Businesses that sell taxable goods or services in New York need a sales tax Certificate of Authority from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. It's free and you apply online through New York Business Express, but you must apply at least 20 days before you start and can't make taxable sales until it arrives. Remote sellers need one after more than $500,000 in sales and more than 100 sales into New York over the previous four sales tax quarters.
You need a New York sales tax Certificate of Authority if you sell taxable goods or services in New York and you're a vendor under state law. For example, you'd be considered a vendor if you have a place of business in the state or you cross the remote seller threshold.
The certificate also lets you issue and accept most New York exemption certificates. Wholesalers and manufacturers need it for that reason, even when they don't collect tax on their own sales.
Prewritten software is taxable in New York even when customers access it remotely, so that includes SaaS in New York.
This certificate comes from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. It's different from the authority certificate an out-of-state LLC or corporation gets to do business in New York. That filing, the Application for Authority, doesn't register you for sales tax.
If you have no physical presence in New York, you need a certificate once you cross the New York economic nexus threshold. You have to meet both of these tests over the previous four sales tax quarters:
Meeting only one of the two isn't enough. A business with $600,000 in New York sales across 80 orders doesn't have to register under this rule.
New York's sales tax quarters run March 1 to May 31, June 1 to Aug. 31, Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, and Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 (29 in a leap year). The department says to check your totals after each quarter ends.
File your registration within 30 days after the day you meet both thresholds. The department's guidance says to begin collecting tax 20 days after that.
For example, if your four quarters ending May 31 put you over both thresholds, you need to register by June 30.
If you crossed the threshold in the past and never registered, a voluntary disclosure agreement through New York's Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program may let you avoid penalties on the back taxes.
You're a vendor that must register if you sell taxable goods or services in New York and any of these apply:
Any of these creates physical nexus, so sales volume doesn't matter. Home-based businesses, craft fair vendors, and businesses that sell only once a year all need a certificate if what they sell is taxable.
New York also presumes you're a vendor if New York residents refer customers to you for a commission and those referrals bring in more than $10,000 of sales in the preceding four sales tax quarters. You can rebut that presumption.
Inventory you store with an unaffiliated fulfillment provider is treated differently. It's covered in the next section.
New York's marketplace facilitator law requires marketplace providers like Amazon and Etsy to collect sales tax on the taxable goods they sell for you. They don't collect on services, restaurant food, hotel stays, or admissions, so you're responsible for those.
Marketplace sellers can still need their own certificate:
Once you're registered, you don't collect tax on sales the marketplace facilitated if it gave you Form ST-150, Marketplace Provider Certificate of Collection, or its public seller agreement includes the required collection statement. Keep that form or agreement with your records.
Storing inventory in New York at an unaffiliated company's fulfillment center doesn't, by itself, make you a vendor. That covers many Amazon FBA sellers.
The exception doesn't apply if the fulfillment provider is affiliated with you through more than 5% common ownership.
It also doesn't override the remote seller threshold or any other connection to the state, such as affiliates that help you build a New York market. Those can still create sales tax nexus in New York.
You need a NY.gov Business account to use New York Business Express, where the application lives. If you already have an Individual NY.gov account, you still have to create a Business account.
For each business contact, you need their name, business title, date of birth, home address, home phone, email, ownership percentage, and profit distribution percentage. Government entities, trusts, and estates don't need to provide the percentages.
For each responsible person, you also need their Social Security number, the date they took on responsibility for the business, their country of residence, and their main business duties. Form DTF-17.1 lists an ITIN as an alternative to the Social Security number.
Use Form DTF-17.1, Business Contact and Responsible Person Questionnaire to collect this from each person. The form also explains who counts as a responsible person for each entity type.
The application also asks about:
Form DTF-17.1 also asks each responsible person about open judgments or liens, pending charges, and past tax filing and payment problems.
Go to the Tax Department's Register as a sales tax vendor page and select Apply online. It sends you to New York Business Express.
The application is Form DTF-17, but there's no paper version to download. If you can't apply online, call the Sales Tax Information Center at 518-485-2889.
On the Business Express Get Started screen, select Login Here under I Have a NY.GOV ID if you already have a Business account. Otherwise, select Register Here under I Need a NY.GOV ID.
