Indiana economic nexus requires a remote seller to register, collect, and remit Indiana sales tax when its gross revenue from sales into Indiana exceeds $100,000 in either the current or preceding calendar year. The Indiana Department of Revenue applies this test to sales of tangible personal property delivered into Indiana, products transferred electronically into Indiana, and services delivered in Indiana. Indiana no longer uses a transaction-count threshold.
For businesses that cross the threshold, Indiana is comparatively straightforward on rate calculation: the state applies one statewide sales tax rate of 7%, with no local sales tax added to ordinary sales. Registration and return filing are handled through the Indiana Department of Revenue’s INTIME system. Sales Tax Compliance USA is a done-for-you service: our team can review your Indiana sales channels, identify what must be counted, handle registration support, and manage the ongoing work required to stay compliant.
What is Indiana’s economic nexus threshold?
A remote seller has Indiana economic nexus when gross revenue from sales into Indiana exceeds $100,000 in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year. The rule applies even if the seller has no office, employee, inventory, or other physical presence in Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Revenue says the revenue test includes any combination of tangible personal property delivered into Indiana, products transferred electronically into Indiana, and services delivered in Indiana. The threshold is based on gross revenue, not merely the amount of tax due. That means exempt and nontaxable sales can matter when you are determining whether the registration threshold has been crossed.
Indiana previously had a separate transaction-count test, but it no longer does. A seller should therefore focus on Indiana gross revenue and monitor it throughout the current year as well as reviewing the prior calendar year.
Which sales count—and do marketplace sales count?
For a remote seller’s direct sales, Indiana counts gross revenue from qualifying sales into the state: tangible personal property delivered to Indiana, electronically transferred products delivered into Indiana, and services delivered in Indiana. The Department of Revenue’s remote-seller guidance describes the test in terms of gross revenue, including sales that may not ultimately be subject to sales tax.
Marketplace sales receive different treatment. When a marketplace facilitator is responsible for the sale, sales a seller makes through that marketplace generally are not counted toward that marketplace seller’s own $100,000 Indiana threshold. The facilitator counts its own Indiana sales and facilitated seller sales when determining whether the facilitator meets its threshold.
There is an important exception in the Department of Revenue’s guidance: marketplace seller sales may be counted for the seller when the marketplace facilitator has not met the threshold itself. Sellers using several channels should separate direct-store revenue from facilitated marketplace revenue before drawing a conclusion. We can review that channel-by-channel analysis with you.
When do you need to register for Indiana sales tax?
A remote seller needs to register when its qualifying Indiana gross revenue exceeds $100,000 in the current or preceding calendar year. Once the economic threshold is met, the seller must comply with Indiana sales-tax requirements as though it had a physical presence in the state, including collection, filing, payment, and recordkeeping obligations.
Physical presence creates a separate basis for nexus. The Indiana Department of Revenue states that a retail merchant with physical presence in Indiana must register; the economic threshold does not replace that obligation. Inventory, employees, an office, or other in-state business activity can require a fact-specific nexus review.
Affiliate and agency arrangements can also create exposure depending on the relationship and activity in Indiana. Do not assume that a remote business is protected simply because it has no Indiana-owned premises. The exact position depends on your circumstances—confirm it with the Indiana Department of Revenue, or talk to us and we will check it for you.
How to register for an Indiana sales tax permit
Indiana refers to the sales-tax registration as a registered retail merchant’s certificate. The Indiana Department of Revenue directs businesses to register through INBiz, the State of Indiana’s business-registration site. Have the legal business name, federal tax identification information, business addresses, ownership details, responsible-party information, business activity details, and expected sales-tax information ready before beginning.
After registration, use INTIME—the Indiana Taxpayer Information Management Engine—to manage the sales-tax account, file returns, make payments, and review correspondence. Keep the account profile current if your business address, responsible parties, filing activity, or contact details change.
