New Jersey Vending Machine Permits and Licenses

Vending permits and licenses by state · New Jersey

New Jersey has no general state license for vending machines. Most operators need one thing from the state: a free Certificate of Authority to collect sales tax, and one registration number covers every machine. Grocery food is mostly tax-free, but food and drinks sold from a machine are taxed on 70% of the selling price. Food rules come from local health departments, and a machine that sells milk needs a state store license. Below is each requirement and the law it comes from.

New Jersey vending requirements at a glance

NoneGeneral state vending license

FreeCertificate of Authority

6.625%State sales tax

70%Of vending food and drink sales taxed

Required

Certificate of Authority

File Form NJ-REG at least 15 business days before you start. Free, and one number covers every machine.

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Recommended

Resale certificate

Buy inventory tax-free with Form ST-3. You pay the tax when it sells.

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Applies

Tax on vending food

Food and drinks are taxed on 70% of the selling price. Milk is exempt.

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Required

Statement on each machine

Post your name, place of business and NJ sales tax registration number on every machine.

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Depends

Health certificate

Local health departments set the rules. Selling milk adds a state store license.

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Not required

Trading card license

Pokémon cards need only the Certificate of Authority.

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Applies

Mystery products

Taxable merchandise on 100% of receipts at 6.625%, covered by your Certificate of Authority.

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Varies

Local permits

Towns can require a mercantile license or zoning approval.

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Last reviewed: October 28, 2026  ·  Sources: New Jersey Statutes, New Jersey Administrative Code, New Jersey Division of Taxation, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, New Jersey Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Business.NJ.gov, federal regulations (full list at the bottom)  ·  General information, not legal advice.

• Requirements and laws
• Do you need a license?
• Sales tax
• Food and drinks
• Cards, mystery and toys
• Federal rules
• Business setup
• FAQ
• Sources

New Jersey requirements and the laws behind them

Do you need a license to run a vending machine in New Jersey?

Not a general one. New Jersey regulates how you collect tax on what your machines sell and how you handle food, not the machines themselves. The state's Licensing and Certification Guide on Business.NJ.gov lists no general vending machine license. Its vending entries send you to the local health department for food machines and tell you to sign a location agreement with the site owner before you install.

If your machines sell anything taxable, like trading cards, toys, snacks or soda, the one state registration you need is a Certificate of Authority for sales tax. Narrower state rules cover milk machines, claw and crane machines, and machines on State property, each covered below. Towns can add their own mercantile license or zoning rules, so check with the town where each machine will sit before you install it.

Sales tax on vending sales in New Jersey

The Certificate of Authority

New Jersey's sales tax registration is called a Certificate of Authority, and you get it by filing Form NJ-REG, the Business Registration Application. The Division of Taxation's vending bulletin, Publication ANJ-16, says vending operators must register at least 15 business days before they start.

• Cost: free. The law says the Division issues it "without charge" (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-15).
• Coverage: "One Sales Tax Registration number is sufficient for all machines of one seller" (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.3).
• Statement on each machine: post this, or something close to it, in a conspicuous place on every machine: "This vending machine is operated by [name of seller], [place of business of seller], New Jersey Sales Tax Registration Number [number]" (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.4). The sales tax law also says the Certificate of Authority itself must be displayed or attached to the vending device, so ask the Division how it wants that handled across many machines.
• Where to apply: online through the NJ Business Gateway. Corporations and LLCs file their formation certificate first.
• Records: keep each machine's location and serial number, unit prices, purchases, gross receipts by machine or by product at each location, and exempt sales (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.5).

You collect the tax, so buy your inventory tax-free

The sales tax on vending sales is yours to report and pay, so you should not also pay sales tax when you buy the inventory. New Jersey's vending rule lets you buy the products, food and drinks you sell through machines tax-free if you give the supplier "a Resale Certificate (Form ST-3) or other approved form" (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.8).

• Form ST-3, Resale Certificate: enter your New Jersey taxpayer identification number, your type of business, what you sell and what you are buying, check "Resale in its present form," then sign it and give it to the supplier. Do not mail it to the Division. You must hold a valid Certificate of Authority to use it. Download Form ST-3 (PDF).
• Blanket certificates: allowed. Check the Blanket Certificate box, and one form covers repeat purchases of the same general type from a supplier, as long as no more than 12 months pass between purchases.
• Other accepted forms: in most cases you can give the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form ST-SST) instead of ST-3. Resale is reason G. The Division's forms page also links the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform certificate, but its exemption bulletin names that form only for out-of-state retailers using drop shipments, so ST-3 or ST-SST is the safer choice.

The certificate covers products you resell, not the machines you sell them from. If you take inventory you bought tax-free for your own use, or give it away, you owe use tax on what you paid for it (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-6; Publication ANJ-7). Every certificate is on the Division's Sales and Use Tax Forms and Certificates page, and Tax Topic Bulletin S&U-6 explains how to use them.

Sales tax rates

New Jersey charges one statewide rate of 6.625% (Division of Taxation), with no general county or city sales tax. The local taxes in the Division's Sales Tax Guide (S&U-4) are narrow. Atlantic City's luxury tax covers things like hotel rooms, drinks and admissions, and its chart in Publication ANJ-17 does not list merchandise or vending. The 2% tourism tax in Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest does not include vending machine sales (Cape May County Tourism Sales Tax).

