Businesses that sell taxable goods or services in Kansas register with the Kansas Department of Revenue for a free retailers' sales tax registration, or a retailers' compensating use tax registration if they're based out of state. Remote sellers must register once their Kansas sales exceed $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year.
You need to register with the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) if you sell goods, admissions, or taxable services in Kansas. Kansas calls this a Retailers' Sales Tax Registration. Out-of-state sellers register for Retailers' Compensating Use Tax instead.
SaaS in Kansas generally isn't taxable. Remote access to software over the internet isn't a taxable lease.
Some businesses don't need a number. Wholesalers that only sell for resale don't, and contractors who work only on residential property and pay tax on their materials generally don't.
If you have no physical presence in Kansas, you need to register once you cross the Kansas economic nexus threshold: more than $100,000 in gross receipts from sales to Kansas customers in the current or previous calendar year. Kansas has no transaction-count threshold.
Remote sellers register for Retailers' Compensating Use Tax, not Retailers' Sales Tax.
Count all your sales to Kansas customers:
You're required to register, collect, and remit starting with your next Kansas sale after you pass $100,000. Register no later than 30 days after crossing, so treat 30 days as the outside deadline.
In the first year you cross, you don't have to collect tax on the first $100,000 of Kansas sales.
For example, if your Kansas sales pass $100,000 in May, you start collecting with your next Kansas sale and register right away, no later than 30 days after crossing. You then collect on every Kansas sale for the rest of that year and all of the next year.
If you crossed the threshold in the past and never registered, a voluntary disclosure agreement can help.
Kansas's Voluntary Disclosure Program limits the look-back to three years and waives late filing and payment penalties if you qualify, though interest is still due. You don't qualify if KDOR or the Multistate Tax Commission has already contacted you or you're under audit.
Kansas is a Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) state, so remote sellers can register through the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System instead of directly with KDOR.
No returns are filed through that system. SST registrants file with each state through the state's own online system.
Kansas law treats you as doing business in the state and requires you to register if you have any of these:
This is physical nexus, and there's no sales minimum. KDOR suggests applying 3 to 4 weeks before you start selling.
Kansas's marketplace facilitator law requires marketplaces with more than $100,000 in taxable Kansas sales, counting their own sales and the sales they facilitate, to register and collect tax on facilitated sales. KDOR generally audits the marketplace, not the seller, for those sales.
Whether you need your own registration depends on how you sell:
Regularly keeping a stock of goods in Kansas for sale is one of the activities that qualifies as "doing business" in the state.
Because the $100,000 threshold applies only to sellers without that kind of presence, Amazon FBA sellers with inventory in a Kansas warehouse need registration for any direct Kansas sales, regardless of amount, under Kansas sales tax nexus rules.
LLCs, partnerships, corporations, trusts, estates, nonprofits, and any business that pays wages need a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). Get your EIN before you apply.
The Business Tax Application (Form CR-16) asks for:
For each location, Form CR-16 and KDOR's Business Location help page ask for:
For every owner, partner, corporate officer, and director, Form CR-16 asks for:
Ownership has to add up to 100% before the online application lets you continue. Every owner, partner, or officer is personally liable for the business's tax debts and must sign a paper application.
The sales tax section of Form CR-16 and the online Sales/Compensating Use Tax screen also ask:
You can apply four ways: online, by mail, by fax, or in person. To apply online through the KDOR Customer Service Center, go to the Business Tax Registration and Business Closure page and select Business Tax Registration online.
To apply on paper, complete Form CR-16. Fax it to 785-291-3614 or mail it to Kansas Department of Revenue, PO Box 3506, Topeka, KS 66625-3506.
You can also apply in person for same-day registration at a KDOR Taxpayer Assistance Center. An appointment is required, and an owner, partner, or principal officer has to bring the completed application.
Go to the Customer Service Center login page. If you already have an account, sign in. Otherwise, select Register Now.
The registration form asks for a business or personal name, a contact name, a phone number, and your email address. You'll also set a password and a recovery security question.
Under Your primary use of this site, leave Accounts selected, then select Continue.
Once you're logged in, complete the questionnaire, which tells you which business taxes to register for.
On the first screen, mark Started a New Business and check the tax types you need. If you aren't sure which apply, select Click Here to answer questions about your business activity.
Enter your ownership type, legal business name, EIN, accounting method, and business contact person.
The next screens ask for any Kansas tax account numbers you or your firm held previously or use now.
For each location, enter the trade name, the street address, and whether it's inside city limits.
On the location list, select Add Location for each additional site, or Edit to fix one.
The Sales/Compensating Use Tax screen asks the Kansas-specific questions listed above, from your start date to whether you sell online and ship to Kansas. It also asks for your estimated annual tax and the account contact person.
