California's sales tax permit is called a seller's permit, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) issues it free through its online registration system. CDTFA may ask some applicants for a security deposit. Out-of-state sellers that cross the $500,000 sales threshold generally register for a Certificate of Registration – Use Tax instead.
You need a California seller's permit if you're engaged in business in California and sell or lease goods that would normally be taxable at retail. Wholesalers need one, too.
Software companies should plan ahead. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, California's SB 122 makes most SaaS sales taxable in California, so many software sellers will need to register.
If you have no physical presence in California, you must register once you cross the California economic nexus threshold: more than $500,000 in sales of tangible personal property for delivery in California in the current or previous calendar year. California has no transaction-count threshold.
Remote sellers with no California place of business register for a Certificate of Registration – Use Tax instead of a seller’s permit. You collect the same tax from customers, but it’s called use tax.
Out-of-state wholesalers whose California sales are all for resale don't need to register, even if they exceed $500,000. However, if they're over the threshold and make any retail sale to a California customer, they do.
California has no grace period. You must register and start collecting tax immediately after the sale that takes you over $500,000.
For example, if an order in August pushes your California sales for the year past $500,000, you collect tax on every California sale after that order. You don't have to collect on the order that crossed the threshold.
Once you're registered, you have to stay registered through the end of the following calendar year, even if your sales drop.
If you crossed the threshold in an earlier year and never registered, CDTFA's out-of-state voluntary disclosure program may cut the lookback period from eight years to three and relieve penalties.
Any of these conditions creates physical nexus in California, regardless of your sales volume:
Get your permit before you start selling. Operating as a seller without one is a misdemeanor.
Sellers who sell only through registered marketplaces are an exception, covered next.
Under California's marketplace facilitator law, Amazon, Etsy, and other marketplaces registered with CDTFA are treated as the retailer for the sales they facilitate. Whether you also need to register depends on how you sell:
Keep records showing that each marketplace is registered with CDTFA, such as your agreement with it or its permit number.
Marketplace-only sellers don't need a seller's permit, but they may still need to register as a "qualified purchaser" to pay use tax on their own untaxed business purchases.
Inventory stored in California counts as physical presence, even when it’s in a marketplace’s fulfillment center, where many Amazon FBA sellers keep theirs. Your storage setup affects which registration you need.
If your goods have dedicated storage in a third-party warehouse and aren’t mixed with other sellers’ goods, CDTFA may treat that warehouse as your place of business, which requires a seller’s permit. Otherwise, out-of-state sellers register for a Certificate of Registration – Use Tax.
Other activities, such as selling at trade shows, can also create sales tax nexus in California.
California has two seller registrations: a seller’s permit and a Certificate of Registration – Use Tax. CDTFA’s online application asks about your business, such as where you’re located and how you sell, and assigns the right one based on your answers.
Both use the same online application, and holders of either file regular sales and use tax returns.
You need a CDTFA Online Services username and password. CDTFA requires all registration applications to go through its online system, which you can also use at a CDTFA office.
Publication 73 excludes corporate officers from the Social Security number requirement. An ITIN can be used in place of an SSN, and CDTFA accepts several foreign IDs.
The application also asks for details most states don't, such as:
Open CDTFA's Online Services – Registration page and select Get Started. The same system handles seller's permits, temporary seller's permits, and Certificates of Registration – Use Tax.
On the Online Services home page, select Register for a Permit, License, or Account under Registration. That opens the Registration Options page.
Register a New Business Activity is the application itself, but it requires a username and password. If you don't have one, start with Create My Logon.
On the Registration Options page, select Create My Logon. The Sign Up Now button under Create a Username on the Online Services home page leads to the same Registration Options page. Only one logon is needed for all your business with CDTFA.
The sign-up starts with these screens:
The Identification Type list includes Social Security number, ITIN, driver's license number, and non-U.S. driver's license, ID, or passport numbers. Follow the remaining prompts to finish your logon.
Log in to Online Services. Under I Want To, select Register a New Business Activity.
Follow the prompts and provide everything the application asks for. The items are listed in What you need before registering. The application asks about:
Warning: If you buy a business without getting a tax and fee clearance and the previous owner owes tax, you can be held liable for it, up to the purchase price. CDTFA suggests requesting the clearance 60 days before the purchase.
Check your answers and submit. There's no fee.
Tip: The application saves automatically as you move between screens and lets you quit at any time and continue later. However, CDTFA deletes incomplete applications after 30 days.
To print your permit, log in. On the Online Services Profile Page, under the Accounts tab, click the link to the permit you would like to print. On the next page, click on the Locations tab. This page asks whether you want to print a permit and which location you want to print it for. Choose the location and select Print Permit.