Certified Urban Enterprise Zone businesses and sellers in Salem County can charge half the rate, 3.3125%, on qualifying sales made in person at their own place of business in the zone or county (S&U-4; N.J.S.A. 52:27H-80). A machine you place in someone else's business may not meet that test, so ask the Division before you charge the half rate.

What is taxable in a New Jersey vending machine

New Jersey exempts most grocery food, but not food sold from a machine. The law taxes "food and beverages sold through vending machines, at the wholesale price of such sale, which shall be defined as 70% of the retail vending machine selling price, except sales of milk" (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3(c)(2)).

• Food and drinks: tax on 70% of receipts. The rule does not set candy or soda apart. Report total receipts, deduct milk and 30% of other food and drink sales, and multiply the rest by 6.625%. In ANJ-16's example, $9,000 in sales, $1,000 of it milk, leaves $5,600 taxable and $371 in tax.
• Exempt food and drink sales: milk from any machine, and food and drinks from machines inside a school cafeteria or a college eating facility. Sales from machines in student lounges, dorms, gyms and libraries are taxed (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.7).
• Merchandise: trading cards, sealed Pokémon product, mystery items and toys are taxed on 100% of receipts. Clothing and footwear stay exempt.
• Items at 25 cents or less: exempt if you are primarily engaged in making those sales and keep records the Division accepts (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.9).
• Commissions: you owe tax on total receipts, with no deduction for the commission you pay the location (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.9(a)).

Food and drinks: health rules and the milk license in New Jersey

New Jersey's food code, N.J.A.C. 8:24, kept by the Department of Health, counts a vending location as a retail food establishment. That is the room or area where the machines sit, plus storage and service areas (N.J.A.C. 8:24-1.5). The code does not carve out snack-only machines. Its vending rule names machines "designed to vend prepackaged snack food that is not potentially hazardous such as chips, party mixes, and pretzels" (N.J.A.C. 8:24-4.12(c)).

Your local health department handles certificates for most locations. The state licensing guide tells operators to check with it "for every county where you plan to have a vending machine," and adds that not all locations have requirements, while fresh food, such as a salad, is more likely to. Fees and applications are local, so find yours in the local health department directory.

• Snack machines outdoors or unattended: need a self-closing door or cover on the dispensing compartment (N.J.A.C. 8:24-4.12(c)).
• Outdoor food machines: need overhead protection, except machines that vend canned drinks (N.J.A.C. 8:24-4.12(l)).
• Refrigerated or hot food: the machine needs an automatic control that stops sales if it cannot hold safe temperatures (N.J.A.C. 8:24-4.12(e)).

Milk needs a state store license

New Jersey's Milk Control Act counts a "milk vending machine" as a store, and a store cannot sell milk without a license (N.J.S.A. 4:12A-1 and 4:12A-28). Milk includes flavored milk, milk drinks and yogurt. The Department of Agriculture's Division of Marketing and Development licenses all outlets that sell milk. The statute sets a yearly fee of $12 to $48 based on volume, with $12 for a new location's first year (N.J.S.A. 4:12A-36). Confirm the current fee before you apply.

Schools

Before the end of the school day, New Jersey schools may not sell candy, foods of minimal nutritional value, or items with sugar as the first ingredient, and vending snacks and drinks must meet state fat and portion limits (N.J.S.A. 18A:33-16). The federal Smart Snacks rules below apply too.

New Jersey rules for trading cards, mystery products and toys

Pokémon and other trading cards

New Jersey has no special license for selling trading cards. They are taxable merchandise, so the Certificate of Authority covers you. The legal questions with card machines are about intellectual property, not state permits: stock authentic product, and keep Pokémon characters and logos off the machine itself. Our guide to the legal side of trading card vending machines covers both, and the Pokémon vending machine guide covers the business.

Mystery products and toys

Blind boxes, mystery bags and capsule toys are merchandise, like toys. They are taxed on 100% of receipts at the 6.625% state rate, and your Certificate of Authority covers them. See our mystery vending machines.

Claw and crane machines

New Jersey licenses crane machines as amusement games. The state's rules name the crane machine among the arcade games certified for licensing (N.J.A.C. 13:3-7.9). Under the Amusement Games Licensing Law, towns whose voters approved the law issue the local license, for a recognized amusement park, the amusement area of a seashore or other resort, or a few other places the law names (N.J.S.A. 5:8-101 and 5:8-115). The operator also needs a state license through the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, $250 a year for each place and each kind of game (N.J.S.A. 5:8-102).

Federal rules that apply in New Jersey and every other state

ADA reach ranges

Where vending machines are provided, at least one of each type has to meet the operable parts rules in the 2010 ADA Standards (sections 228.1 and 309). The parts a customer operates, like the screen, card reader and pickup door, have to sit within reach: between 15 and 48 inches above the floor for an unobstructed reach (section 308).

