Do I need a sales tax permit in Ohio?

You may not make retail sales subject to Ohio sales tax as a business without a vendor's license, which you apply for with the county auditor of each county where you will sell from a fixed place of business. Ohio calls the registration an Ohio vendor's license. For a seller outside Ohio, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Ohio's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Ohio

How to Get an Ohio Vendor's License

The short answer. In Ohio, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Ohio sales tax is an Ohio vendor's license, issued by the county auditor of the county where the business is located.

Ohio Vendor's License at a Glance

What Ohio calls it	Ohio Vendor's License
Issued by	County auditor of the county where the business is located
How to apply	Online or paper
Fee	$50 per location (see Cost)
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Not confirmed
Several locations	One for each location
Local sales tax	Covered by the state registration
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 Ohio Vendor's License

You may not make retail sales subject to Ohio sales tax as a business without a vendor's license, which you apply for with the county auditor of each county where you will sell from a fixed place of business.

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

How to Apply

You apply to the county auditor of the county where the business is located. You can apply online or on a paper application. Go to Ohio's registration page.

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

What It Costs

The vendor's license costs $50 for each location. The $50 is paid for each fixed place of business when you apply, whether to the county auditor or to the Department online.

Ohio may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require security from a vendor that repeatedly files or pays late, meaning two months in a row or three months within twelve for monthly filers, or twice within 24 months for semiannual filers. The amount equals the vendor's average tax for one year and is at least $1,000.

Does It Expire?

We have not confirmed whether the vendor's license expires; check with the county auditor of the county where the business is located.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate vendor's license for each place of business in Ohio.

Local Sales Taxes in Ohio

The vendor's license covers the county and transit authority sales taxes, which the Tax Commissioner collects and returns to them.

Worth Knowing in Ohio

A seller with no Ohio location that meets the remote seller threshold registers with the Department of Taxation for a seller's use tax license instead, and that license has no fee.

More for Ohio Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: You may not make retail sales subject to Ohio sales tax as a business without a vendor's license, which you apply for with the county auditor of each county where you will sell from a fixed place of business. Ohio calls the registration an Ohio vendor's license. For a seller outside Ohio, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Ohio's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: The vendor's license costs $50 for each location. The $50 is paid for each fixed place of business when you apply, whether to the county auditor or to the Department online. Ohio may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require security from a vendor that repeatedly files or pays late, meaning two months in a row or three months within twelve for monthly filers, or twice within 24 months for semiannual filers. The amount equals the vendor's average tax for one year and is at least $1,000.
: We have not confirmed whether the vendor's license expires; check with the county auditor of the county where the business is located.
: A business needs a separate vendor's license for each place of business in Ohio.
: The vendor's license covers the county and transit authority sales taxes, which the Tax Commissioner collects and returns to them.

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 Ohio 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.

codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5739.17Ohio Rev. Code 5739.17, Vendor's license
codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5739.30Ohio Rev. Code 5739.30, Failure to file returns; security; suspension
codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5741.01Ohio Rev. Code 5741.01(I), Substantial nexus
codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5741.17Ohio Rev. Code 5741.17, Registration of sellers with substantial nexus
codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5739.21Ohio Rev. Code 5739.21, Distribution of county and transit authority taxes
tax.ohio.gov/help-center/faqs/sales-and-use-information-for-vendors-licensing-and-filing/Ohio Department of Taxation: Sales and Use, Information for Vendors (Licensing and Filing) FAQ
tax.ohio.gov/help-center/resources/tax-education/entrepreneursOhio Department of Taxation: Entrepreneurs
tax.ohio.gov/business/register-for-taxes/business-registrationOhio Department of Taxation: Business Registration
tax.ohio.gov/home/forms/landing-page-area/st1Ohio Department of Taxation: Application for Vendor's License to Make Taxable Sales (Form ST 1 landing page)
tax.ohio.gov/static/forms/sales_and_use/Applications2019/ST_ST1_FI.pdfOhio Department of Taxation: Form ST 1, Application for Vendor's License to Make Taxable Sales (Rev. 1/26)

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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.