Do I need a sales tax permit in North Dakota?

You may not do business as a retailer in North Dakota until the Tax Commissioner has issued you a permit, and you apply for it on the Commissioner's form. North Dakota calls the registration a North Dakota sales, use and gross receipts tax permit. For a seller outside North Dakota, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. North Dakota's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · North Dakota

How to Get a North Dakota Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Permit

The short answer. In North Dakota, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to North Dakota sales tax is a North Dakota sales, use and gross receipts tax permit, issued by the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.

North Dakota Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Permit at a Glance

What North Dakota calls it	North Dakota Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Permit
Issued by	North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	Not confirmed
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Does not expire (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location
Local sales tax	Depends (see Local taxes)
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$100,000 in sales

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

Who Needs a North Dakota Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Permit

You may not do business as a retailer in North Dakota until the Tax Commissioner has issued you a permit, and you apply for it on the Commissioner's form.

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

How to Apply

You apply to the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Go to North Dakota's registration page.

North Dakota requires your registration to be displayed at the place of business.

What It Costs

We have not confirmed whether North Dakota charges a fee for the sales, use and gross receipts tax permit; check with the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.

North Dakota may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require a surety bond, or approved securities in its place, in an amount it sets, when it judges this necessary to secure collection of the tax.

Does It Expire?

The sales, use and gross receipts tax permit does not expire. The Tax Commissioner may revoke it after a hearing if you do not comply with the sales tax law or file no-tax returns for four quarters in a row.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate sales, use and gross receipts tax permit for each place of business in North Dakota.

Local Sales Taxes in North Dakota

The Tax Commissioner typically administers city and county sales, use, lodging and restaurant taxes on the local government's behalf, so your state permit usually covers them. Ask the Tax Commissioner which local taxes apply at your location.

More for North Dakota Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: You may not do business as a retailer in North Dakota until the Tax Commissioner has issued you a permit, and you apply for it on the Commissioner's form. North Dakota calls the registration a North Dakota sales, use and gross receipts tax permit. For a seller outside North Dakota, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. North Dakota's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: We have not confirmed whether North Dakota charges a fee for the sales, use and gross receipts tax permit; check with the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. North Dakota may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require a surety bond, or approved securities in its place, in an amount it sets, when it judges this necessary to secure collection of the tax.
: The sales, use and gross receipts tax permit does not expire. The Tax Commissioner may revoke it after a hearing if you do not comply with the sales tax law or file no-tax returns for four quarters in a row.
: A business needs a separate sales, use and gross receipts tax permit for each place of business in North Dakota.
: The Tax Commissioner typically administers city and county sales, use, lodging and restaurant taxes on the local government's behalf, so your state permit usually covers them. Ask the Tax Commissioner which local taxes apply at your location.

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 North Dakota 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.

ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c39-2.pdfN.D.C.C. ch. 57-39.2, Sales Tax (57-39.2-02.2, -12, -14)
tax.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/guidelines/business/sales-use/sales-use-and-gross-receipts-tax-requirements-1.pdfND Office of State Tax Commissioner: Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Requirements Guideline (content revised 10-2025)
tax.nd.gov/sales-and-use-taxND Office of State Tax Commissioner: Sales and Use Tax

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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.