The NY.gov ID Business Account Self Registration form takes three steps. The first asks for your first and last name, your email address (entered twice), and a username; then you select Create Account.
NY.gov then emails you an activation link. Click it, choose and answer three security questions, and set your password.
Tip: The Tax Department emails updates about your application to your NY.gov Business account address, from noreply.businessexpress@custhelp.com. Use an inbox you check, and save your username and password. For help with the portal, call the NYS Business Information Center at 518-485-5000.
Open the Business Express listing for the Application to Register for a Sales Tax Certificate of Authority and select Apply Online.
In Section A, pick the option that fits: Starting a new business, Change in organization, Restarting prior business, Purchased existing business, or Adding a location.
Warning: If you're buying a business or its assets, file Form AU-196.10, Notification of Sale, Transfer, or Assignment in Bulk, at least 10 days before you take possession or pay. Don't pay the seller until the Tax Department sends you a release, or you may become personally liable for the seller's unpaid sales tax.
In Sections B and C, enter your legal name, DBA, EIN, physical address, mailing address, and email, then choose your entity type. Your legal name, DBA, EIN, and physical address will print on your certificate.
Use the name exactly as filed. For an LLC or corporation, that's the name on file with the Department of State or your home state's filing office. Don't enter your tax preparer's address as your mailing address.
If you're a show vendor or sell from a cart with no permanent place of business, enter the home address of an owner, partner, member, or officer.
Section D asks for the date you'll begin business. That's the date you'll start making taxable sales in New York or issuing or accepting New York exemption certificates.
Leave the temporary vendor end date blank unless you qualify as a temporary vendor (see the section on temporary and show vendors below). Then enter the bank account you'll use for sales tax money.
If you have more than one permanent place of business and want to file one consolidated return, press Add a Row under Additional Business Locations for each extra location. Finally, press Find NAICS Code, select Principal NAICS Code, and search for your main activity.
Sections E, F, and G change by entity type. Corporations answer the majority shareholder questions. Corporations that aren't publicly traded also list every shareholder with at least 20% ownership or profit interest, plus the CEO, CFO, President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary, for Section K.
Partnerships and LLCs identify any tax matters partner and anyone with at least 20% ownership or profit interest.
Section H asks about the business's history with the Tax Department. Section I covers franchises, parent companies, your paid preparer, and other New York tax ID numbers, which you add with Add a Row.
Section J asks for any Liquor Authority, Lottery, or DMV facility number. It also asks whether you sell cigarettes or tobacco, new tires, or mobile telecommunications service.
Another question covers selling at flea markets, craft fairs, antique shows, or large concerts and athletic events. Sidewalk and pushcart vendors without a permanent location answer a separate question.
In Section K, add every owner, officer, partner, or member the instructions require, using the details you gathered on Form DTF-17.1. Sole proprietors add themselves as a responsible person.
Review the application and submit it. There's no fee.
Print the confirmation page at the end and keep it with your records. Watch your email for messages saying the application needs attention or has been approved.
If the Tax Department approves your application, it mails your Certificate of Authority. You can't legally make taxable sales until you have it.
Display the certificate in plain view at your place of business. If you have no fixed location, attach it to your cart, stand, or truck. Not displaying it can cost you a $50 penalty.
A New York Certificate of Authority is free. Tax Law requires the department to issue it at no cost, and it charges no fee for the certificates it sends for additional locations.
The department may require any vendor to file a surety bond or other security when it decides that's needed to protect tax revenue. It sets the amount and sends a notice. You have 30 days to file it, unless you request a hearing in writing within 5 days of the notice.
It can also make a bond or tax deposit a condition of issuing a certificate when it has grounds to refuse one. Those grounds include unpaid New York tax that's been finally determined against the business or its responsible people.
New York Business Express lists an average processing time of 5 days. After approval, the certificate comes by mail, so allow for delivery time.
If the department plans to deny your application, it sends a Notice of Proposed Refusal to Register by certified mail within 5 days of receiving it. Common reasons include missing or incorrect information and not being current with tax filings or payments.
Separately, you must apply at least 20 days before you begin business, and you can't make taxable sales until the certificate arrives.
