Do I need a sales tax permit in Arkansas?

Every person liable to remit Arkansas sales tax, or to file a return or report to claim an exemption from it, must apply for a permit. A separate permit is required for each business location in Arkansas. Arkansas calls the registration an Arkansas sales/use tax permit. For a seller outside Arkansas, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the current or previous calendar year. Arkansas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Arkansas

How to Get an Arkansas Sales/Use Tax Permit

The short answer. In Arkansas, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Arkansas sales tax is an Arkansas sales/use tax permit, issued by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. The sales/use tax permit costs $50 for each location.

Arkansas Sales/Use Tax Permit at a Glance

What Arkansas calls it	Arkansas Sales/Use Tax Permit
Issued by	Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	$50 per location
Security deposit or bond	Required in stated cases
Expires	Depends (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location
Local sales tax	Not confirmed
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs an Arkansas Sales/Use Tax Permit

Every person liable to remit Arkansas sales tax, or to file a return or report to claim an exemption from it, must apply for a permit. A separate permit is required for each business location in Arkansas.

For a seller outside Arkansas, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the current or previous calendar year. Arkansas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Go to Arkansas's registration page.

What It Costs

The sales/use tax permit costs $50 for each location.

Arkansas requires security, such as a bond or deposit, in stated cases. Required if you do business in Arkansas without maintaining a permanent business there: you post a bond sufficient to cover the tax expected while you operate in the state, for up to one year. A surety bond or an assigned certificate of deposit in an Arkansas financial institution can replace a cash bond.

Does It Expire?

The permit expires automatically once you have filed twelve consecutive monthly reports showing zero sales, unless you are not primarily engaged in selling taxable goods or services or the Department lets you keep it because you expect to do business within the next twelve months. It can also be cancelled if you fail to comply with the sales tax law.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate sales/use tax permit for each place of business in Arkansas.

Local Sales Taxes in Arkansas

We have not confirmed whether any local sales tax in Arkansas needs its own registration; check with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

More for Arkansas Businesses

Arkansas resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
Arkansas LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in Arkansas, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Every person liable to remit Arkansas sales tax, or to file a return or report to claim an exemption from it, must apply for a permit. A separate permit is required for each business location in Arkansas. Arkansas calls the registration an Arkansas sales/use tax permit. For a seller outside Arkansas, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the current or previous calendar year. Arkansas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: The sales/use tax permit costs $50 for each location. Arkansas requires security, such as a bond or deposit, in stated cases. Required if you do business in Arkansas without maintaining a permanent business there: you post a bond sufficient to cover the tax expected while you operate in the state, for up to one year. A surety bond or an assigned certificate of deposit in an Arkansas financial institution can replace a cash bond.
: The permit expires automatically once you have filed twelve consecutive monthly reports showing zero sales, unless you are not primarily engaged in selling taxable goods or services or the Department lets you keep it because you expect to do business within the next twelve months. It can also be cancelled if you fail to comply with the sales tax law.
: A business needs a separate sales/use tax permit for each place of business in Arkansas.
: We have not confirmed whether any local sales tax in Arkansas needs its own registration; check with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Arkansas sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?levelType=section&titleID=26&chapterID=33&subChapterID=241&partID=971&subPartID=9370&sectionID=6306526 CAR 30-1203, Sellers required to obtain a permit
codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?levelType=section&titleID=26&chapterID=33&subChapterID=241&partID=971&subPartID=9370&sectionID=6306626 CAR 30-1204, Cancellation of permit; automatic expiration of permit
webftp.blr.arkansas.gov/Home/FTPDocument?path=CAR/Parts/26CARpt30.pdfCode of Arkansas Rules, Title 26, Part 30 (Bureau of Legislative Research PDF), including 26 CAR 30-1221
dfa.arkansas.gov/office/taxes/excise-tax-administration/sales-use-tax/register-for-a-tax-account/DFA: Register for a Tax Account
dfa.arkansas.gov/office/taxes/excise-tax-administration/sales-use-tax/remote-sellers/DFA: Remote Sellers and Marketplace Facilitators
dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ExemptionCertificate_1.pdfDFA Form ST391, Arkansas Exemption Certificate

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.