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                                                                                                                 Mailing Address:
 Wisconsin Department                                    Your Privileges and                              Business Tax Section
 of Revenue                                                                                                      PO Box 8949
                                                         Obligations as a Seller                   Madison WI  53708-8949

 Phone:  (608) 266-2776       FAX: (608) 267-1030       Email:  DORBusinessTax@wisconsin.gov      Website: revenue.wi.gov

We are pleased to welcome you as a Wisconsin sales tax registrant. The sales and use tax law operates only through the cooperation 
of the thousands of registered retailers who hold seller’s permits. We look forward to your cooperation, and wish you every success 
in your business.

 Privileges of a Registered Seller
1.  Registered Seller
 As the holder of a seller’s permit, you are authorized to sell, at retail, taxable products and taxable services in Wisconsin. A sepa-
 rate seller's permit is issued for each location of a business with multiple locations. The permit also includes a wallet copy to carry 
 with you.

2.  Purchase for Resale
 You may purchase taxable products, which you intend to resell in the regular course of your business, without paying sales tax 
 by giving your supplier a fully completed Wisconsin sales and use tax exemption certificate (Form S-211E,  Form S-211, or Form 
 S-211-SST) signed by you that shows your tax account number. Taxable products that will not be resold cannot be purchased 
 without tax unless another exemption applies.

 Obligations of a Registered Seller
1.  Filing Returns
 If you hold a seller's permit you must file a return for each reporting period, even if no tax is due for that period. Your reporting 
 period will be either early monthly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, as determined by the Department of Revenue. For example, 
 if your reporting period is monthly, you must file a return for each month of the year, regardless of whether any tax is due for the 
 month.
 Electronic filing has been mandated for all sales and use tax registrants.
 A return filed electronically is considered timely if received on or before the due date. Returns filed via My Tax Account or Tele  -
 file, and payments made by ACH Debit must be completed prior to 4:00 pm (CST) on the due date. A mailed return or payment 
 voucher is considered timely if:  the return/voucher is mailed in a properly addressed envelope with the postage duly prepaid, the 
 envelope containing the return/voucher is postmarked on or before the due date, and the department receives the return/voucher 
 within 5 days of the due date.
 You may request a one month extension to file through My Tax Account or by writing to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, 
 Registration Unit, Mail Stop 3-80, PO Box 8902, Madison, WI 53708-8902. The department may grant an additional month from 
 the original due date of the return to file the return. The department will notify you if the extension is granted. However, if the tax 
 is not paid by the original due date, the tax will be subject to 1% interest per month during the extension period and 1.5% interest 
 per month thereafter. You will not lose the retailer's discount if you pay the total tax due within the extension period.

2.  Notify Us of Changes in Ownership, Address, or Discontinuance of Business
 Inform us immediately of any change of name, address, ownership, or other account change information. If your business operates 
 at more than one location, enter the location to be changed. You may send the information to the address listed above. Please 
 notify the Wisconsin Department of Revenue if you discontinue or sell your business. To close your business with the department, 
 follow the steps on our website (search keyword "closing").

3.  Successor’s Liability
 Under sales and use tax law, the purchaser of a business or stock of goods may become liable for the unpaid sales and use taxes 
 of the predecessor. In order to protect your interests, make a written request for a Sales Tax Clearance Certificate from the depart-
 ment. The letter requesting the certificate must include the legal name and business name of the seller, address of the buyer and 
 seller, date of sale, and the tax account numbers of the buyer and seller, if available. The purchaser should withhold a sufficient 
 amount from the purchase price to cover any possible sales and use tax liability.

4.  Keeping Adequate Records
 Your records must separately show taxable and exempt sales. Records include the normal books of account maintained by a 
 prudent businessperson, together with all exemption certificates, bills, receipts, invoices, cash register tapes, and other papers 
 substantiating the correctness of your returns. These records are subject to examination by our auditors.