Display the permit where customers can see it at the location it was issued for.
A California seller's permit is free, and so is a temporary seller's permit. There's no renewal fee because a regular seller's permit doesn't expire.
CDTFA may ask for a security deposit to cover taxes a business might leave unpaid. Depending on your type of business and expected taxable sales, it may ask you for one, and the amount is set when you apply.
Publication 73 lists examples such as when the law requires a deposit, after a permit is revoked, or when you have a history of nonpayment. CDTFA's staff compliance manual adds that new applicants without payment problems generally aren't asked for security and that your permit won't be held up while you post a deposit.
When security is required:
Cash deposits don't earn interest. CDTFA normally gives you 30 days to post security and can accept cash in installments.
CDTFA says it may issue your permit the same day you apply. It doesn't publish a standard processing time or separate times for online and in-office applications.
Same-day issuance depends on CDTFA automatically validating your identity. Staff review out-of-state driver's licenses, passports, and some entity types, such as LLCs and corporations not registered with the California Secretary of State, limited partnerships, and LLPs, which can take longer.
Applications for some special tax and fee accounts are held for review. You can check on yours with Get Registration Status on the Online Services home page.
If you have no permanent place of business and plan to make sales during temporary periods, you must apply for a temporary seller's permit. Common examples are holiday tree lots, fireworks stands, and craft fairs.
You apply through the same online registration system. A few rules are different:
Your return is due by the last day of the month after the location closes. If you already hold a regular seller's permit, you don't need a temporary one. Register a sub-permit for each temporary location.
Out-of-state retailers selling at California conventions or trade shows may need either an ongoing or a temporary permit, depending on their California sales.
Under California SB 122, prewritten software becomes tangible personal property for sales on or after January 1, 2027. That covers software on physical media, downloads, and remotely accessed software, including SaaS.
CDTFA's registration rules for these sellers follow the same split as for goods:
Some products aren't taxed under the new rules, including custom software, eBooks, digital music and video, and digital infrastructure such as cloud platforms that customers use to run their own applications.
You owe California sales tax from your first taxable sale, and most sellers add it to the price as sales tax reimbursement. Remote sellers collect use tax from their customers instead. The statewide base rate is 7.25%, and district taxes raise it in many areas.
District taxes don't need their own registration. You report them on your CDTFA return. Any retailer, in-state or out-of-state, with more than $500,000 in California sales collects district use tax on deliveries into every district that has one.
CDTFA assigns your filing frequency when it issues your permit, based on your expected sales. Its staff guidelines are based on your expected tax per month:
If your tax averages $10,000 or more a month, you must pay by electronic funds transfer.
Returns are due on the last day of the month after each reporting period. For example, a quarter that ends June 30 is due July 31. You can file California sales tax returns online.
You must file a return even if you had no sales or owe no tax.
A regular seller's permit doesn't expire and doesn't need renewal. It stays valid while you're actively selling, and you have to ask CDTFA to cancel it when you stop. Using a permit after you've stopped doing business is a misdemeanor.
Permits can't be transferred, so a new owner needs a new permit. Registration rules vary by state, and several require renewal.
No. Your seller's permit is your registration with CDTFA. A resale certificate is a document you give a supplier when you buy goods to resell, so the supplier doesn't charge you tax.
The certificate includes your seller's permit number. CDTFA offers form CDTFA-230, General Resale Certificate, but any document with the required information works.
No. A business license comes from your city or county, and you need to get it separately. A seller's permit covers only sales and use tax.
It depends on where you sell. You don't need one if all your California sales go through marketplaces registered with CDTFA, because those marketplaces handle the tax as the retailer.
If you also sell through your own website or in person, you'll need to register once you're engaged in business in California. Numeral's "California sales tax rules for online sellers" covers how those sales are taxed.
It depends on how often you sell. CDTFA generally requires a permit once you make three or more taxable sales in 12 months.
Selling your own used items at a garage sale doesn't require one unless you hold more than two garage sales in 12 months. Selling new or handmade items, or used items you bought to resell, does require one, even if you sell only temporarily.
It depends. California issues a permit for each place of business where you negotiate sales with customers, but CDTFA can often issue one consolidated permit for several locations.
A warehouse that only stores goods doesn't need its own permit if you hold one for another California location. A warehouse that fulfills sales you make from outside California does.
It depends on the food. Most cold food that isn't hot prepared is nontaxable, so a seller who only sells that kind of food generally doesn't need a permit.
Hot prepared food is taxable, so sellers of hot food generally need a permit.
Numeral is an end-to-end sales tax compliance platform for ecommerce and SaaS businesses. Top brands like Ridge, Muddy Bites, Graza, and Grüns spend less than five minutes a month on sales tax.
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