Businesses that collect Arkansas sales tax need a Sales and Use Tax Permit from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Apply online through the Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point (ATAP); the New Business Registration fee is $50. Remote sellers have to register once they make more than $100,000 in sales or more than 200 taxable transactions in Arkansas in the previous or current calendar year.
You need an Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Permit if you sell taxable goods or services in Arkansas and are required to collect and remit the tax. Under Arkansas rules, every business that must collect and remit sales tax must apply for one.
State law calls sales tax a gross receipts tax under the Arkansas Gross Receipts Act of 1941, so you'll see that name in rules and forms. The registration you need is still called a Sales and Use Tax Permit.
SaaS in Arkansas generally isn’t taxable, and the state doesn’t tax software delivered electronically. If that’s all you sell, you may not need a permit.
If you have no place of business in Arkansas, you have to register and collect once you cross the Arkansas economic nexus threshold.
The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) sets it at more than $100,000 in sales or more than 200 taxable transactions delivered into Arkansas in the previous or current calendar year.
Under Act 822 of 2019, which created the remote seller rule, Arkansas counts:
Arkansas doesn’t give remote sellers a grace period. Once you pass either threshold, you’re required to collect and remit tax on your Arkansas sales, so register before your next sale into the state.
The threshold covers both the previous and current calendar year, so crossing it keeps you registered for the rest of that year and all of the next.
For example, if your 201st taxable Arkansas transaction happens in August, you must collect from then through the end of the following year.
If you crossed the threshold in a past year and never registered, a voluntary disclosure agreement may help.
Under DFA's Voluntary Disclosure Program, the department generally limits the lookback to three years or the date nexus began, whichever is shorter, and agrees to waive penalties once the tax and interest are paid.
That doesn't apply if you collected tax from customers and didn't remit it, and you can't apply if DFA has already contacted you.
Any physical presence in Arkansas, directly or through another person, means you must register regardless of sales volume. Arkansas's use tax rules treat you as a vendor, and every vendor must register. Physical presence includes:
Apply before you start making sales, since selling without a permit can bring civil or criminal sanctions. Don’t apply too early, though. Submit the application no more than 60 days before your business opens.
Under Arkansas's marketplace facilitator law, a marketplace that crosses the threshold has to collect and remit Arkansas tax on the sales it facilitates. Whether you still need your own permit depends on where you're based and how you sell:
Arkansas’s use tax rules count physical presence “either directly or through another person or enterprise.” DFA hasn’t addressed inventory a marketplace stores for you, but under that rule, inventory in an Arkansas fulfillment center, as with many Amazon FBA sellers, likely counts as physical presence.
If you sell only through marketplaces, that doesn’t change anything: Arkansas says you don’t need to register, even with physical presence. If you also sell through your own website, plan to register and collect on those direct sales, whatever their volume.
DFA won't issue a new permit until any other Arkansas tax liabilities are cleared. If your business owes DFA anything, settle it before you apply.
The New Business Registration asks for:
For each owner, partner, or corporate officer, you'll need:
For sales and use tax, the application also asks for these documents and numbers if they apply to you:
The Remote Seller Registration in ATAP asks for less up front:
Most businesses register online through the Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point (ATAP). Go to DFA's Register for a Tax Account page and select Click Here to Apply Now.
If you need to register in several states, you can use the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System instead. Arkansas is a Streamlined Sales Tax member, and DFA points remote sellers to that system for multi-state registration and to ATAP for Arkansas only.
You don't need an ATAP login to register. On the ATAP home page, under Businesses, select one of these:
The Register a Business link opens the New Business Registration screen. It's only for businesses that don't already file in Arkansas.
If you already file another Arkansas tax, use the screen's link to create an ATAP logon instead, since ATAP lets existing users register for additional tax types.
The Register a Remote Seller link opens the Remote Seller Registration screen, which starts with Registration Instructions. Check that you have everything listed, then select Next.
Tip: Both registrations include a Save Draft button, which helps if you need to stop and gather a document.
Follow the prompts and enter the business, owner, and location details from the checklist above. Have a copy of your lease, bill of sale, or city business license ready, if applicable.
On the New Business Registration, you pay the $50 permit fee by ACH debit from your bank account when you submit. The remote seller registration doesn’t ask for payment details.
