Taxes / Seller's permits by state / North Carolina
Do I need a seller's permit to sell on eBay or Poshmark in North Carolina?
NCDOR's answer is that it depends: when the marketplace facilitator is engaged in business in North Carolina it collects the tax, and a marketplace seller only has to register and file if it has a physical presence in North Carolina and must remit use tax; a seller not engaged in business there doesn't register at all. Selling direct to North Carolina buyers (your own site, a flea market or specialty market, even a single event) means registering for a Certificate of Registration and collecting the tax on those sales; NCDOR says there is no fee to apply.
North Carolina calls it a Certificate of Registration (sales and use tax account), issued by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Check with a tax professional about your own situation.
Checked against the official pages listed below on .
North Carolina in short
- Sell only on marketplaces that collect the tax:
- It depends (see below)
- Also sell direct (own site, Facebook, flea market):
- Yes: the state says to register; no fee
- Resale certificate:
- Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (E-595E)
- Garage and occasional sales:
- Exempt
- Where to register:
- NCDOR Online Business Registration (or Form NC-BR)
If you sell only on eBay, Poshmark and other marketplaces
If the marketplace seller and the facilitator are both engaged in business in North Carolina, the facilitator collects and remits the sales tax, and the seller is only required to register and file if it has a physical presence in North Carolina and is required to remit use tax. If the facilitator isn't engaged in business there but the seller is, the seller collects and remits on its taxable sales; a seller not engaged in business in North Carolina doesn't register or file.
The rule: G.S. § 105-164.4J; NCDOR Marketplace Facilitators and Marketplace Sellers FAQ.
"A marketplace seller is only required to register and file a return if the marketplace seller has a physical presence in North Carolina and is required to remit use tax."
North Carolina's general State sales and use tax rate is 4.75%, plus a 2.00% or 2.25% local rate; four counties add a 0.50% transit rate, and Mecklenburg County added another 1% on July 1, 2026, so combined rates run from 6.75% to 8.25% (Wake 7.25%, Durham and Orange 7.50%, Mecklenburg 8.25%). A marketplace facilitator engaged in business in the State is the retailer of each sale it facilitates.
Sources: Marketplace Facilitators and Marketplace Sellers Frequently Asked Questions; Sales Tax Guidance for Newly Registered Taxpayers.
If you also sell direct: your own site, Facebook, flea markets, consignment
A marketplace seller that has met the $100,000 remote seller threshold through its channels combined, or is otherwise engaged in business in North Carolina, collects and remits on its direct sales sourced to the State. Every person who sells items sourced to North Carolina at a specialty market (flea market) must register, including someone who attends a single event, unless selling only their own farm products or their own tax-paid household property.
- Fee:
- No fee to register: NCDOR says there is no fee to apply for a certificate of registration, online or through the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System.
"There is no fee to apply for a certificate of registration in North Carolina."
Sources: Marketplace Facilitators and Marketplace Sellers Frequently Asked Questions; Sales and Use Tax Bulletins (01/01/2026); Business Registration.
Resale certificate: buying inventory without paying sales tax
- Do you need your own permit to give one?
- Yes: the state ties the certificate to the buyer's own permit or account number
To buy items for resale exempt from tax, you give the seller a completed Form E-595E or electronically provide your name, address, certificate of registration number, reason for exemption and type of business. NCDOR says the certificate generally requires a sales and use tax registration number or an exemption number, and if you don't resell an item you are liable for any use tax due on it.
Thrift stores, estate sales and yard sales
NCDOR says owners making occasional and isolated sales of household items on which tax was paid at purchase are not required to collect sales and use tax on the sale.
Misusing a certificate
NCDOR lists a $250 penalty for each misuse of an exemption certificate.
"If you do not resell an item, you are liable for any use tax due on the purchase."
Sources: Form E-595E, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption; Sales Tax Guidance for Newly Registered Taxpayers; Sales and Use Tax Bulletins (01/01/2026).
Garage sales, yard sales and other occasional sales
Exempt. An occasional and isolated sale, where the seller sells an item not of the type it is in business selling, is not subject to sales and use tax, and owners selling their own tax-paid household items occasionally don't collect tax. Sales by a facilitator liable for the tax are not occasional and isolated sales, and a person who buys farm products or other goods to resell needs a Certificate of Registration.
The rule: NCDOR Sales and Use Tax Bulletins (January 1, 2026), SUTB 2-7 and SUTB 30-5.
"A person who only makes occasional sales of the person's own household personal property on which tax has been paid is not required to obtain a Certificate of Registration."
Sources: Sales and Use Tax Bulletins (01/01/2026).
Worked examples
Tax on a $40 direct sale
A registered North Carolina seller sells a $40 item to a buyer in a county with the 2.00% local rate. The combined general rate is 6.75% (4.75% State plus 2.00% local), so the tax is $2.70. In a 2.25% county it would be 7.00%, or $2.80; transit and Mecklenburg rates are left out.
