CraftShow Events

Sales Tax for Craft Show Vendors in Kentucky

Last researched September 14, 2026 Sources: Kentucky Department of Revenue (Finance and Administration Cabinet) Medium confidence

Short answer

Kentucky charges 6% sales tax and has no local sales taxes [1]. Occasional vendors with no permanent place of business can report tax per event as "temporary vendors" through MyTaxes [2][3][4]. Regular sellers need a Sales and Use Tax permit [5]. Makers selling their own handmade crafts are exempt from the county transient merchant permit [6]. Event coordinators must give the Department a vendor list [7].

Registration
Sales and Use Tax Permit (temporary vendors report on a nonpermit basis via MyTaxes / Form 30A006)
Cost
Not stated on official pages reviewed
State base rate
6% As of: 2026-09-14 (date checked; page undated). Local taxes may apply.
Event organizers have duties?
Yes
Official registration
https://mytaxes.ky.gov

Who needs to register

  • Regular retailers: every person engaged "in or conduct business as a retailer or seller within this state shall file with the department an application for a permit" [5]
  • Temporary sellers report without a permit: "concessionaires at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and the like, shall report and remit the tax on a nonpermit basis" [2]
  • Who counts: "Persons not regularly engaged in selling at retail and not having a permanent place of business" [2]
  • Regulation: temporary vendors without an active account "shall report and remit the sales and use tax on a nonpermit basis" [3]
  • Craft fairs are covered in the MyTaxes guide: the guide addresses sellers who "attended an event such as a vendor or craft fair" without a permit [4]
  • County transient merchant permit exemption for crafters: exceptions include "Crafts or items made by hand when offered for sale by the person who made the items" [6]
  • Charity sales are also exempt from the transient merchant permit: "A sale sponsored by any religious, educational, public service or charitable organization" [6]

The permit or registration

  • Temporary vendor option: the MyTaxes guide "provides instructions for Temporary Vendors to register events, report total sales, and pay Sales and Use tax." [4]
  • How: "select Transactions from the Main Menu ribbon, and then select Submit Application." Then choose "Register / File as Temporary Vendor" [4]
  • Details asked: "Enter the Event Name and Event Date and choose the County in which the event will be / was held" [4]
  • After the event: from the dropdown, "select Report sales from an event" and enter "the Total Taxable Sales dollar amount" [4]
  • Payment: "You will be able to pay with a credit or debit card or an E-Check." [4]
  • Paper form named in regulation: the "Temporary Vendor Sales and Use Tax Return (Form 30A006)" [3]
  • Possible bond: "Temporary vendors may be required to post a bond pursuant to the provisions of KRS 139.660." [3] "The tax may be prepaid in lieu of filing the bond." [3]
  • Regular permit: the application is filed "at least 30 days before engaging in an activity that requires" a Sales and Use Tax Account [8]
  • Permit display: the permit "shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the place for which issued." [9]
  • County transient merchant permit (for merchants who are not exempt): "The permit fee is twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and is paid to the county clerk" [6]

Collecting and filing

  • Rate: "Kentucky Sales and Use Tax is imposed at the rate of 6 percent of gross receipts or purchase price." [1]
  • No local sales tax: "There are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky." [1]
  • Temporary vendor due date: "the due date shown on Form 30A006 as prescribed by the department, or the date when selling at the designated location is completed." [3]
  • Permit holders: "The taxes imposed by this chapter are due and payable to the department monthly" [10], by "the twentieth day of the next succeeding calendar month." [10]
  • Online filing mandate: DOR lists an "Online Filing and Payment Mandate for Sales and Excise Tax Returns" notice [1]

Organizer / promoter obligations

  • Vendor list required by statute: "Any event coordinator of a festival or similar event shall provide the department with a list of vendors selling at the event" [7]
  • Timing and content: "The report shall be filed at the time specified by the department and shall contain such information as the department may require." [7]

Food and other special cases

  • Admissions: charges to enter "a display, program, sporting event, music concert, performance, play, show, movie, exhibit, fair" are subject to 6% sales tax [11]
  • Nonprofit admissions exemption: "sales of admissions by resident 501(c)(3) charitable, educational and religious organizations" are exempt [11]
  • Food vendors: Not covered in the official sources reviewed.

Sources

  1. Sales & Use Tax — Kentucky Department of Revenue — https://revenue.ky.gov/Business/Sales-Use-Tax/Pages/default.aspx — 6% rate, no local sales tax, online filing mandate notice
  2. KRS 139.550, Required monthly return — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49180 — temporary sellers report on a nonpermit basis
  3. 103 KAR 25:060, Temporary vendors and transient merchants — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/103/025/060/ — Form 30A006, bond, due date
  4. Temporary Vendor Guide (MyTaxes user guide, last updated 04/15/2026) — Kentucky Department of Revenue — https://revenue.ky.gov/Documents/MyTaxes%20-%20How%20To%20Guide%20for%20Temp%20Vendors.pdf — online temporary vendor registration and reporting
  5. KRS 139.240, Application for retailer's or seller's permit — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=28866 — permit application requirement
  6. Transient Merchants — Kentucky Office of the Attorney General — https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Consumer-Resources/Consumers/business-scams/Pages/Transient-Merchants.aspx — county permit, $25 fee, handmade craft exemption
  7. KRS 139.730, Sales and use tax reports — Vendor list — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53101 — event coordinator vendor list
  8. Kentucky Tax Registration Application and Instructions (10A100, 4-25) — Kentucky Department of Revenue — https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/10A100(P)(4-25)_FINAL_locked%20Fill-in.pdf — file 30 days before starting
  9. KRS 139.250, Seller's permit — Issuance — Display — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=28867 — permit display
  10. KRS 139.540, Taxes are due monthly — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission — https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=28929 — monthly due date
  11. Do I Need to Register for a Sales and Use Tax Account — Kentucky Department of Revenue (TaxAnswers) — https://taxanswers.ky.gov/Sales-and-Excise-Taxes/Pages/Do-I-Need-to-Register-for-a-Sales-and-Use-Tax-Account.aspx — admissions taxability

What we could not confirm

  • Confidence: medium. The statute, regulation and the 2026 MyTaxes guide clearly set up nonpermit temporary vendor reporting and the coordinator vendor list. But the Department's timing and format for coordinator lists, and when a repeat craft vendor must switch to a regular permit, were not found.
  • Permit cost: no fee for the Sales and Use Tax permit was stated on the official pages reviewed.
  • KRS 139.550(4) covers persons "not regularly engaged in selling at retail". No numeric threshold (number of events) was found.
  • The transient merchant permit is issued by county clerks and summarized by the Attorney General (KRS 365.650–365.695). The statute text itself was not fetched.
  • A secondary search summary mentioned temporary permits "valid for not more than 30 days". This was not found on any official page reviewed, so it is not included.
  • The 6% rate page is undated (date checked 2026-09-14).
  • Treatment of prepared food at events was not reviewed.