Registration is only one part of compliance. Before your first filing period, establish a clear process for identifying Indiana-destined sales, applying the correct tax treatment, retaining exemption documentation, reconciling marketplace-collected tax, and saving transaction-level records. Our people can take on this operational work rather than leaving your team to assemble it alone.
Indiana’s statewide rate and taxable sales
Indiana applies a 7% statewide sales tax rate. It does not add local sales tax to ordinary sales, so there is no city, county, or home-rule sales-tax rate calculation for a typical Indiana transaction. Indiana is not a home-rule state for this purpose: local jurisdictions do not administer their own general sales tax.
Sales of tangible personal property are generally taxable unless an exemption applies. Indiana also taxes certain services and electronically transferred products. Most services are not subject to Indiana sales tax, but a business should not use that general statement as a substitute for reviewing the precise service, billing arrangement, and items provided to the customer.
Where a transaction combines a service with tangible personal property, taxability can depend on how the transaction is structured and what the customer is actually buying. Indiana Department of Revenue guidance addresses bundled transactions and the true object of the transaction. Review products, digital offerings, service packages, shipping or delivery charges, and invoices individually before assigning a tax rule.
Exempt sales and exemption certificates
An exemption can change the tax due on a sale, but it does not necessarily remove that sale from the economic-nexus revenue calculation. Common Indiana exemptions include qualifying sales for resale when the buyer provides an appropriate exemption certificate, certain purchases by qualifying nonprofit and government entities, prescription drugs, newspapers, postage stamps, gift cards, and qualifying manufacturing or agricultural purchases.
A seller that accepts an exemption should retain proper documentation. The Indiana Department of Revenue states that a remote seller must obtain either Indiana’s General Sales Tax Exemption Certificate, Form ST-105, or a Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption when the purchaser is eligible for an exemption.
Do not simply mark a customer as exempt based on its name, industry, or a verbal statement. Match the certificate and claimed exemption to the transaction, retain it with your records, and refresh documentation when necessary. Missing or incomplete exemption support can become an assessment issue in an audit.
What to do after meeting Indiana economic nexus
Once you exceed Indiana’s threshold, register as a retail merchant, configure collection for taxable Indiana sales, and begin filing and remitting through INTIME. Because Indiana has one statewide rate and no local sales tax, the rate itself is simple; the harder work is identifying taxable transactions, separating exempt sales, and correctly handling sales where a marketplace facilitator collected tax.
Set up a recurring reconciliation that compares orders shipped or delivered into Indiana, direct sales, facilitated marketplace sales, refunds, discounts, exempt transactions, tax collected, and tax remitted. Retain invoices, order data, resale and exemption certificates, marketplace statements, returns, payment confirmations, and correspondence from the Indiana Department of Revenue.
Continue monitoring sales after registration. A decline in sales does not automatically mean that collection and filing may stop. Indiana’s published remote-seller rule looks to the current and preceding calendar years, so the prior-year measurement can continue to matter after current-year sales fall. Before closing an account or stopping collection, confirm your current position with the Department of Revenue or ask our team to review it.
Indiana sales tax filing frequency and deadlines
The Indiana Department of Revenue assigns a filing schedule based on the merchant’s taxable sales volume and collections. Returns are primarily filed monthly. A business’s Indiana sales-tax filing frequency is based on its average monthly tax liability, and businesses may request seasonal filing if they operate only during certain months.
The exact position here depends on your own facts, so it is worth confirming with the state directly or talking to us about your situation. In that case, the return is due on the 20th day of the following month. Use the schedule assigned to your account and verify due dates in INTIME, particularly after registration or changes in sales volume.
You must file a zero return for an assigned filing period even when no tax is due or there was no activity. This is especially important for businesses with seasonal sales, pauses in direct sales, or periods in which all Indiana sales were facilitated and tax was handled by a marketplace facilitator.