One return with marketplace and direct sales
A North Carolina seller in a 2.00% county has $5,000 of sales through a marketplace facilitator engaged in business in the State and $1,000 of direct taxable sales in a period. NCDOR's FAQ says Form E-500 shows all $6,000 on Line 1 (North Carolina Gross Receipts), the $5,000 of facilitated sales on Line 2 (Sales for Resale), and the $1,000 in the taxable receipts column: $67.50 of tax at 6.75%.
One flea market weekend
You rent a table at a specialty market for one weekend to sell items you bought to resell. NCDOR says a person attending a single event to make sales must register and collect, and give the market operator its name, permanent address and registration number. If you sold only your own tax-paid household goods, you would instead give a written certification and wouldn't need a Certificate of Registration.
Misusing the resale certificate
NCDOR's penalty is $250 for each misuse of an exemption certificate, so using E-595E on three purchases of supplies for your own use could mean $750 in penalties, plus the use tax on those items.
Edge cases and details
- If the marketplace you use is not engaged in business in North Carolina but you are, NCDOR says you collect and remit the tax on those marketplace sales yourself.
- A marketplace seller is not required to get exemption certificates for sales facilitated by a facilitator engaged in business in the State; the facilitator handles them.
- Marketplace sellers and facilitators can register voluntarily even when they aren't engaged in business in North Carolina.
- A person registered as a seasonal filer (six or fewer consecutive months a year) doesn't file returns for off-season periods with no business.
- Since July 2, 2026, a remote seller whose only link to North Carolina is passing the $100,000 threshold is engaged in business on the first day of the first calendar month at least 60 days after its sales pass it, NCDOR says; a seller with a physical presence collects as soon as that presence begins.
- NCDOR's FAQ says sales of household possessions at an auction held at the owner's home are taxable, with the auctioneer collecting as the marketplace facilitator, and a tag sale operator that meets the facilitator definition collects too, unless the sale is exempt or supported by a properly completed Form E-595E.
- NCDOR lists a late-filing penalty of 5% per month, up to 25%, and a 5% late-payment penalty, plus interest from the due date.
What to do
- Marketplace-only: confirm each marketplace collects North Carolina tax; if you are based in North Carolina, ask NCDOR or a tax professional whether you owe use tax that would require registering.
- Selling direct or at specialty markets: register online with NCDOR (no fee) before your first sale, and display your Certificate of Registration when you sell at a specialty market.
- Buying inventory: give suppliers a completed Form E-595E with your registration number.
- Keep records showing why any sale you made was exempt; NCDOR says you are liable for tax on a sale if you can't.
Common questions
Does an Etsy-only or eBay-only seller in North Carolina need to register?
NCDOR says a marketplace seller selling only through a facilitator engaged in business in North Carolina is only required to register and file if it has a physical presence there and is required to remit use tax.
Is a yard sale taxable in North Carolina?
Occasional and isolated sales of your own household items, on which tax was paid when you bought them, are not subject to sales and use tax.
What is North Carolina's remote seller threshold?
NCDOR's FAQ describes the threshold as gross sales over $100,000 sourced to North Carolina in the previous or current calendar year, including sales as a marketplace seller and marketplace-facilitated sales.
Do I pay sales tax when I buy at a North Carolina estate auction or tag sale?
NCDOR's FAQ says the auctioneer or a tag sale operator that meets the marketplace facilitator definition collects the tax on household possessions, unless the sale is exempt or supported by a properly completed Form E-595E.
Related
- Seller's permits by state: marketplace-only sellers, resale certificates and garage sales on one table
- North Carolina: marketplace sales tax and 1099-K rules
- New York: do you need a seller's permit?
- North Dakota: do you need a seller's permit?
- Form 1099-K for resellers: the federal test
- Do eBay's fees apply to the sales tax a buyer pays?
- Where each selling app keeps its sales report
General information, not tax or legal advice
This page summarizes North Carolina's own published pages, rules and statutes as read on . It doesn't say whether you must register, what you should file or whether you owe tax: that turns on your own sales, where you sell and what you buy. Rules change. Check with a tax professional, or ask the North Carolina Department of Revenue directly.
Sources
Official pages this page is built from, with the day each was read.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Marketplace Facilitators and Marketplace Sellers Frequently Asked Questions; read . When marketplace sellers register; $100,000 threshold; no registration fee; voluntary registration; Form E-500 reporting; auctions and tag sales.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Business Registration; read . Online business registration; no fee; account ID issued.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Guidance for Newly Registered Taxpayers; read . Rates by county; buying for resale with E-595E; late filing and payment penalties; $250 misuse penalty.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Form E-595E, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption; read . E-595E for resale; registration or exemption number required.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Sales and Use Tax Bulletins (01/01/2026), dated ; read . SUTB 2-7 occasional and isolated sales; SUTB 30 flea and specialty markets.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue: Remote Sales; read . $100,000 threshold; from July 2, 2026, engaged in business the first month at least 60 days after passing it.
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