Ohio vendor's license: who needs one and how to get it

What is an Ohio vendor's license?

A vendor's license is Ohio's sales tax permit. ORC 5739.17(A) says no person may make retail sales subject to Ohio sales tax as a business without one. Holding it means you collect sales tax from customers, file returns, and send the tax to the state.

The Department of Taxation calls sales tax a trust tax. Your customer pays it, and you hold it in trust until you send it in. The state rate is 5.75%. Counties and regional transit authorities can each add their own rate, and the Department's 2026 Small Business Tax Guide says the combined state, county, and transit rate cannot exceed 8.75%.

The license is a tax registration, not general permission to operate. Zoning approval, health permits, and trade licenses come from other offices; see our guide to Ohio business licenses and permits. It is also separate from the Commercial Activity Tax, which is covered in our Ohio CAT guide.

Who needs a vendor's license in Ohio?

The Department's guide says every Ohio retailer making taxable retail sales or providing taxable services must get a vendor's license, collect the tax, file returns, and keep complete records. That covers more businesses than people expect, because Ohio taxes a list of services as well as goods.

Sellers of goods

Stores, restaurants, online and catalog sellers with an Ohio location, and anyone else selling tangible personal property to the end user. The Department's guide says vendors selling online or by catalog get a county vendor's license too.

Taxable services

ORC 5739.01(B)(3) lists the services that are taxable sales in Ohio. Among them:

• Repair and installation of taxable tangible personal property.
• Landscaping and lawn care service.
• Snow removal by mechanized means, unless the provider has less than $5,000 of snow removal sales in the calendar year.
• Building maintenance and janitorial service.
• Exterminating service.
• Private investigation and security service.
• Personal care services such as skin care, manicures, tanning, tattooing, and massage. Hair cutting, coloring, and styling are not included.
• Laundry and dry cleaning, car washing and detailing, and motor vehicle towing.
• Physical fitness facility and recreation and sports club service.
• Automatic data processing, computer services, and electronic information services provided for use in business.

Who does not need one

Per the Department's guide, you do not need a vendor's license if you only sell items that are never taxable, only provide services that are not on the taxable list, operate only as a wholesaler, or sell exclusively through a marketplace facilitator. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit that makes retail sales on no more than six days a year does not need one either.

County vendor's license vs. transient vendor's license

Ohio issues two main kinds of vendor's license to Ohio sellers. Which one you need depends on whether you sell from a fixed location.

A few rules sort out the edge cases. If you have no fixed place of business and sell from a vehicle, each vehicle you use in a county counts as a place of business (ORC 5739.17(C)). And if you already hold a county license, you can sell at a fair or show in that same county without a transient license (ORC 5739.17(D)).

What about a service vendor's license?

Older Department materials described a separate service vendor's license for certain taxable services. The Department's 2026 guide instead lists taxable services such as lawn care, janitorial, and personal care under the county vendor's license. ORC 5739.17(G) lets the Tax Commissioner create other license types when needed, so confirm the right type for your services when you apply.

Out-of-state sellers

A seller with no Ohio location does not get a vendor's license. It registers for an out-of-state seller account, which has no fee, once its sales into Ohio exceed $100,000 in a year or reach 200 separate transactions, according to the Department's sales and use tax page.

How much does an Ohio vendor's license cost?

The fee is $50 for each fixed place of business in the county (ORC 5739.17(A)). The Department's sales and use tax page notes the fee for new applications rose from $25 to $50 effective April 9, 2025. Half of each fee goes to the state's organized crime commission fund and half to the county or the state's vendor's license application fund, depending on where you apply.

The fee is a one-time application fee. There is no separate state filing fee to keep the license active, but you must keep filing returns on time.

How to apply for an Ohio vendor's license

You have two routes. The Department's sales and use tax page says a license can be issued immediately through OH|TAX eServices once you set up an eServices account. You can also apply through the county auditor's office in the county where you will sell.

• Set up your business first. If you are forming an LLC, file the articles and get the company on the state record before you apply, so the license is in the company's name. Our guide on how to start an LLC in Ohio covers the order.
• Get your federal EIN. A change in ownership that brings a new EIN later will require a new license.
• List each fixed place of business where you will make retail sales, and describe the nature of the business. ORC 5739.17(A) requires both.
• Pay $50 per location (or $50 for a transient license).
• Print the license and display it, or a copy, prominently at every place of business (ORC 5739.17(E)).