Marketplace facilitator rules for Indiana sellers
A marketplace facilitator that meets Indiana’s nexus requirements must register, collect, remit, and file for facilitated marketplace sales. The Department of Revenue requires marketplace facilitators to file monthly sales-tax returns through INTIME. A marketplace seller should still understand who is collecting and remitting tax for each channel rather than assuming every online sale is handled the same way.
For the marketplace seller, facilitated Indiana sales generally are treated as retail sales of the marketplace facilitator and are excluded from the marketplace seller’s gross retail income. That does not erase the seller’s responsibility for its own direct sales, other sales channels, or any situations in which the facilitator is not required to collect.
Reconcile marketplace reports against your own order records. Keep evidence of the facilitator’s tax collection and remittance, and distinguish facilitated sales from sales made through your own website or other direct channels. This separation is central to accurate returns and to a defensible nexus analysis.
Penalties, interest, and Indiana audit risk
Late payment of Indiana sales tax is generally subject to a penalty of 10% of the unpaid tax liability, plus interest. Indiana’s ST-103 instructions require a return even when no tax is due unless the account is properly closed; if no return is filed, DOR may prepare an estimated return and issue a tax-liability notice.
Late-filed returns can also create penalties. The Indiana Department of Revenue generally imposes a 10% penalty on unpaid sales or use tax, and separate late-filing penalties may apply in specific situations. The final amount can depend on the facts and the type of filing failure, so do not treat one published penalty description as the complete answer to every situation.
Audit risk rises when records do not reconcile: unregistered direct sales, unsupported exemptions, missing zero returns, improper marketplace treatment, or tax collected from customers but not remitted can all create serious exposure. If you discover a gap, preserve the records, quantify the periods and sales involved, and get a fact-specific review before making assumptions about registration, returns, or remediation.
Not sure how this applies to your business? We handle US sales tax registration, filing and remittance for ecommerce sellers as a fully managed service, for one fee. Book a free consultation and we will review your own position with you.
Key Indiana sales-tax compliance distinctions for ecommerce and cross-border sellers
| Indiana situation | What it means for the seller |
|---|---|
| This one varies by seller and by state, and it is the kind of detail we check for clients as part of the service — get in touch and we will confirm where you stand. | Register as a retail merchant, collect applicable Indiana sales tax, file returns, and remit through INTIME. |
| Direct sale of tangible personal property delivered into Indiana | The revenue is part of the remote-seller nexus analysis; the sale is generally taxable unless a specific exemption applies. |
| Product transferred electronically into Indiana or service delivered in Indiana | The revenue is included in the nexus analysis. Taxability of the actual sale requires a product- and transaction-specific review. |
| Sale made through a qualifying marketplace facilitator | The facilitator generally collects and remits the tax, and the marketplace sale generally does not count toward the marketplace seller’s own threshold, subject to the Department of Revenue’s stated exception. |
| Indiana tax-rate calculation | Apply Indiana’s 7% statewide sales tax rate to taxable sales; ordinary sales do not require a local sales-tax rate calculation. |
| Rather than give you a figure that may not apply to you, we would check this against the state’s current guidance for your specific setup — ask us and we will tell you exactly where you stand. | The Department of Revenue states that the merchant files annually, rather than on the primarily monthly schedule. |
| No activity during an assigned filing period | File the required zero return rather than skipping the period. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the Indiana economic nexus threshold?
Indiana’s threshold is more than $100,000 of gross revenue from qualifying sales into Indiana in the current or preceding calendar year. The Department of Revenue includes tangible personal property delivered into Indiana, electronically transferred products delivered into Indiana, and services delivered in Indiana. Indiana does not currently use a transaction-count threshold.
Do marketplace sales count toward Indiana’s nexus threshold?
Marketplace facilitators count both their own Indiana sales and sales they facilitate for sellers when determining their threshold. A marketplace seller generally does not include facilitated marketplace sales in its own threshold calculation. The Department of Revenue identifies an exception where the marketplace facilitator has not met the threshold, so sellers should review their specific marketplace arrangements.
