Businesses that sell from a fixed location in Ohio need a county vendor's license, which costs $50 per location and can be issued immediately online through the Ohio Department of Taxation's OH|TAX eServices. Out-of-state sellers instead register for a free seller's use tax account once they have more than $100,000 in Ohio sales, 200 or more Ohio transactions, or other Ohio nexus.
You need to register with Ohio if you have nexus there and sell taxable goods or provide taxable services to customers in Ohio. That can include SaaS in Ohio, which the state taxes when it's sold for use in a business.
The registration you need depends on where your business is, as the next section explains.
If you have no physical presence in Ohio, you need to register once you cross the Ohio economic nexus threshold: more than $100,000 in Ohio sales, or 200 or more separate Ohio transactions, in the current or previous calendar year.
Ohio counts gross receipts and transactions from:
Either test is enough. A seller with $80,000 in Ohio sales still has to register once it makes its 200th Ohio sale.
Ohio doesn't give remote sellers a grace period. A seller that crosses $100,000 on Oct. 15 must register, start collecting, and file its first return by Nov. 23.
Marketplace facilitators are the exception. They start collecting on the first day of the first month that's at least 30 days after they reach nexus.
If you crossed the threshold in the past and never registered, Ohio's voluntary disclosure agreement program may waive penalties on tax you didn't collect, and it usually limits the lookback to 36 months. You have to apply before the Department contacts you.
Ohio presumes you have nexus, whatever your sales volume, if you do any of the following. Most of these are forms of physical nexus:
The $100,000 and 200-transaction thresholds don't apply to businesses with a physical presence. These must register before making any taxable sales.
The Ohio Department of Taxation says businesses with a physical presence in Ohio should register by obtaining a county vendor’s license.
Ohio's marketplace facilitator law requires marketplaces like Amazon and eBay to collect and remit tax on the sales they facilitate. Whether you still need your own registration depends on where you're based:
Ohio's nexus law counts a warehouse in Ohio "whether operated by the seller or any other person" as a physical presence, so inventory in an Ohio fulfillment center, as with many Amazon FBA sellers, can create nexus.
That matters if you also sell directly to Ohio customers. The inventory can require you to register for those sales even if you're under the $100,000 and 200-transaction thresholds. Affiliate relationships can also create sales tax nexus in Ohio.
Ohio has three seller registrations, and the one you need depends on where and how you sell. Out-of-state online sellers with Ohio nexus usually need a seller's use tax account, not a vendor's license.
This is for businesses that sell from a fixed place of business in Ohio, including Ohio-based online sellers. You need one license for each fixed location, and each costs $50.
The license is legally issued by the auditor of the county where the location is. In Cuyahoga County, the county fiscal officer handles it.
You don't have to visit the county, though. When you apply online through OH|TAX eServices, the Ohio Department of Taxation issues the license on the county auditor's behalf.
This $50 license covers sales at temporary locations, such as shows, fairs, and flea markets, in counties where you have no fixed place of business. One license is valid statewide.
It also covers vending machine sales on land owned by others and leases of titled motor vehicles, watercraft, or outboard motors.
This is for out-of-state sellers with Ohio nexus and for marketplace facilitators. It's free, issued by the Department, and doesn't involve any county.
To apply online, you need an OHID account to log in to OH|TAX eServices. Businesses located outside the U.S. must use the paper UT 1000 application.
The vendor's license application also asks:
If you hold a liquor permit, your vendor's license has to be in the same name and for the same address as the permit.
The seller's use tax application asks whether you're a marketplace facilitator. The transient vendor's application asks whether you'll sell at a temporary location in a county where you have no fixed place of business.
Most businesses apply online through OH|TAX eServices, which the Department says can issue a vendor's license immediately. The same portal handles transient vendors' licenses and sellers' use tax accounts.
To apply on paper, use the form for your license type, available from the Ohio Department of Taxation's sales and use tax page:
Mail the ST 1 with the $50 fee, payable to the Ohio Treasurer of State, to the Department of Taxation at P.O. Box 182215, Columbus, OH 43218-2215. You can also file it with your county auditor by mail or in person. Check with the county for the correct payee.
Go to OH|TAX eServices and select Log in or Create an OHID Account. If you don't have an OHID, select Create Account and follow the prompts.
OHID requires two-step verification, such as a one-time code sent to your email, so keep that email handy.
