Use Stripe to register for sales tax

Stripe can register with the local tax authorities in the United States on behalf of remote sellers.

Eligibility

Stripe can register on your behalf in the US in every state.

For the supported jurisdictions, Stripe can register on your behalf to collect sales and use tax if your business meets the following additional eligibility requirements:

• A remote (out-of-state) seller with no physical presence in the state
• A US-based business and US-based direct entity ownership
• A US bank account in states that charge state fees or collect bank account details as part of the registration process
• The business hasn’t received a notice or set up an online account with the jurisdiction
• No prior acquisitions of an existing business

How to sign up

Under Thresholds on the Tax page:

• Hover over the jurisdiction where you want to sign up and click Add registration.
• Select Register for me to have Stripe complete your application.

Under Registrations on the Tax page:

• Click Add registration.
• Select the U.S. state you want to register in.
• Select Register for me.

What to expect

Gather information needed to register

Gather key business information such as address, EIN, contact and ID information (for business owners and your business representative), and any state-specific information such as previous year sales and the date you want your registration to become effective.

After you submit your application

One of Stripe’s tax experts completes your registration with the state in 30 days or less. December, January, and February are high-volume months for registration and tax filings. Within those months registration takes 60 days or less.

After we complete it, you receive a detailed confirmation email from our team of tax experts containing a secure document link with relevant information about your new tax registration. You can also view this in the Documents section of your Stripe Dashboard.

Your new tax registration is automatically added to your Stripe Dashboard after Stripe registers for you. If you are set up to collect using Stripe Tax, Stripe will then begin automatically calculating tax in this jurisdiction according to your collection start date.

Pricing and state fees

Pricing

Registrations are only available as part of a Tax Complete subscription. Check your plan in the Dashboard under Stripe plans. Learn more about Tax Complete pricing.

State Fees

The following states charge a fee to all remote sellers who register to collect tax. Because most states require ACH debit to process fees, your provided bank account is debited for any state fees charged upon the initial registration submission. The exact fee can vary slightly depending on your unique business characteristics.

• Arizona: 12 USD state fee charged with registration plus 1-50 USD per local jurisdiction, charged after you file and remit in a new local jurisdiction
• Colorado: 16 USD per location site plus a 50 USD deposit, refunded automatically after you collect 50 USD in state sales tax
• Connecticut: 100 USD
• Hawaii: 20 USD
• Indiana: 25 USD
• Nevada: 15 USD plus a security deposit, which depends on your estimated sales volume and is held by the state for a minimum of 3 years
• South Carolina: 50 USD
• Washington: 50 USD plus 5 USD per DBA (“doing business as," or trade name)
• West Virginia: 30 USD
• Wisconsin: 20 USD
• Wyoming: 60 USD

When to register for tax collection

When you need to register to collect tax in the US as a remote seller, it’s typically based on two primary factors:

When you exceed an economic nexus threshold, based on sales or transaction count

In the US, you need to register as a remote seller after you meet the state’s economic nexus threshold requirements. Check out the US state tax pages or Thresholds in your Stripe Dashboard to see how your payment volume stacks up against each jurisdiction’s thresholds. Stripe also notifies you with email and Dashboard alerts after you appear to have crossed a threshold based on your Stripe payment volume.

Whether the jurisdiction provides a grace period to allow taxpayers more time to register after exceeding a threshold

The chart below shows the current state grace periods by state, if offered.

Late registration

If you’re late in registering to collect tax, you have two main options.

The first option is to register as soon as possible with a registration effective date of when nexus was established in the jurisdiction, even if this date is in the past. This date reflects when you should have initially registered. Keep in mind that the state often requires you to file overdue returns for missing tax periods and back-pay any taxes along with penalties and interest. If you’re subject to penalties, most states offer penalty waivers that you can file to ask for a reduction or elimination of any penalties you owe.

The second option is to work with your tax advisor to file a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) in any jurisdictions where you’re late to register. VDAs allow taxpayers to become compliant with the state and ask for leniency on any overdue returns, taxes, and penalties. States might limit how far back you have to pay previously owed taxes (for example, 3 years versus 5 years) or waive any associated penalties. You can often do this anonymously through a third party. This can be costly, so it’s important to consult your tax advisor and weigh the pros and cons of both options.

Registration considerations

Your collection start date might be different from your registration date

• The registration effective date is the date you provided in your application indicating when you need to register.
• The collection start date is the date Stripe began automatically calculating and collecting tax for this jurisdiction.
• On the day our tax experts complete your registration, if your registration effective date is:
  • In the future, your collection will be scheduled for that same future date. This means both of these dates are the same.
  • The same day, collection will start immediately.
  • In the past, collection will start immediately. This means that your earlier registration effective date and later collection start date in Stripe will differ.

Contact information for both states and Stripe

In your application, you provided contact information including an email address. We recommended that this is an email that someone frequently checks and that isn’t tied to any single individual. Stripe uses this contact information in the event we need to contact you about your registration, and the states use it on a long-term basis. In some states, this email address also becomes your username.

The Dashboard shows an “issue” status for a registration in progress

If you see an issue status next to your registration in process, check the email address you provided as your contact information. One of our tax experts will have reached out to you explaining what additional information is needed to process your request.

In-state registrations aren’t supported yet

We can only support remote (out-of-state) sellers with no physical presence in the state at this time. Physical presence laws vary by state, but generally include factors such as an office, storefront, employees, salespeople, contractors, warehouses, inventory, or trade show attendance. Consult your tax advisor if you’re unsure about whether you have physical presence in the state.

Register with the taxing authorities before you can add this registration to your Stripe Dashboard

Adding a registration to the Stripe Dashboard doesn’t automatically register you in that jurisdiction.

If Stripe registers on your behalf, one of our tax experts automatically adds this new tax registration to your Stripe Dashboard with the correct effective date, so you don’t need to take any further action to begin automatically calculating tax.

Viewing the signup option or reviewing an in-progress application

Registration applications are only accessible to users with Owner or Admin, Analyst, or Tax Analyst account access to ensure the security of your data. Other types of users won’t see the option to sign up or review an in-progress application

The sign-up option is limited to users who meet the eligibility criteria based on data available in Stripe. This information includes:

• US-based business information including a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
• A US address,
• A US (+1) phone number
• A Social Security Number (SSN) for your business representative and direct individual business owners with 10% or more ownership.

Filing assistance post-registration

Stripe doesn’t currently provide an in-house filing solution. See tax filing to learn more about our trusted filing partners.

Determining NAICS and SIC codes

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) are two federal standardized code systems used in the US to classify your primary business activity and industry. Certain state jurisdictions use NAICS while others use SIC. If you don’t yet know the NAICS or SIC code for your business, here’s how you can determine it:

• You can start by searching for an NAICS code here. We recommend doing this first, as NAICS codes typically offer a bit more granularity. After you identify the proper NAICS code, you can enter it in the NAICS column to see the possible corresponding SIC codes.
• Alternatively, you can search for a SIC code here and then enter it in the SIC column to see the possible corresponding NAICS codes.

Editing or canceling your registration application

If your registration application is incomplete (you haven’t submitted it yet), you can edit or cancel it in the Dashboard by clicking the overflow menu () next to your incomplete registration on the Thresholds tab or on the relevant jurisdiction page in the Dashboard.

If you’ve already submitted your registration, you can request to edit or cancel your application by contacting support.