Businesses that sell taxable products from a Wisconsin location get a seller's permit from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and out-of-state sellers without a Wisconsin location get a use tax certificate through the same online Business Tax Registration. Registration costs $20 for two years, then $10 every two years to renew. Remote sellers need to register once their Wisconsin sales exceed $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year.
You need a Wisconsin seller's permit if you make taxable retail sales, leases, or rentals from a location in Wisconsin. Businesses that only sell exempt items, or only sell for resale, don't need one.
Out-of-state businesses that must collect Wisconsin tax but have no Wisconsin sales location register through the same application. The Department of Revenue (DOR) issues them a use tax certificate instead of a seller's permit. Both let you collect Wisconsin tax and file returns the same way.
Remotely accessed software is often nontaxable in Wisconsin, but some software and digital goods delivered online are taxable. Check the rules for SaaS in Wisconsin before registering if that's all you sell.
If you have no physical presence in Wisconsin, you need to register once you cross the Wisconsin economic nexus threshold: more than $100,000 in gross sales into Wisconsin in the previous or current calendar year. Wisconsin has no transaction-count threshold.
A remote seller that crosses the threshold but only makes nontaxable sales, such as a wholesaler selling only for resale, doesn't need to register.
If you passed the $100,000 threshold in the last calendar year, you must be registered and collecting for all of this year. If you pass it during the year, register and start collecting with your next Wisconsin sale, then keep collecting for the rest of that year and the next.
For example, if you pass $100,000 in Wisconsin sales in August, you collect on Wisconsin sales from that point on and through December 31 of the following year.
If you crossed the threshold in a past year and never registered, a voluntary disclosure agreement may limit the lookback period and waive penalties. You can't qualify for periods in which you were already registered for sales tax, or if DOR has contacted you about the tax in the last six years.
Any of these conditions generally creates physical nexus in Wisconsin, regardless of sales volume:
Apply for your seller's permit at least three weeks before you open. If you have nexus but no Wisconsin sales location, you'll get a use tax certificate instead.
Under Wisconsin's marketplace facilitator law, marketplace providers generally collect and remit the tax on every taxable sale they facilitate for you. Whether you still need to register depends on how you sell:
If a marketplace provider gets a waiver from DOR, it stops collecting for you, and you become responsible for the tax on sales through that marketplace.
Storing your inventory in a Wisconsin warehouse, including a third-party fulfillment center such as an Amazon FBA warehouse, creates physical sales tax nexus in Wisconsin, regardless of your sales volume.
However, you do not need to register for Wisconsin sales or use tax if all of your taxable Wisconsin sales are made through marketplace providers that collect, report, and remit the tax on your behalf.
If you also make taxable Wisconsin sales outside those marketplaces, your physical presence means you must register and collect tax on those sales, even if your sales are below $100,000.
The online application requires a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) for most businesses. Sole proprietors can register online with a Social Security number or an ITIN instead.
Wisconsin corporations and LLCs that haven't registered with the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) yet should start with the One Stop Business Portal, covered in step 1 below.
For each owner, partner, LLC member, or corporate officer, you'll need:
The same application registers you for other DOR taxes, so for each location it also asks whether you will:
It also asks whether you'll have employees, for Wisconsin withholding tax.
Most businesses register online with DOR's Business Tax Registration (BTR) application. Go to DOR's Starting a Business page and select Register with Department of Revenue.
DOR says to use this path if you're a sole proprietorship, partnership, nonprofit, or out-of-state LLC or corporation, or if you're already registered with DFI or already hold a DOR permit.
Wisconsin LLCs and corporations that haven't registered with DFI should use One Stop Business Registration, which registers you with DFI, DOR, and the Department of Workforce Development together.
To apply on paper, use Form BTR-101, Application for Wisconsin Business Tax Registration. Mail it to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, PO Box 8902, Madison, WI 53708-8902, or fax it to (608) 327-0232. Complete a Schedule 1 for each additional sales location.
If you're registering in several states, you can use the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System instead. Wisconsin is a member state. If you also contract with a state-certified service provider, it files monthly Wisconsin returns for you.
You don't need a login to apply. On the Registration Type screen, answer Are you registering this business for the first time?, select your business type, and confirm it.
Select No if the business has ever had a Wisconsin sales and use tax or withholding account. To reactivate an old account, use My Tax Account or send DOR a written request instead.
Tip: The application times out after 15 minutes, and unsaved information is lost. Select Save Draft to keep your progress. You’ll give an email address, and DOR will give you instructions for finishing later.
On Enter Business Information, enter your ID and legal name. Corporations and LLCs also enter their date and state of incorporation and their DFI ID number. Sole proprietors choose SSN or ITIN as the ID type.
Follow the prompts and provide everything the application asks for. The items are listed above under What you need before registering. The application asks for:
When the application asks Are you the person who will use My Tax Account for this business and review access requested to others?, answer Yes to set up My Tax Account, DOR’s online filing system, at the same time.