5.  Security Deposit
 The law authorizes this department to require any person to deposit security, not in excess of $15,000, before a permit is issued 
 or any time thereafter. Failure to deposit the required security will result in the department refusing to issue a seller’s permit or 
 revoking a seller's permit that has been issued. You will be notified by the department if security is required.
S-203 (R. 11-24)



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 County and City Sales and Use Tax Liability
Sixty-nine counties have adopted a 0.5% county sales and use tax effective the first day of the month and year shown below. County 
sales tax applies to retail sales or rentals of taxable products or taxable services that take place in a taxable county. *Effective 
January 1, 2024, Milwaukee County's sales and use tax rate increases from 0.5% to 0.9% 

Adams (1-94)            Door (4-88)             Juneau (4-92)                          Monroe (4-90)         Sauk (4-92)
Ashland (4-88)          Douglas (4-91)          Kenosha (4-91)                         Oconto (7-94)         Sawyer (4-87)
Barron (4-86)           Dunn (4-86)             Kewaunee (4-17)                        Oneida (4-87)         Shawano (4-90)
Bayfield (4-91)         Eau Claire (1-99)       La Crosse (4-90)                       Outagamie (1-20)      Sheboygan (1-17)
Brown (1-18)            Florence (7-06)         Lafayette (4-01)                       Ozaukee (4-91)        Taylor (7-99)
Buffalo (4-87)          Fond du Lac (4-10)      Langlade (4-88)                        Pepin (4-91)          Trempealeau (10-95)
Burnett (4-89)          Forest (4-95)           Lincoln (4-87)                         Pierce (4-88)         Vernon (1-97)
Calumet (4-18)          Grant (4-02)            Manitowoc (1-25)                       Polk (4-88)           Vilas (4-88)
Chippewa (4-91)         Green (1-03)            Marathon (4-87)                        Portage (4-89)        Walworth (4-87)
Clark (1-09)            Green Lake (7-99)       Marinette (10-01)                      Price (1-93)          Washburn (4-91)
Columbia (4-89)         Iowa (4-87)             Marquette (4-89)                       Richland (4-89)       Washington (1-99)
Crawford (4-91)         Iron (4-91)             Menominee (4-20)                       Rock (4-07)           Waupaca (4-89)
Dane (4-91)             Jackson (4-87)          Milwaukee (4-91)*                      Rusk (4-87)           Waushara (4-90)
Dodge (4-94)            Jefferson (4-91)         Add. 0.4% (1-24)                      St. Croix (4-87)      Wood (1-04)

Effective January 1, 2024, the city of Milwaukee adopted a 2% sales and use tax.

City of Milwaukee (1-24)

We will notify you if any other counties or cities adopt (or repeal) county or city tax. Refer to the Wisconsin Tax Bulletin for sales and 
use tax news.

 Premier Resort Area Tax
A premier resort area tax applies to the retail sales or rentals of taxable products and taxable services in a premier resort area if 
the seller is classified in the Standard Industrial Classification manual (1987 edition) under certain industry numbers. The tax rate is 
0.5% in the villages of Ephraim, Sister Bay, and Stockholm and cities of Bayfield, Eagle River, and Rhinelander; 1.25% in the city of 
Wisconsin Dells and the village of Lake Delton.

For more information, see Publication 403, Premier Resort Area Taxes, available on the department's website or from any Department
of Revenue office.

 Bracket System
The bracket system may be used by retailers in computing the amount of tax which may be collected from a retailer's customers. 
Retail sales tax brackets are available for the 5%, 5.5%, 5.9%, and 7.9% rates to allow a retailer to separately state and pass the tax 
on to their customer. These brackets are contained in Form 213, Sales and Use Tax Bracket System.

If you do not separately itemize the tax for your customers, but instead include the tax in your sales price, a Bracket System Chart or 
similar notification that sales tax is included must be posted in a conspicuous place in your establishment. 

 Questions?
Many questions about sales and use tax can be answered by referring to Publication 201, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Information.

We recommend you read the Wisconsin Tax Bulletin. The bulletin is intended to inform you of changes in sales and use tax law and 
other sales and use tax matters. To obtain email alerts of new bulletins and other important new tax information, sign up for the De-
partment of Revenue's sales and use tax news at revenue.wi.gov/Pages/HTML/lists.aspx.

Be sure to indicate your tax account number in all correspondence with this department.

                                                Applicable Laws and Rules
This document provides statements or interpretations of the following provisions of Wisconsin Statutes and Administrative Rules 
in effect as of November 1, 2024:  Chapter 77, Wis. Stats., and sec. Tax 11, Wis. Adm. Code.
Laws enacted and in effect after this date, new administrative rules, and court decisions may change the interpretations in this 
document. Guidance issued prior to this date that is contrary to the information in this document is superseded by this document, 
according to sec. 73.16(2)(a), Wis. Stats.

S-203 (R. 11-24)                                                     -2-






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