New Idaho bill would exempt small sellers from having to obtain sales tax permit

Idaho House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, (right) and House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, attend a House GOP press conference on Jan. 6, 2025, at the Statehouse in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)

Idahoans who sell less than $5,000 a per year worth of items in a nonbusiness setting would be exempt from having to obtain a sellers permit to charge sales tax if a new bill introduced in the Idaho Legislature becomes law. 

House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, sponsored the new bill, which had not yet been posted to the Idaho Legislature’s website as of Tuesday afternoon.

Monks told legislators Tuesday that in 2023 the state issued 10,701 seller’s permits for Idahoans who sold less than $5,000 worth of items, generating about $1 million in revenue to the state. 

Currently, Monks said each person who holds a seller’s permit must track sales and submit paperwork and reports, which then have to be processed by state employees. 

“This may not be the best way for Idaho to be spending (its) time and efforts with people who have small fruit stands, egg sales, garage sales, all those kinds of things, and they don’t generate a whole lot of money for the state,” Monks said Tuesday.

Currently, almost every seller in Idaho needs a seller’s permit, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission, including everyone who makes more than two sales in a 12-month period, including garage sales. 

The bill does not apply to alcohol sales, vehicle sales or sellers with a business storefront, Monks said. 

During the bill’s introductory hearing Tuesday, Monks told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee that his wife sells chicken eggs and fruit grown from their fruit trees out of their home and do obtain a seller’s permit from the state.

Introducing the new small sellers sales tax exemption bill clears the way for it to return to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee for a full public hearing. The new bill will be assigned a bill number and publicly posted on the Idaho Legislature’s website once it is read across the desk on the House floor, likely on Wednesday morning.