Estimate your annual tax by multiplying your expected annual Kansas retail sales by your area's combined rate. KDOR uses this to set your filing frequency for your first year.
List every owner, partner, corporate officer, and director. Ownership percentages have to total 100%.
If you have a long list, you can upload it as a CSV file. Don't use commas inside any field, or the upload fails.
Check each part on the Summary Page and select Edit to fix anything. Once you select Submit, the application is final and can't be edited.
There's no fee. When you finish, you receive a confirmation number for your registration and your account number.
Your sales tax account number has three parts. It starts with the tax type code (004 for retailers' sales tax), then your EIN followed by "F," then a two-digit suffix.
Display your Registration Certificate in a conspicuous place at your business. If you don't have a fixed location, such as when you sell at shows, carry it with you.
Registering for Kansas sales or use tax is free. There's no renewal fee because the registration doesn't expire.
The only fees paid with the application are for cigarette and e-cigarette sellers: $25 per location for a retail dealer's license and $25 per cigarette vending machine.
No sales or use tax bond is required at initial registration, but KDOR may require one later. KDOR can revoke a registration if a business doesn't post a bond when asked.
When a bond is required, the Director of Taxation sets the amount, generally six months of estimated tax. You can post it as a cash bond, an escrow bond such as a certificate of deposit, or a surety bond.
Allow 2 to 3 weeks for your application to be processed. If you apply by mail or fax, send it 3 to 4 weeks before you start selling.
Online, you get a confirmation number and your account number when you finish the application. In person, KDOR registers you the same day and issues your certificate if you have no outstanding tax liability.
Every vendor at a Kansas special event needs either a Kansas Sales Tax Registration Certificate or to file through the event's tax packet. That includes nonprofits and businesses selling only once a year.
Vendors who attend more than four Kansas events a year must register. Out-of-state retailers selling at a temporary Kansas location need a permanent registration number.
Vendors who use an event packet file the return and pay within 25 days after the event ends. If an event requires a certificate of tax clearance, request one through KDOR's online tax clearance application.
Charge Kansas sales tax on your taxable sales: the 6.5% state rate plus any city and county rates. Kansas uses the combined rate where the customer takes delivery.
Remote sellers start collecting with their next Kansas sale after crossing $100,000.
Your first-year filing frequency is based on the annual tax estimate in your application, and KDOR can change it as your sales change. The thresholds are based on annual tax liability:
Kansas requires electronic filing, so you file Kansas sales tax online through the KDOR Customer Service Center. Retailers' sales tax accounts file Form ST-36, and Retailers' Compensating Use Tax accounts file Form CT-9U.
To file, you add your tax account to your Customer Service Center login using the account's access code. You only enter it once, and you can get it by calling 785-368-8222 or emailing kdor_businesstaxeservice@ks.gov.
You have to file a return for every period, even if you had no sales.
Kansas sales and use tax registrations don't expire. A registration stays valid until you cancel it or KDOR revokes it for failing to file, pay, or post a requested bond.
Report business changes to KDOR promptly, and use Form CR-108 if you close. Registration rules differ by state, and some require periodic renewal.
No. An EIN is a federal tax ID from the IRS. A Kansas sales tax registration lets you collect Kansas tax.
The two are linked, though. Your Kansas sales tax account number is built from your EIN, with a tax type code in front and "F" plus a suffix after it.
It depends on your business. LLCs, partnerships, corporations, trusts, estates, nonprofits, and businesses with employees need an EIN.
If you aren't required to have one, KDOR creates an account number for you that starts with "K" (or "A" if you registered through the Kansas Business Center).
No. Locations operated by the same entity under the same EIN share one sales tax number.
You still list each location. If you're already registered, add a location online or with Form CR-17.
Yes, if you're a Kansas retailer. The Resale Exemption Certificate (ST-28A) requires your Kansas sales tax registration number.
Wholesalers and out-of-state buyers that aren't registered in Kansas use the Multi-Jurisdiction Exemption Certificate (ST-28M) instead.
Yes. A change in ownership type, such as sole proprietor to LLC, or a new EIN requires a new registration.
If you buy a business, you may be liable for the previous owner's unpaid Kansas taxes. You're released if the previous owner gets a tax clearance from KDOR showing no taxes are due.
It depends. A remote seller with no physical presence in Kansas may cancel with Form CR-108 once sales drop below the threshold.
If your Kansas sales stay under $100,000 for a full calendar year, you aren't required to collect the following year, unless that year's sales go over $100,000.
KDOR encourages frequent sellers into Kansas to stay registered. If you stop collecting, your customers owe the tax themselves.
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