Connecticut still wants a marketplace-only seller to register, a real exception to the usual rule.

The Bottom Line for Connecticut eBay Sellers

Connecticut breaks from the pattern most other states in this cluster follow: a marketplace-only seller based in Connecticut is still expected to register with the Department of Revenue Services, even though eBay is doing the actual tax collection. An LLC doesn't change that registration duty either way. It changes who's on the hook once your business does anything beyond straightforward eBay resale.

Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services publishes an unusually detailed guidance document walking through exactly this scenario by seller location and threshold, and its answer for an in-state marketplace-only seller is registration with reduced annual filing, not exemption. That's a meaningfully different outcome than the skip-it-entirely answer most states give, and it's the single fact most likely to surprise a Connecticut-based eBay seller who assumed the marketplace rule worked the same way everywhere. That's a meaningfully different design than the exempt-or-exclude structure most of the rest of this cluster runs on, and it means a Connecticut-based seller can't rely on general advice written for the more common marketplace-only exemption pattern without checking whether Connecticut's registration duty applies to them specifically.

Whether you need your own Connecticut registration depends on the rest of your business: A marketplace-only seller is not excused from registering: an in-state (Connecticut-based) retailer that sells only through a marketplace facilitator must still complete Form REG-1 (checking a box declaring marketplace-only status, which yields annual filing), and an out-of-state remote seller must also register on Form REG-1 once it has 200+ retail sales into Connecticut and at least $250,000 in gross receipts from Connecticut sales annually (marketplace-facilitated sales count toward that threshold); only an out-of-state remote seller that stays under that $250,000/200-transaction threshold is not required to register.. Connecticut counts marketplace sales toward the $100,000 and 200 transactions threshold only in some circumstances: Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-407(a)(15)(A)(v) defines the remote-seller nexus threshold as gross receipts of at least $100,000 AND 200 or more retail sales into Connecticut (both must be met -- an AND, not an OR). Separately, 12-408e(c) provides that a marketplace seller is not required to include receipts from a marketplace-facilitated sale in its own taxable receipts/return IF the seller can show the sale was facilitated by a marketplace facilitator that either (A) has a contract explicitly agreeing to collect and remit tax on all the seller's facilitated sales, or (B) provided the seller a valid certificate of collection covering those sales. If that documentation condition is not met, the statute does not extend the exclusion. Since Connecticut's major marketplace facilitators (eBay, Amazon, Etsy) are all registered and collecting, this condition is met in the overwhelming majority of real-world eBay-seller cases, but it is a documented condition rather than a blanket exclusion.. Connecticut uses the federal reporting threshold, so eBay issues a 1099-K once you pass $20,000 and 200 transactions.

eBay Collects Connecticut Sales Tax. What Is Still Yours?

Whether you need your own Connecticut registration depends on the rest of your business: A marketplace-only seller is not excused from registering: an in-state (Connecticut-based) retailer that sells only through a marketplace facilitator must still complete Form REG-1 (checking a box declaring marketplace-only status, which yields annual filing), and an out-of-state remote seller must also register on Form REG-1 once it has 200+ retail sales into Connecticut and at least $250,000 in gross receipts from Connecticut sales annually (marketplace-facilitated sales count toward that threshold); only an out-of-state remote seller that stays under that $250,000/200-transaction threshold is not required to register..

Connecticut's own guidance answers this with a chart broken out by seller location and threshold, and the answer for an in-state seller is registration, not exemption. Even one who sells exclusively through a marketplace facilitator that's already collecting and remitting is still expected to complete the standard registration form, just checking a box that declares marketplace-only status for annual rather than more frequent filing. An out-of-state seller gets a different answer depending on whether their Connecticut sales cross the state's remote-seller threshold, with marketplace-facilitated sales counted toward that number. Either way, eBay handles it isn't the whole answer here the way it's in most other states.

Do Your eBay Sales Count Toward Connecticut's Nexus Test?

Connecticut counts marketplace sales toward the $100,000 and 200 transactions threshold only in some circumstances: Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-407(a)(15)(A)(v) defines the remote-seller nexus threshold as gross receipts of at least $100,000 AND 200 or more retail sales into Connecticut (both must be met -- an AND, not an OR). Separately, 12-408e(c) provides that a marketplace seller is not required to include receipts from a marketplace-facilitated sale in its own taxable receipts/return IF the seller can show the sale was facilitated by a marketplace facilitator that either (A) has a contract explicitly agreeing to collect and remit tax on all the seller's facilitated sales, or (B) provided the seller a valid certificate of collection covering those sales. If that documentation condition is not met, the statute does not extend the exclusion. Since Connecticut's major marketplace facilitators (eBay, Amazon, Etsy) are all registered and collecting, this condition is met in the overwhelming majority of real-world eBay-seller cases, but it is a documented condition rather than a blanket exclusion..

Connecticut's threshold is a genuine AND test: both a dollar figure and a transaction count have to be met, not either one alone, a stricter bar to clear than a single-figure test but also one that means a seller with fewer, larger transactions could stay under it longer than the dollar amount alone would suggest. Whether a marketplace-facilitated sale counts toward that combined threshold turns on documentation: the statute excludes it only if the seller can show the marketplace has either a contract explicitly covering that duty or has issued a certificate of collection. Major marketplaces including eBay generally provide exactly that kind of documentation, so the exclusion applies in practice for most sellers, but it's a documented condition, not an automatic exclusion, and worth confirming you actually have that paperwork rather than assuming it.

Connecticut's 1099-K Threshold

Connecticut uses the federal reporting threshold, so eBay issues a 1099-K once you pass $20,000 and 200 transactions.

