Retailer vs. Wholesaler

Your tax rate is also affected by whether you are a retailer or a wholesaler at a given location.  Most classifications include both a retailer rate and a wholesaler rate.  Once you determine whether you are a retailer or a wholesaler at a particular location, you will apply that rate to all of your taxable gross sales at that location.  You are a retailer if at least 50% of your taxable gross sales are retail sales.  You are a wholesaler if more than 50% of your taxable gross sales are wholesale sales.

A wholesale sale may include, but is not limited to:

  • a sale to a retailer for resale,
  • a sale of materials that become part of a product that is for resale, or
  • a sale of goods to the government or a governmental agency or to a nonprofit.

A retail sale is anything that is not a wholesale sale.