Warning: Doing business without a required certificate can cost up to $500 for the first day and up to $200 for each day after that, up to $10,000.
New York issues two kinds of Certificate of Authority, regular and temporary. Both use the same online application.
You can apply for a temporary certificate if you'll make taxable sales in New York for no more than two consecutive sales tax quarters in 12 months. On the application, you enter the date your business activity will end.
A temporary certificate expires automatically on that date. After that, you can't make taxable sales or issue or accept exemption certificates.
You can get only one temporary certificate in 12 months. To sell in New York again later, you have to reapply at least 20 days before you start.
For example, selling Christmas trees in November and December qualifies. Selling crafts at a farmers' market from April through October doesn't, because it spans three quarters.
If you sell at flea markets, craft shows, antique shows, or similar events, you need a regular certificate, even for a single show. The same applies to vendors at concerts, athletic events, and similar entertainment at venues that hold more than 1,000 people. Show and entertainment vendors can't use a temporary certificate.
Show and entertainment promoters can't let you sell taxable items unless you're registered and display your certificate at the event. Show promoters record each vendor's certificate number starting with their fourth show, and entertainment promoters record it for every event.
Once your certificate arrives, charge New York sales tax on your taxable sales. That's the 4% state rate plus local rates, and an extra 0.375% in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District.
The department recommends keeping a separate bank account for the sales tax you collect.
Most new vendors start as quarterly filers. The department can move you based on your sales:
New registrants who don't expect to collect tax and describe themselves as manufacturers or wholesalers that don't make retail sales start as annual filers.
Quarterly returns are due June 20, Sept. 20, Dec. 20, and March 20. Your first return is for the quarter that includes the start date on your application, even if you open later than planned.
You must file every return, even when you have no sales. Miss the first one and the department automatically bills you, with a minimum penalty of $50.
To file New York sales tax returns online, you need a separate Tax Department Business Online Services account. The department mails new vendors instructions for setting one up.
You must Web File if you prepare your own returns, use a computer to do it, and have broadband internet access.
There's no annual renewal and no renewal fee. However, New York will require every current Certificate of Authority holder to re-register through a program that begins in summer 2027 and runs over three years.
The Tax Department will tell you by certified mail when your current certificate expires, at least 180 days in advance. You can't re-register before you get that letter, and you'll need a new certificate to keep operating after the expiration date.
Nobody is re-registered automatically, including annual filers and businesses with no tax debts. The department won't approve your new certificate until all fixed and final tax liabilities, of any tax type, are paid in full.
Certificates can't be transferred, so a new owner or a new legal entity needs its own. Registration rules in other states differ, and several require regular renewal.
No. An EIN is a federal tax ID from the IRS. A Certificate of Authority is New York's permission to collect sales tax and to issue and accept exemption certificates.
The two are connected, though. If you have an EIN, New York prints it on your certificate.
Yes. If you leave the EIN blank, the Tax Department assigns a temporary New York ID number, and that number appears on your certificate.
Sole proprietors with no employees may never need an EIN. Other entities and businesses that plan to hire need one for filing, so once the IRS assigns it, update your sales tax account through Online Services or Form DTF-95.
Yes. You need a certificate for each permanent place of business in New York, and photocopies don't count.
You can apply separately for each location and file separate returns. Or you can list the extra locations on one application and file one consolidated return, and you'll get a certificate for each location under the same ID number.
It depends on where you're based and how much you sell. New York-based sellers need one even if Amazon handles every sale.
Out-of-state sellers need one once they have more than $500,000 in New York sales and more than 100 New York transactions over the previous four sales tax quarters, counting Amazon sales. You'd then file returns, but you generally wouldn't collect tax on the sales Amazon facilitated, as long as Amazon has certified that it collects New York tax for you.
Yes. A certificate can't be transferred, so you can't use the previous owner's.
The same goes for a change in legal form, such as a sole proprietorship becoming a corporation. The new business needs its own certificate before it starts operating.
Yes, if you have no other connection to New York. If your last four quarters are no longer above both $500,000 and 100-sale thresholds, you can file a final return and stop collecting.
If you stay registered instead, you must keep filing every return, even with no sales.
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