Pay the $20 fee by bank direct debit or credit card. You can also choose Bill Me, and DOR will mail a Notice of Amount Due with your registration packet.
After you submit, you get a confirmation number. Your registration isn't complete until you see it. It's only for tracking the application and isn't your tax account number.
DOR emails your account number, usually within 1–2 business days. Your registration packet, with the seller's permit or use tax certificate, arrives by mail within 7–10 business days, and you can print it from My Tax Account the day it's mailed.
If you didn't set up My Tax Account during the application, go to the My Tax Account login page and select Sign Up. To verify your access, you'll enter the Letter ID from your Business Tax Registration greeting letter.
You get a separate seller's permit for each Wisconsin location. Display each one prominently where you sell. If you sell from temporary locations, display or carry the permit at each one.
A Wisconsin seller's permit costs $20, the Business Tax Registration fee. It covers two years and is the same no matter how many locations you register.
Wisconsin's county and city sales taxes are administered by DOR, so there's no separate local sales tax registration or fee.
DOR may require a security deposit before or after it issues your permit, most often when there's a history of unpaid taxes. If you don't pay a requested deposit, DOR may refuse to issue your permit or revoke it.
The deposit is generally your average quarterly sales and use tax, rounded up to the next $100, plus any sales and use tax you already owe. It can't be more than $15,000. Accepted forms include cash, a certified check or money order, a surety bond, and a certificate of deposit.
DOR returns the deposit after you've complied with Wisconsin sales and use tax law for 24 consecutive months.
If you apply online, DOR says you'll usually get an email with your account number within 1 to 2 business days. The permit itself arrives by mail within 7 to 10 business days.
For paper applications, Form BTR-101 says to allow 15 business days. DOR says faxed applications are typically processed in one business day.
If you've applied but your permit hasn't arrived when you open, you can start making sales unless DOR has told you a security deposit is required. You owe tax and must keep records from the day you open.
Your seller's permit is tied to your Business Tax Registration (BTR) certificate, which lists every permit you hold with DOR and carries its expiration date. The $20 initial fee covers two years, and each renewal costs $10 for the next two years.
Around the middle of the month before your certificate expires, DOR mails a Notice of Amount Due for the renewal fee and a new BTR certificate. The new certificate takes effect once DOR receives the $10.
DOR doesn't send a new seller's permit at renewal. The BTR certificate shows the new expiration date for your permit.
Warning: If you don't pay the renewal fee by the due date, your account becomes delinquent. Wisconsin law also lets DOR revoke every permit it has issued to you if you don't renew on time, and selling without a valid permit is a misdemeanor.
Keep the BTR certificate as proof of registration. You don't need to post it, but you do need to post your seller's permit. If you no longer need the permit, close the account in My Tax Account so DOR stops billing you.
Charge Wisconsin sales tax from the start date on your registration: the 5% state rate plus any county or city tax where the sale takes place.
Most counties charge 0.5%, Milwaukee County charges 0.9%, and the City of Milwaukee adds 2%. You report them on the same return as the state tax.
DOR sets your first filing frequency from the monthly sales estimate on your application, and can change it later based on your filing history:
You file Wisconsin sales tax returns online by the last day of the month after each period. Early monthly filers file by the 20th.
Wisconsin requires electronic filing through My Tax Account, File Transmission, or Sales TeleFile. DOR grants paper-filing waivers only for undue hardship.
You must file a return for every period, even when no tax is due.
Pay the $10 BTR renewal fee every two years to keep your permit active. Registration rules in other states differ, including whether a permit has to be renewed.
No. A seller's permit lets you collect Wisconsin sales tax. When you buy items to resell, you give your supplier a completed exemption certificate, such as Form S-211, so it doesn't charge you tax.
Yes, if you're a sole proprietor without employees. You can register online with your Social Security number or an ITIN.
Partnerships, corporations, and LLCs need an EIN to use the online application.
Yes. DOR issues a separate seller's permit for each Wisconsin address where you make sales, but you apply once and pay one $20 fee.
Your BTR certificate lists all the locations, and you file one combined return.
Yes, if you're selling taxable items. You may not need one if you only sell nontaxable items or qualify for the occasional sale exemption. The same goes for vendors who only display products, don't sell at the event, and don't ship taxable items into Wisconsin from any orders.
If you only operate during certain months, DOR issues a seasonal permit that's valid just for those months each year. Event operators have to report each vendor's seller's permit number to DOR.
No, as long as every taxable Wisconsin sale goes through Amazon or another marketplace provider that collects and remits tax for you. That's true even if Amazon stores your inventory in Wisconsin.
Sales through your own website aren't covered. If you're a remote seller, your Amazon sales count toward the $100,000 threshold along with your direct sales.
Yes. A seller's permit can't be transferred, so apply for a new one under your name.
You can also be held liable for the seller's unpaid Wisconsin sales and use tax. Hold back enough of the purchase price to cover it, and after the sale, request a sales and use tax clearance certificate from DOR.
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