Do I need a sales tax permit in Wisconsin?

Every person who wants to operate as a seller in Wisconsin must hold a business tax registration certificate and apply to the Department of Revenue for a seller's permit for each place of operations. Wisconsin calls the registration a Wisconsin seller's permit. For a seller outside Wisconsin, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. Wisconsin's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Wisconsin

How to Get a Wisconsin Seller's Permit

The short answer. In Wisconsin, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Wisconsin sales tax is a Wisconsin seller's permit, issued by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The seller's permit costs $20. The $20 is Wisconsin's business tax registration fee, which covers two years and every permit or certificate the Department issues you, not only the seller's permit.

Wisconsin Seller's Permit at a Glance

What Wisconsin calls it	Wisconsin Seller's Permit
Issued by	Wisconsin Department of Revenue
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	$20 (see Cost)
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Renewed every 2 years
Several locations	One for each location (see Locations)
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 Wisconsin Seller's Permit

Every person who wants to operate as a seller in Wisconsin must hold a business tax registration certificate and apply to the Department of Revenue for a seller's permit for each place of operations.

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

How to Apply

You apply to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Go to Wisconsin's registration page.

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

What It Costs

The seller's permit costs $20. The $20 is Wisconsin's business tax registration fee, which covers two years and every permit or certificate the Department issues you, not only the seller's permit.

Wisconsin may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Department may require a security deposit of up to $15,000, before or after it issues the permit, and returns it after 24 consecutive months of compliance.

Does It Expire?

The seller's permit is renewed every 2 years. It stays in force when you pay the $10 business tax registration renewal fee, and the Department then sends a new registration certificate showing the permit's new expiration date instead of a new permit.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate seller's permit for each place of business in Wisconsin. One business tax registration certificate lists all of your locations.

Local Sales Taxes in Wisconsin

County, municipal and special district sales and use taxes are collected by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue with the state tax. A city, village or town may charge its own room tax on lodging, which is paid to that municipality.

More for Wisconsin Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Every person who wants to operate as a seller in Wisconsin must hold a business tax registration certificate and apply to the Department of Revenue for a seller's permit for each place of operations. Wisconsin calls the registration a Wisconsin seller's permit. For a seller outside Wisconsin, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. Wisconsin's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: The seller's permit costs $20. The $20 is Wisconsin's business tax registration fee, which covers two years and every permit or certificate the Department issues you, not only the seller's permit. Wisconsin may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Department may require a security deposit of up to $15,000, before or after it issues the permit, and returns it after 24 consecutive months of compliance.
: The seller's permit is renewed every 2 years. It stays in force when you pay the $10 business tax registration renewal fee, and the Department then sends a new registration certificate showing the permit's new expiration date instead of a new permit.
: A business needs a separate seller's permit for each place of business in Wisconsin. One business tax registration certificate lists all of your locations.
: County, municipal and special district sales and use taxes are collected by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue with the state tax. A city, village or town may charge its own room tax on lodging, which is paid to that municipality.

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 Wisconsin 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.

docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/77.52(7)Wis. Stat. 77.52(7), (9), (11), (12), seller's permits
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/73.03(50)Wis. Stat. 73.03(50), (51), business tax registration certificate
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/77.61(2)Wis. Stat. 77.61(2), security
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/77.51(13gm)Wis. Stat. 77.51(13gm), remote retailer threshold
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/77.76(1)Wis. Stat. 77.76, administration of county, municipality and special district sales taxes
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/66.0615(1m)Wis. Stat. 66.0615(1m), room tax
revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/pcs-btr.aspxWisconsin DOR, Business Tax Registration FAQs
revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/pcs-btr-on.aspxWisconsin DOR, Business Tax Online Registration Common Questions (guidance 100145)

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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.