49 – Corporate Officer Liability