If you sell under a brand name that is not your legal name, register that trade name too. Our Ohio trade name (DBA) service files it with the Secretary of State.

If you hold a liquor permit, ORC 5739.17(C) requires the vendor's license to be in the identical name and for the identical address shown on the permit.

Filing Ohio sales tax returns under your vendor's license

All vendor's license holders file the Universal Sales Tax return, the UST-1, and the Department's guide says every license holder must file electronically regardless of sales volume. Your filing frequency is set by the Department and shown on your registration confirmation.

• File through OH|TAX eServices, or by phone through TeleFile if your county license number begins 01 through 88.
• File a return even if you made no sales and owe no tax. Missing returns can bring fines, penalties, and possibly criminal charges.
• File and pay on time to keep the vendor discount: 0.75% of the tax, capped at $750 per vendor's license per month for returns due on or after January 1, 2026.
• Monthly filers with more than $75,000 in annual tax liability must pay electronically.
• If the 23rd falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date moves to the next business day.

The rate you charge depends on the location. Services are taxed at the rate where the customer receives the benefit or first uses the service. The Department's online tool, The Finder, gives the rate for any Ohio address.

Exemption certificates and the records to keep

Not every sale you make carries tax. A customer who buys for resale, or claims an exemption for agriculture, manufacturing, or as a qualifying nonprofit, must give you a fully completed exemption certificate. The Department publishes the Unit Exemption Certificate (STEC U), the Blanket Exemption Certificate (STEC B), and the Streamlined Sales Tax certificate.

Keep those certificates with your sales records. If you are audited and cannot produce a certificate for an untaxed sale, you may be the one who owes the tax. The same goes for invoices, register reports, and online marketplace statements: keep them organized by reporting period so each UST-1 can be tied back to the source.

If you run events, ORC 5739.17(F) requires promoters of fairs, flea markets, and shows to keep a record of every transient vendor present, including each vendor's license number, for four years.

Moving, changing ownership, or closing

• Moving within the same county: get a new license or ask the Tax Commissioner to transfer the existing one to the new address (ORC 5739.17(B)). Keep the branch address current in OH|TAX.
• Moving to another county: the license does not transfer. Get a new license from the new county.
• Change in ownership or entity type that brings a new EIN, such as a sole proprietor forming an LLC: a new license is required, and the Department's guide says the final UST-1 for the old license and all tax are due within 15 days of the last day of business.
• Closing: file a final return and close the license in OH|TAX eServices. A license tied to a liquor permit cannot be cancelled until the permit is transferred or closed.

If you move or close without telling the Department and mail to the licensed address comes back undeliverable, the Tax Commissioner may cancel the license (ORC 5739.17(B)). Converting a sole proprietorship to an LLC? Our guide to converting a sole proprietorship to an LLC in Ohio covers the other accounts to update.

Your vendor's license address and your statutory agent address

These are two different addresses with two different jobs. The vendor's license lists the fixed place of business where you make retail sales, and the license must be displayed there. Your Ohio statutory agent address is where legal papers and official notices for the company are delivered.

Do not list your statutory agent's office as a place of business on a vendor's license application unless you actually sell from there. With us as agent, our office at 3416 Erhart Road in Litchfield is on the Secretary of State record for service of process, and your home address stays off that public record. Your shop, warehouse, or home office is what goes on the license.

When to talk to your accountant

Getting the license is the easy part. The judgment calls come after.

Three mistakes come up again and again with new Ohio vendors. The first is a service business charging its home county's rate on every job, when the Department says taxable services are taxed at the rate where the customer receives the benefit or first uses the service. The second is a company that starts out nontaxable, adds a taxable line such as janitorial or lawn care, and never gets a license. The third is forgetting use tax on the company's own purchases. If you buy taxable items for the business and the seller did not charge Ohio sales tax, Ohio use tax may be due, and the Department's guide says a business must register for a consumer's use tax account once its annual use tax liability exceeds $1,000.

Talk to your accountant if you sell a mix of taxable and nontaxable services, ship to customers in several counties, sell through both your own site and a marketplace, or are not sure whether a service you offer is on the taxable list. For an overview of the other state taxes an LLC may face, see our guide to Ohio LLC taxes.