Guide to Compliance with N.C.G.S. § 66-255

For Farmers Market Managers and Vendors

A North Carolina general statute requires all vendors at farmers markets to register with the North Carolina Department of Revenue, and for farmers market managers to record their vendors’ registration information each market day. The following lists detail the steps vendors and farmers market managers need to take in order to be in compliance with the new law.

Vendor Compliance Requirements

●A person who sells tangible personal property at a farmers market is considered a retailer under Gen. Stat. 105-164.4 and must obtain a certificate of registration from the Department of Revenue before the person may engage in business

●Farmers market vendors must keep their certificate of registration conspicuously and prominently displayed, so as to be visible for inspection by patrons of the market

●The requirement that a certificate of registration be displayed is satisfied if the vendor displays either of the following:

○A copy of the certificate

○Evidence that the certificate has been applied for and the applicable registration fee has been paid within 30 days before the date the certificate was required to be displayed

Obtaining a Certificate of Registration from the NC Department of Revenue

●Farmers market vendors, though exempt from sales and use tax, are still required to register to obtain a Certificate of Registration. Such person will be required to file a return reflecting $0.00 in tax due for the filing period.

○Your preprinted sales and use tax returns issued by the Department will indicate your filing frequency based on your response to the question on the Registration Application, Form NC-BR, regarding the amount of sales tax expected per month.

○If you answered that your tax liability is consistently less than $100 per month, you will likely be required to file a return quarterly

●There is no fee charged for a Certificate of Registration.

●To obtain a sales and use tax account number you must submit a completed Business Registration Application, Form NC-BR. The form can be submitted electronically for immediate issuance of an account number, or it can be mailed to: N. C. Department of Revenue, Post Office Box 25000, Raleigh, N. C. 27640.

●The Department will mail a Certificate of Registration that is required to be displayed at your place of business.

Farmers Market Compliance Requirements[1]

●Maintain a daily registration list of all vendors selling or offering goods for sale at the market.

○The registration list must clearly and legibly show each specialty market vendor's name, permanent address, and certificate of registration number.

●The market manager must require each vendor to exhibit a valid certificate of registration for visual inspection by the market manager at the time of registration, and must require each vendor to keep the certificate of registration conspicuously and prominently displayed

●Each daily registration list must be kept by the market manager for no less than two years, and must be made available upon request to any law enforcement officer

For more information visit

North Carolina Department of Revenue FAQ page

North Carolina General Statutes: Specialty Market Registration List

§ 66-255. Specialty market or operator of an event registration list.

A specialty market operator or operator of an event where space is provided to a vendor must maintain a daily registration list of all specialty market or other vendors selling or offering goods for sale at the specialty market or other event. The registration list must clearly and legibly show each vendor's name, permanent address, and certificate of registration number. The specialty market operator or other event operator must require each vendor to exhibit a valid certificate of registration for visual inspection by the specialty market operator or other event operator at the time of registration, and must require each vendor to keep the certificate of registration conspicuously and prominently displayed, so as to be visible for inspection by patrons of the vendor at the places or locations at which the goods are offered for sale. Each daily registration list maintained pursuant to this section must be retained by the specialty market operator or other event operator for no less than two years and must at any time be made available upon request to any law enforcement officer or the Secretary of Revenue or the Secretary's duly authorized agent. For purposes of the registration list, the exemptions in G.S. 66-256 do not apply. (1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 14, s. 24; 1998-121, s. 7; 2013-414, s. 31.

Full text of Article 32. Peddlers, Itinerant Merchants, and Specialty Markets.

306 West Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 236-1282

asapconnections.org

[1]It is a class 2 misdemeanor violation for market managers to fail to keep up the registration list. It is a class 3 misdemeanor violation for market managers to knowingly falsify information on the registration list.