The first time you log in, select Set up a business with ODT on the Summary tab. If you already use eServices for another business, go to Manage My Profile, then Additional Services, and find it under Business Access Management.
On Business Information, choose your ID type, such as FEIN or SSN, and enter the number. The next screens ask for your business name, your relationship to the business, your entity type, and the business address. Depending on your role, eServices may also ask for your personal information.
Check the Review page and select Submit.
Select Register a Business Tax Account once the setup is done. You can also get there later from the Additional Services tab by selecting Register a new business tax account.
Under Sales and Use, pick the registration that fits your business:
On Registration Information, enter the date you started or will start making taxable sales in Ohio. Then answer whether you expect to collect more than $200 of sales tax per month.
The following screens ask for your address, Contact Information, NAICS Code, and Responsible Party. You can select Save Draft on any screen to finish later.
Check the Review screen, then pay the fee. A vendor's or transient vendor's license costs $50. A seller's use tax account is free, so there's nothing to pay.
The Department's current guide says registration fees can only be paid by ACH debit, so have your bank routing and account numbers ready.
After you submit, eServices shows a confirmation code. Once the registration is approved, your account number appears in the Summary section.
To print your registration letter, go to Additional Services, then Letters and Notices, then View letters and notices. Display your vendor's license, or a copy, in plain view at each place of business.
An Ohio vendor's license costs $50 for each fixed place of business. A transient vendor's license also costs $50, and a seller's use tax account is free.
The fee rose from $25 to $50 for applications on or after April 9, 2025. Guides that still list $25 are out of date.
Online applications through OH|TAX eServices can be issued immediately. Your account number shows up in eServices once the registration is approved.
Paper applications can take up to six weeks. If you apply in person at a county auditor's office, ask the county how long it takes.
Ohio is a full member of the Streamlined Sales Tax agreement. Remote sellers can register for Ohio and other member states with one application through the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System.
How you file depends on how you registered. Sellers registered directly with the Department file through OH|TAX eServices. SST registrants can have a certified service provider file a Simplified Electronic Return for them.
Charge Ohio sales tax from the date your license takes effect: the 5.75% state rate plus any county and transit rates. The combined rate can't exceed 8.75%.
Remote sellers must start collecting as soon as they cross $100,000 or 200 transactions.
Ohio sets your filing schedule based on how much tax you collect:
Vendors whose tax for a calendar year reaches $75,000 must make accelerated payments starting the second year after.
You file Ohio sales tax returns online by the 23rd of the month after each period. Filing and paying on time earns a 0.75% discount on the tax, capped at $750 per vendor's license per month. You don't get the discount if your certified service provider receives a monetary allowance for your returns.
You have to file a return for every period until your license is closed, even if you had no sales.
Ohio vendor licenses don't expire, so you don't need to renew them. The Department can suspend a license if you repeatedly miss returns or payments, and you can't make sales while it's suspended.
The Tax Commissioner may also revoke a license if you're no longer making taxable sales. Close the license through OH|TAX eServices when you stop selling. If you start again later, you'll need a new license.
Registration rules in other states differ, and several require regular renewal.
Yes. When you set up your business in OH|TAX eServices, you can use a Social Security number instead of an FEIN. The paper ST 1 also accepts an SSN or ITIN.
You'll need an FEIN before you can register for an Ohio employer withholding account.
It depends on the event's location. If you hold a vendor's license for a fixed location, you can sell at events in that same county without another license.
To sell at events in other counties, or if you have no fixed location, you need a transient vendor's license. Event organizers have to record each vendor's license number, so expect to be asked for it.
Not if you're based outside Ohio, and Amazon collects and pays the tax for you. The Department says out-of-state sellers who only use a marketplace that does this don't need a seller's use tax account.
If you also sell through your own website, count all your Ohio sales and transactions against the $100,000 and 200-transaction tests. No official source says marketplace sales are excluded.
Ohio-based sellers who have a physical presence in Ohio should register for a county vendor’s license, even if they sell mainly on Amazon.
Usually not. If all your sales to Ohio customers are made under your vendor's license, Ohio law doesn't require you to register separately for a seller's use tax account.
The Department publishes a list of active vendors you can search to check whether a business holds an active license.
Yes. Ohio requires a new vendor's license when the vendor's identity changes, so you can't take over the seller's license.
Warning: Hold back enough of the purchase price to cover the seller's unpaid sales tax until they show you a receipt or a certificate from the Tax Commissioner that no tax is due. If you don't, you can be personally liable for that tax.
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