When do you need to register for Indiana sales tax?
A remote seller needs to register when qualifying Indiana gross revenue exceeds $100,000 in the current or preceding calendar year. A business with physical presence in Indiana must register regardless of the economic threshold. If affiliates, inventory arrangements, contractors, or other Indiana activity are involved, the exact nexus outcome depends on the facts and should be checked before relying solely on the remote-seller threshold.
How do you register for an Indiana sales tax permit?
Register for a registered retail merchant’s certificate through INBiz, the State of Indiana’s business-registration site. After registration, use INTIME to file returns, make payments, and manage the sales-tax account. Prepare the business identity, tax identification, responsible-party, address, and business-activity information needed for the registration.
What should you do after meeting Indiana’s economic nexus threshold?
Register, begin collecting tax on taxable Indiana sales, and file and pay returns through INTIME on the schedule assigned by the Indiana Department of Revenue. Build records that distinguish direct sales, marketplace-facilitated sales, taxable sales, exempt sales, refunds, and tax remitted. Continue reviewing current- and prior-calendar-year sales instead of assuming that a later sales decline ends the obligation.
How often do Indiana sales tax returns need to be filed?
Indiana sales-tax returns are primarily monthly. The Department of Revenue states that merchants with annual sales-tax collections below $1,000 file annually, while some businesses operating only in specified months may be permitted to file seasonally. Your assigned filing frequency and due date should be confirmed in INTIME, and a zero return is required for an assigned period even when no tax is due.
What are the penalties for not collecting Indiana sales tax?
Unpaid tax can be assessed along with interest and penalties. The Department of Revenue states that late payment carries a penalty of 10% of unpaid tax or $5, whichever is greater, plus interest; late-filed sales-tax returns can be subject to a penalty of up to 20%, with a $5 minimum. A 20% penalty can also apply in the failure-to-file assessment circumstances described in the Department’s ST-103 instructions.
Does Indiana have trailing nexus after sales decline?
Indiana’s remote-seller rule measures qualifying gross revenue in both the current and preceding calendar year. As a result, falling below $100,000 in the current year does not by itself establish that registration and collection obligations have ended, because the preceding year still matters. Before closing an Indiana sales-tax account or stopping collection, confirm the facts with the Indiana Department of Revenue or ask us to check the position for you.
How we handle this for you
The mechanics in Indiana are manageable on their own; the cost is the time it takes every single filing period, in every state you are registered in. We are a managed service: our team registers you with the Indiana Department of Revenue, prepares and files your returns, and keeps you compliant period after period. You get one point of contact and one invoice — you do not get another dashboard to learn.
See our sales tax compliance services, check where you have obligations with the nexus calculator, or talk to us about Indiana.
Official sources
- https://www.in.gov/dor/i-am-a/business-corp/business-faq/remote-seller-faqs/
- https://www.in.gov/dor/i-am-a/business-corp/remote-sellers/
- https://www.in.gov/dor/files/sib89.pdf
- https://www.in.gov/dor/i-am-a/business-corp/remote-sellers/marketplace-facilitators/
- https://www.in.gov/dor/i-am-a/business-corp/sales-tax/
- https://www.in.gov/dor/files/gb102.pdf
Reviewed by Paul le Roux, CA(SA). Sales Tax Compliance USA handles US sales tax registration, filing and remittance for cross-border and domestic ecommerce sellers as a fully managed service.
This page is general information for educational purposes and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Sales tax rules change and depend on your specific facts. Consult a qualified tax professional about your own position.
Related guides
Other Indiana guides: Filing · Permit · Registration
Economic nexus in nearby states: Illinois · Michigan · Ohio · Kentucky
Selling into several states? Check where you have crossed a threshold with the free nexus diagnostic, see the full 51-state threshold table, or browse every state guide.