Calorie labeling for food

If you own or operate 20 or more vending machines that sell food, federal rules require calorie information for any item whose Nutrition Facts label the buyer cannot see before buying (21 CFR 101.8). In glass-front machines, packages that show calories on the front in large enough type can meet the rule.

Schools

Machines that sell food to students during the school day may stock only items that meet the USDA's Smart Snacks nutrition standards. The school day runs from midnight until 30 minutes after the official school day ends (7 CFR 210.11).

Setting up the business in New Jersey

• Entity: form an LLC with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. A Certificate of Formation costs $100 and the annual report is $75 (registry fee schedule). File the certificate first, then Form NJ-REG.
• Income tax filings: a sole proprietor or single-member LLC reports profit on the owner's NJ-1040 (Starting a Business in New Jersey). A partnership or LLC with more than two owners and New Jersey income pays a $150 filing fee per owner on Form NJ-1065 (TB-55).
• Public buildings: if you plan to contract with a New Jersey public agency, such as a town or school board, you must be registered, and once NJ-REG is filed you can get the Business Registration Certificate used for public contracts. The State's vending machine program for State properties is run by the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (N.J.S.A. 30:6-15.3).
• The Wildwoods: towns using the Tourism Improvement and Development District Act can charge a tourism development fee to anyone operating coin-operated vending machines in the district, whatever they sell (N.J.S.A. 40:54D-15). Ask the town clerk in Wildwood, North Wildwood or Wildwood Crest.
• Local rules: some towns require businesses with a physical location to get a mercantile license, each with its own process, and zoning approval may apply. Check with the municipal clerk where each machine sits.

New Jersey vending permit and license FAQ

Do I need a license to put a vending machine in New Jersey?

New Jersey has no general vending machine license. If you sell taxable items, you need a free Certificate of Authority from the Division of Taxation that covers all your machines. Add a local health certificate where required, and a Department of Agriculture store license if a machine sells milk.

Do I need a health permit for a snack vending machine in New Jersey?

It depends on the town. The state food code covers snack-only machines, but the local health department decides what certificate it requires. The state licensing guide says fresh food, such as salads, is more likely to need one.

Is vending machine food taxed in New Jersey?

Yes. Food and drinks sold through vending machines are taxed on 70% of the selling price (N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3(c)(2)). Milk is exempt, and so are sales from machines inside school cafeterias and college eating facilities.

Do I need a license to sell Pokémon cards from a vending machine in New Jersey?

No special license. Trading cards are taxable merchandise, taxed on 100% of receipts, so the Certificate of Authority covers you. Stock authentic product and keep Pokémon characters and logos off the machine itself.

How much does a New Jersey Certificate of Authority cost?

Nothing. The Division of Taxation issues it without charge after you file Form NJ-REG, which you should do at least 15 business days before you start. One registration number covers all your machines.

Do I pay sales tax on inventory I buy for my vending machines in New Jersey?

Not if you buy it to resell. Give your supplier Form ST-3, the New Jersey Resale Certificate, or the Streamlined certificate, Form ST-SST. You then pay sales tax when the items sell from your machines. Inventory you take for your own use or give away is subject to use tax on what you paid for it.

What do I have to post on a vending machine in New Jersey?

Every machine needs a statement in a conspicuous place with your name, your place of business and your New Jersey sales tax registration number (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16.4).

Sources

1. New Jersey Statutes (N.J.S.A.), NJ Legislature: Title 54 sales and use tax, 4:12A milk control, 5:8 amusement games and others cited above
2. New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C. 18:24-16, 8:24, 13:3-7.9), Office of Administrative Law public access
3. NJ Division of Taxation, Publication ANJ-16, Vending Machines & New Jersey Sales Tax
4. NJ Division of Taxation, Sales and Use Tax: rate
5. NJ Division of Taxation, Tax Topic Bulletin S&U-4, New Jersey Sales Tax Guide
6. NJ Division of Taxation, Tax Topic Bulletin S&U-6, Sales Tax Exemption Administration
7. NJ Division of Taxation, Sales and Use Tax Forms and Certificates
8. NJ Division of Taxation, Form ST-3, Resale Certificate
9. NJ Division of Taxation, Form ST-SST, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption
10. NJ Division of Taxation, Publication ANJ-7, Use Tax in New Jersey
11. NJ Division of Taxation, Publication ANJ-17, Atlantic City Luxury Tax and Cape May County Tourism Sales Tax
12. NJ Division of Taxation, Urban Enterprise Zone
13. NJ Division of Taxation, Starting a Business in New Jersey
14. NJ Division of Taxation, TB-55, Partnership Filing Fee and Nonresident Partner Tax
15. NJ Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Getting Registered and Form NJ-REG online
16. NJ Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Registry Fee Schedules
17. Business.NJ.gov, Licensing and Certification Guide
18. NJ Department of Health, Retail Food (N.J.A.C. 8:24) and local health department directory
19. NJ Department of Agriculture, Dairy Program
20. NJ Division of Consumer Affairs, state licensing for amusement games
21. 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and U.S. Access Board guide to operable parts
22. 21 CFR 101.8, calorie labeling of food in vending machines
23. 7 CFR 210.11, competitive food standards (Smart Snacks)