Warning: If you're buying an existing Arkansas business, its permit doesn't transfer to you. DFA recommends that buyers get a tax clearance or certificate of tax standing for the business before the purchase.
Allow up to 2 weeks for processing. Your account ID appears on letters and other correspondence from DFA.
To file returns online, select Sign Up on the ATAP login page. You'll enter your taxpayer ID, the ZIP code of your primary address, your email and phone number, the account type, your account ID, and one of your last three payment amounts.
If the only payment you've made is the application fee, enter $50.00 as the payment amount. If you haven't made any payments, enter $0.00.
An Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Permit costs $50 if you apply through ATAP's New Business Registration. The fee is nonrefundable, and you pay it electronically when you submit.
If you'll do business in Arkansas without a permanent business in the state, Arkansas's rules require you to get a permit and post a bond. The bond has to cover your expected tax liability for the period you'll operate in Arkansas, up to one year.
DFA accepts a cash bond, a surety bond, or the assignment of a certificate of deposit in an Arkansas financial institution.
Allow up to 2 weeks for processing. DFA doesn't publish a separate processing time for the Remote Seller Registration.
Arkansas has a separate collection process for vendors at special events, such as craft shows, flea markets, gun shows, home shows, and fairs. The promoter or organizer registers with DFA's Sales and Use Tax Section.
If you sell at an event and don't hold an Arkansas permit, you collect sales tax from buyers and pay it to the promoter each day with a daily sales tax report. The promoter sends all the reports and payments to DFA within 30 days after the event.
The isolated sale exemption doesn't apply to sales at special events. County, district, and state fairs approved to receive state funds aren't special events under this law.
Charge Arkansas sales tax once your permit is active: the 6.5% state rate plus any city and county tax. Food and food ingredients are exempt from state tax as of Jan. 1, 2026, but city and county taxes still apply.
Local tax is based on where the buyer receives the item. If you ship or deliver, use the rate for the delivery address.
Under 26 CAR § 30-1208, you file monthly until DFA tells you otherwise. DFA looks at your average tax for the previous fiscal year, July to June:
Businesses with average net sales of $200,000 or more per month must also make prepayments by electronic funds transfer.
You can file Arkansas sales tax returns online through ATAP. Returns are due by the 20th of the month after each period. When the 20th falls on a weekend, the due date moves to the next business day.
Quarterly returns are due April 20, July 20, Oct. 20, and Jan. 20, and annual returns are due Jan. 20.
File a return for every period, even if you have no sales. To submit a zero return, select File a Return Reporting No Activity.
If you file and pay on time, you can keep a 2% discount on the state and local tax you collected. The state discount is capped at $1,000 a month.
Arkansas permits don't need to be renewed. But under 26 CAR § 30-1204, a permit expires automatically after 12 consecutive monthly returns reporting zero sales, unless you're not primarily in the business of selling taxable goods or services.
DFA notifies you in writing, and you have 30 days to return the permit. If you expect to start selling again within 12 months of the notice, you can ask DFA to let you keep the permit.
Sales tax registration rules differ by state, and some require regular renewal.
No. An EIN is a federal tax ID from the IRS. An Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Permit is DFA's authorization to collect Arkansas sales tax, and DFA tracks it under its own Arkansas account ID.
You may not need an EIN to register. Sole proprietors can use their Social Security number, and the Remote Seller Registration also accepts an ITIN.
Use DFA's Permit ID Inquiry in ATAP. You can also select Validate Sales Tax Permit/Certificate/Farm ID Card under Sales and Use on the ATAP home page.
Yes. Arkansas requires a separate permit for each business location in the state.
You still file one combined return for all locations registered under the same EIN or Social Security number.
No. The permit lets you collect Arkansas sales tax. When you buy items to resell, you give your supplier an exemption certificate, such as Arkansas's Form ST-391 or the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
No, as long as every Arkansas sale goes through Amazon or another marketplace facilitator. That’s true whether you’re based in Arkansas or out of state, and even if Amazon stores your inventory there.
Sales through your own website aren’t covered. Out-of-state sellers need a permit once those direct sales cross the threshold. If you’re based in Arkansas or store inventory there, you need one for any direct sales.
Yes. Arkansas permits can't be transferred or used by anyone other than the business they were issued to.
Apply for your own permit. The application asks for the former business's name, account ID, and a copy of the bill of sale.
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