Get your tax IDs in Kansas

An EIN, if you need one, takes minutes online. Kansas then adds a sales tax account if you sell taxable goods or services, withholding if federal withholding applies, and an unemployment account once you pay an employee. Income tax follows the kind of business you formed.

What’s different in Kansas

• State sales tax is 6.5%¹, and the state rate on groceries is 0%³. Local sales and use taxes still apply to food². Prepared food is a different rate.
• A remote seller starts collecting on the sale after the $100,000¹ threshold, not on the sale that crosses it.
• A C corporation files a month after the federal return, and pays earlier. Kansas law sets both dates. Details are below.
• Unemployment registration starts within 15 days of the first paycheck. A new employer’s rate is 1.75%. Construction is 5.55%¹⁴.

Do this

1. Get an EIN from the IRS if you need one. It is free and, if approved, issued immediately¹⁵ online. A sole proprietor with no employees can often use a Social Security number for federal tax. Kansas withholding and unemployment accounts ask for an employer identification number once you have employees. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
2. Register in the KDOR Customer Service Center for the taxes that apply. Sales tax registration is for anyone who sells goods, admissions, or taxable services in Kansas. The publication says you sign in at ksrevenue.gov. In person, it is same-day if an owner or officer brings the application to an assistance center. By mail or fax, apply 3 to 4 weeks before the first sale if you mail or fax it. There is no fee for a sales tax or use tax number, though the Department of Revenue may require a bond to guarantee the tax you collect¹.
3. If you sell taxable goods or services in Kansas, look up the place of the sale. The state piece is 6.5%. The Department of Revenue collects city and county sales tax with the state tax. The combined rate is the rate where the customer takes delivery, or first uses a taxable service¹. Food is a separate state rate, below.
4. File sales tax on the schedule the department assigns. The first year follows the tax you estimated on the application. Annual filing applies when the year’s tax is not over $1,000, due January 25 of the following year. Quarterly filing applies up to $5,000, due the 25th of the month after the quarter¹⁶. Above that, filing is monthly when the year's tax is over $5,000¹. A seasonal business files monthly during the months it operates.
5. If you sell into Kansas from outside the state, read the remote-seller rule before you collect anything. Collection starts after Kansas sales pass $100,000, on the next transaction after the threshold is crossed, not on the sale that crosses it¹. The publication’s example says a first sale of more than that amount is not itself the taxable sale. The next one is. Marketplace facilitators have a separate section in the same publication.
6. Register for withholding when federal withholding applies. Kansas withholding is required when federal income tax withholding is required. A sole proprietor or a partner does not withhold Kansas tax on their own pay¹². Those owners pay through estimated tax instead. The hiring guide covers the federal side. The frequency bands are below.
7. Open the unemployment account when you pay an employee. File form K-CNS 010 within 15¹⁴ days of that first paycheck. The employer services page says to register in the Employer Self Service Portal. Use the portal. The tests and the rates are below. New hires are reported within 20¹³ days.

Rates and income tax

State sales tax is 6.5%¹, from the sales tax publication. The state rate on food and food ingredients is 0% starting January 1, 2025, from the statute. Local sales and use taxes still apply to food. Prepared food stays at the full 6.5 percent state rate², unless it is sold without the seller's eating utensils and is one of the cases the statute lists³. Read the list in the statute before you charge the grocery rate on a hot meal or a bakery case. Publication KS-1223 still describes the cut as phases to come. Go by the statute for the state rate, and use the Department of Revenue rate tools for the local rate at the place of delivery.

Individual income tax, for tax year 2024 and the years after it, unless a later notice changes it: a joint return pays 5.2% on taxable income up to $46,000, then 5.58%. Every other individual pays 5.2% up to $23,000, then 5.58%⁴. Other returns, including a person’s return, are due the same date as the federal return. Form K-40 is on the April 15 list¹⁰ for a calendar-year filer. Notice 26-11 says there is no income tax rate reduction for tax year 2027⁵.

A C corporation pays 4% plus a surtax of 3% on Kansas taxable income over $50,000⁴. It files Form K-120. Under the filing statute, the return is due no later than one month after the federal due date, including any federal extension⁶. Under the payment statute, the tax is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends⁷. For a calendar-year 2025 return, the 2025 booklet put the payment at April 15, 2026⁸. The April 15 list in the tax calendar includes Form K-120 and Form K-120S¹⁰. For a calendar-year C corporation, that is the payment date, not the last day to file.

An S corporation files Form K-120S⁸. The 2025 K-120S booklet says a calendar-year return is filed no later than one month after the federal due date, and that payment of any liability was due April 15, 2026⁹.

A partnership or S corporation may elect to pay Kansas income tax at the entity level. The entity elects each year, by checking the election box on that year's Form K-120S. The tax is the highest individual rate for that tax year. The questions page prints 5.58% for tax year 2024, which is the statute’s top individual rate. A single-member LLC can make the election only if the single-member LLC has elected to be an S corporation for federal tax¹¹. Whether the election helps depends on your numbers. Ask a CPA. This page does not pick it for you.

Estimated tax for a calendar-year taxpayer, other than a farmer or a fisher, is due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15¹⁰.

Unemployment and new hires

The handbook says to file the status report within 15 days of the first paycheck. The department then decides whether you are liable. For a business that is not agricultural, domestic, or a qualifying nonprofit, liability starts at $1,500 of gross payroll in a quarter, or when you have an employee in 20 different weeks in a year, or if you elect coverage at registration. Agricultural work uses a different test: 10 or more workers in 20 different weeks, or $20,000 of cash wages in a quarter. Domestic work uses another: $1,000 or more of cash wages in a quarter for domestic work in a private home, college club, fraternity, or sorority. A 501(c)(3) is liable after four or more workers in each of 20 different weeks¹⁴.

A new employer pays 1.75%, except construction, which pays 5.55%. The wage base on the 2026 rate table is $15,100¹³. The handbook says the rates change every year and points to the Department of Labor page for the current table. An experience rate starts after three years if liability started before July 1, or after four years if it started after June 30. Reports are due the last day of the month after the quarter, even if no wages were paid¹⁴.

New hires, rehires, and people returning from an extended layoff are reported within 20¹³ days. The new hire reporting page answers who has to be reported.

Withholding frequencies

Kansas assigns the frequency from your estimated annual withholding. Up to $200, the return is annual. From there to $1,200, it is quarterly. From there to $8,000, it is monthly. From there to $100,000, it is semi-monthly. Above that, it is within three banking days of the 7th, 15th, 21st, and the last day of the month, when annual withholding is over $100,000¹². The certificate shows the frequency you were assigned. The director can require a faster schedule. Do not file on a different rhythm than the one on the certificate.

What you get back

An EIN from the IRS if you applied, a Department of Revenue account for each tax you registered, and an unemployment account if you filed the status report. Sales tax stays on the schedule the department assigned. Write that frequency down. The information report to the Secretary of State is a separate filing.