Connecticut's 1099-K filing duty rides directly on the federal one: if a federal Form 1099-K was required for a Connecticut-located payee, the same form gets summarized on the state's transmittal return, with no independent Connecticut figure layered on top. That keeps this block simple relative to the registration question above; the form you receive reflects federal law, and reconciling its gross figure against your actual books, net of fees, returns and cost of goods, is the same exercise it would be anywhere else.

Buying Inventory to Resell in Connecticut

Connecticut accepts a resale certificate issued by another state, so you can buy inventory for resale without registering here first.

Connecticut's resale certificate is valid where the purchaser 'has a sales and use tax permit issued by the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) or is similarly registered by the revenue agency of another state.' For an out-of-state issuer, the certificate should carry the tax ID number from the issuer's home state (or FEIN if none), rather than requiring a Connecticut permit number.

Connecticut's own published guidance directly contradicts a claim you'll see repeated online, that the state doesn't honor out-of-state resale certificates. It does: a purchaser who holds a sales tax permit from Connecticut or is similarly registered in another state qualifies for the exemption, with an out-of-state issuer using their home-state tax ID in place of a Connecticut number. On the secondhand side, Connecticut runs a genuine statewide license mandate, administered locally by each city or town but required everywhere in the state, not optional the way it's in neighboring states. One real wrinkle for a purely online reseller: the statute's language contemplates a licensee having a fixed physical business location, and how that framework applies to someone with no storefront at all isn't addressed in the statute's text. Worth a direct call to your town's licensing authority rather than assuming either answer. If your town has no dedicated secondhand-dealer licensing process for a business with no physical address, ask the licensing authority directly how they handle that gap rather than assuming silence means the requirement doesn't reach you; Connecticut's default posture in this cluster leans toward requiring paperwork, not excusing it.

Connecticut runs a statewide second-hand dealer licence that can reach general resale. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 21-47d(a) mandates statewide that 'No person shall engage in the business of a secondhand dealer, as defined in section 21-39a, in any city or town of this state unless such person is licensed in accordance with this section', unlike Colorado's permissive local-option model, licensure is a hard statewide requirement, just administered by each city/town's own licensing authority (or the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection by default). 'Secondhand dealer' under § 21-39a(3) is defined broadly as 'a person who is primarily engaged in the business of purchasing personal property of any type from a person who is not a wholesaler, for the purpose of reselling or exchanging such property', reaching general resale, not just pawn transactions (which are separately defined). One real qualification for an online-only eBay reseller: § 21-47d(a) says the licensing authority 'may grant a secondhand dealer license to any suitable person with a fixed place of business within the limits of such city or town,' so the statute contemplates a physical business location; how a purely online reseller with no storefront fits this framework is not addressed in the statute's text.

Setting Up to Sell on eBay from Connecticut

1. Register with Connecticut even if eBay is your only sales channel

   Unlike most states in this cluster, an in-state marketplace-only seller is still expected to file the standard registration form, checking the marketplace-only box.

2. Confirm you've documentation showing eBay collects on your behalf

   The nexus exclusion for marketplace sales depends on being able to show a contract or certificate of collection, not just the fact that eBay collects.

3. Form the LLC before your registration and filings pile up

   Connecticut's registration duty applies to a sole proprietor and an LLC alike, so there's no reason to delay the entity filing.

4. Present your existing sales tax permit when buying wholesale in Connecticut

   Connecticut accepts an out-of-state permit for the resale exemption, contrary to a common online claim, so a new registration usually isn't needed.

5. Call your town's licensing office about the secondhand-dealer question early

   Connecticut's statute doesn't address a seller with no physical location directly, so get a direct answer before assuming either way.

Who to Ask in Connecticut

Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services is the right contact for registration questions, and its published guidance document walking through marketplace-seller scenarios by location is worth reading before assuming the usual marketplace exemption applies. For the secondhand-dealer license, your own city or town clerk's office administers it, though the requirement itself comes from state law rather than local choice. DRS's OCG-8 guidance document is worth reading in full rather than summarized, since the registration answer genuinely differs by seller location and threshold in a way a short summary can flatten.

Sources

• https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DRS/Publications/OCG/OCG-8.pdf?la=en
• https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_219.htm
• https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/drs/forms/2025/wth/ct-1096_1225.pdf
• https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/drs/publications/pubsip/2026/ip-2026-8.pdf
• https://portal.ct.gov/drs/withholding-taxes/nonpayroll/nonpayroll-withholding-tax-information
• https://portal.ct.gov/drs/publications/publications-page
• https://portal.ct.gov/drs/publications/informational-publications/2009/ip-200915-notice-to-retailers-on-sales-and-use-tax-resale-certificates
• https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_409.htm
• https://portal.ct.gov/drs/taxes/gross-earnings-tax/tax-information
• https://portal.ct.gov/services/revenue/state-business-taxes
• https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099k

Federal 1099-K threshold: IRC § 6050W(e), as amended by § 70432(a) of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, July 4, 2025). A third-party settlement organization such as eBay must file Form 1099-K only if BOTH tests are met for the calendar year: gross payments exceed $20,000 AND the number of transactions exceeds 200. These are the figures for tax year 2026. There is no forward phase-in: § 70432(a) takes effect "as if included in section 9674 of the American Rescue Plan Act," so the same $20,000 / 200 figures apply retroactively to calendar years after 2021 (tax years 2022 through 2026 alike). The $600 threshold enacted by ARPA § 9674 (P.L. 117-2) was repealed before it operated, and the IRS transition-relief thresholds previously announced for 2024 and 2025 are superseded. A platform may issue a 1099-K below these figures, and a state may set a lower TPSO threshold, in which case a seller can receive a 1099-K without meeting the federal test.. Verified 2026-08-08.