Do I need a seller's permit to sell on eBay or Poshmark in Missouri?

If you sell only on eBay, Poshmark and other marketplaces

The Department's FAQ says a marketplace seller doesn't have to register, collect or remit vendor's use tax (the tax on sales from outside Missouri) if it sells through a marketplace facilitator only, and 12 CSR 10-113.400 says a marketplace seller shouldn't report sales the facilitator reported and must keep records of them. The pages checked don't say whether a seller with a Missouri location and only marketplace sales must hold a retail sales license.

The rule: 12 CSR 10-113.400(3)(B).

Missouri's state sales and use tax rate is 4.225%, plus city, county and district taxes. The Department's FAQ says a marketplace facilitator whose gross receipts from taxable sales into Missouri (its own and those it facilitates) exceed $100,000 in a calendar year collects and remits vendor's use tax on the sales it facilitates; its marketplace facilitator rule, 12 CSR 10-113.400, took effect July 30, 2023.

Sources: FAQs - Remote Seller and Marketplace Facilitator; 12 CSR 10-113.400, Marketplace Facilitator; Sales/Use Tax.

If you also sell direct: your own site, Facebook, flea markets, consignment

Anyone with a business location in Missouri who sells goods to a final consumer must collect and remit sales tax and have a retail sales license before making sales. The Department says this applies even to a hobby, and every vendor selling at a show or event needs its own Missouri Tax ID number (a Special Events Application, Form 2643S, is available). Selling without a license is a misdemeanor.

Fee:

The Department pages we checked don't state a license fee; they say bonds have not been required since August 28, 2018, though the Department may require one in some cases.

Register:

MyTax Missouri online business registration, or Form 2643

Sources: Business Tax Registration FAQs; Special Event Sales FAQs; FAQs - Remote Seller and Marketplace Facilitator.

Resale certificate: buying inventory without paying sales tax

The form:

Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 149)

Do you need your own permit to give one?

Yes: the state ties the certificate to the buyer's own permit or account number

A retailer buying goods for resale gives the supplier Form 149 with the resale exclusion checked and its state tax ID number; the form says Missouri retailers must have a Missouri Tax I.D. Number, while an out-of-state retailer gives its home state's number. The Department's event FAQ says you may sell tax-exempt to other vendors who hold a valid sales tax license, give you their number and complete Form 149 for your files.

Thrift stores, estate sales and yard sales

The state pages we checked don't say anything specific about using a resale certificate at a thrift store, estate sale or yard sale. A certificate is given to a seller who would otherwise charge you tax, so whether a particular store takes one is between you and that seller; ask before you buy.

Sources: Form 149, Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate; Special Event Sales FAQs; Business Tax Registration FAQs.

Garage sales, yard sales and other occasional sales

Exempt: gross receipts from such sales of no more than $3,000 a calendar year, not counting a household liquidation. An isolated or occasional sale by a person not engaged in the business is not engaging in business in Missouri unless gross receipts from such sales exceed $3,000 in a calendar year; receipts from selling property in the partial or complete liquidation of a household, farm or nonbusiness enterprise don't count toward that $3,000.

The rule: RSMo § 144.010.1(2).

Sources: RSMo § 144.010, Definitions.

Worked examples

Common questions