Selling and Breeding Dogs in Mississippi: Sales Tax, Business Registration, USDA Rules and Local Permits

If you are worried about selling a puppy before some permit is in place, that caution is healthy. The fix is to stop looking for one license that covers everything and instead check each level on its own, because each one has a different office behind it.

The state level is mostly tax and registration: the Mississippi Department of Revenue handles the sales tax permit, and the Secretary of State handles LLCs and other entities. The federal level is USDA APHIS, which licenses covered breeders and dealers under the Animal Welfare Act, plus the IRS for your EIN and income.

The local level is your city or county. The Mississippi One Stop Business Guide says cities and counties may require business or tax permits, occupational permits, zoning permits and other local approvals. Kennel, home-business and dog-number questions usually get answered there.

I'm Cal Hewitt. I build websites and do marketing for dog businesses, and I'm not a lawyer, accountant, veterinarian or trainer. What follows is information to help you ask the right office the right question, not legal or tax advice.

It depends on what kind of sale it is, and DOR has two statements you should read side by side. The DOR Business Tax FAQ says: "The sale of domestic animals is subject to tax when sold by persons regularly engaged in the business of selling domestic animals and other related products, as example, pet stores."

The same FAQ also says: "Sales of animals or poultry for breeding or feeding purposes, as part of a business enterprise, are not subject to tax."

So, a puppy sold as a family pet by someone who regularly sells dogs looks like the first case, and a dog sold as breeding stock to another breeding business may fit the second. The label you put on a sale does not settle it by itself; the facts of the sale do. DOR also says its FAQ is general information and not a rule, regulation, declaratory opinion or letter ruling, so treat it as a starting point and ask DOR about your own sales.

An older DOR notice points the same way for pets. DOR Notice 72-11-001, dated May 19, 2011, says people engaged in selling tangible personal property generally collect the 7% sales tax, and that dogs and cats kept as pets are not included in the livestock exemption. Read it together with the current FAQ, especially if you describe some sales as breeding stock.

The general rate in the DOR FAQ is 7%. Before you price puppies, list which sales are pet sales and which are breeding-stock sales, and ask DOR in writing how each is treated.

Three registrations come up for most breeders, and they are handled by three different offices.

The Secretary of State. The One Stop Business Guide says most new businesses are required to register with the Secretary of State. If you choose an LLC, the Secretary of State fee schedule lists a $50 Certificate of Formation, a $25 name reservation if you want to hold a name first, and no fee for the domestic LLC annual report. A foreign LLC, meaning one formed in another state, pays $250 to register. The Secretary of State Business FAQs note that these fees are set by statute. A sole proprietorship may not need to form an entity, but local, tax and permit requirements still apply.

The DOR sales tax permit. DOR says a business selling tangible personal property gets its sales tax permit through TAP, the state's online tax portal, when one is required. There is no fee, and a business subject to collecting sales tax must have the permit before beginning or operating that business. If any of your sales are taxable, the permit comes first and the sale comes second.

The IRS EIN. The IRS says LLCs, partnerships, corporations and businesses with employees generally need an EIN, while some sole proprietors may not need one for federal tax purposes. An EIN is free directly from the IRS. The IRS also says in Publication 583 that owners must keep records showing income and expenses, and its Schedule C instructions list breeding of cats and dogs as a business activity under animal production.

USDA APHIS says pet breeders must be licensed for covered sales unless an exemption applies. In its licensing and registration guidance, covered activity includes:

• breeding pets for covered sales;
• wholesale sales of dogs as breeding stock to other breeders;
• selling dogs or cats sight unseen to retail buyers;
• supplying animals to pet stores, brokers or research facilities.

If you sell through a website or social media to buyers who never see the puppy in person, that sight-unseen point is the one to check.

USDA also describes a small-scale exemption for premises or households that keep no more than four breeding females. That number comes from the Animal Welfare Act regulations, and it is subject to the exact federal definitions and other conditions. It is a federal threshold for USDA licensing. It is not a Mississippi rule about how many dogs you may keep or breed; your city or county may have its own limit, and that is a separate question.

If you are covered, USDA's application material says you must obtain an Animal Welfare Act license before engaging in the regulated activity, and licensed facilities are inspected. Ask USDA APHIS directly how your mix of sales fits.

Put the question "Does a breeder license, inspection or dog limit apply to me?" in writing, and keep the replies. Describe your operation: how many breeding females, where you live, how you sell and whether buyers visit.

• Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, including the Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau: ask whether any breeder, kennel, animal-dealer or research-transfer license, inspection or numerical limit applies to your specific operation.
• Mississippi Board of Animal Health: ask about animal-health, disease-control or movement requirements within its jurisdiction.
• Mississippi Department of Revenue: ask about your permit and how each type of sale is classified.
• Your city or county planning and zoning office: ask about home occupation, kennel classification, land use, setbacks, structures and dog-number limits.
• Animal control: ask about local animal permits, licensing, nuisance rules and enforcement.
• USDA APHIS: ask about federal licensing.

If you need help in Spanish, ask each office for language assistance or an interpreter.

Local rules change by city and county. The DOR general FAQ sends local permit questions to municipal clerks, county tax collectors and zoning offices.

Jackson. Jackson's zoning ordinance, amended through December 2024, defines a kennel as an establishment housing dogs, cats or other household pets where grooming, breeding, boarding, training or selling animals is conducted as a business. Get the current text of the City of Jackson zoning ordinance from the city's Planning and Development office before you rely on it. If you breed and sell at home in Jackson, ask the city's zoning office whether your district allows it, whether you need home-occupation approval and which kennel standards apply.

Jackson County. First confirm whether your property is inside a city or in unincorporated county land, then ask county planning and zoning and county animal control which rules apply.

Gulfport. Ask the City of Gulfport zoning office, city clerk and animal control. Outside city limits, ask the county offices instead.

Wherever you live, ask the city clerk, county tax collector, planning and zoning and animal control:

1. Is breeding or selling dogs a permitted use at this address?
2. Is the use classified as a kennel, home occupation, pet business or agricultural use?
3. Is a local business license or privilege tax required?
4. Is a kennel or animal-control permit required?
5. Is there a dog-number limit?
6. Are inspections, setbacks, enclosures, sanitation or noise standards required?
7. Does the answer change if customers visit, puppies are sold online or employees work on site?

Mississippi Code 69-29-2 does not govern ordinary puppy sales to families. It applies when a person, firm, association or corporation sells or transfers dogs or cats for research.

You need a license from the Director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau. The license cannot be transferred, it is renewed every year, and a new one is needed if the business location or ownership changes. Before the license is issued, you file a $5,000 bond payable to the State of Mississippi, with surety approved by the Secretary of State. The bond stays in force, and you show proof of it at each annual renewal.

For every dog or cat covered, you record the name, address and telephone number of the person or business you received the animal from and the one you delivered it to, a complete description, and a photograph of each side of the animal. The Director may require more information.

The penalties are serious. A first violation can bring a fine of $500 to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. A second or later violation can bring at least one year in the penitentiary, a fine of at least $1,000, or both, and a license can be revoked for at least one year after a conviction. If a research facility or its supplier asks to buy dogs from you, talk to the Theft Bureau first.

Work through these steps before the next litter is listed.

1. Write down what kind of sales you make: pet sales, breeding-stock sales, wholesale sales, sight-unseen retail sales or research transfers.
2. Confirm your exact city and county, and whether you are inside city limits.
3. Ask the city clerk or county revenue office about business licenses or privilege taxes.
4. Ask planning and zoning about home occupation and kennel classification.
5. Ask animal control about permits, limits and inspections.
6. Ask DOR whether your sales need a sales tax permit and collection, and register through TAP before any taxable sale.
7. Check Secretary of State registration if you are forming an LLC or other entity.
8. Get an EIN if your structure requires it or it is useful to you.
9. Check USDA APHIS licensing against how you actually sell.
10. Set up records for sales, deposits, expenses, each animal's identity and taxes.
11. Keep every written answer from every office in one folder.

These are the figures to plan around, as of September 30, 2026:

Short answers on licenses, sales tax, USDA rules and EINs.

No single state permit covers breeding and selling as a whole. The licenses that can apply come from different places: a DOR sales tax permit for taxable sales, a USDA license for covered activity, a Theft Bureau license for research transfers, and city or county permits for your address. Ask the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce in writing whether a breeder, kennel or animal-dealer license applies to your operation.

If you regularly sell dogs as pets, DOR treats those sales as taxable, and you need the free permit before the first taxable sale. Sales of animals for breeding or feeding as part of a business enterprise are not subject to tax under DOR's FAQ. Because DOR calls that FAQ general information rather than a ruling, ask DOR to confirm how your own sales are classified.

USDA APHIS licensing can apply when you breed for covered sales, sell breeding stock wholesale to other breeders, sell sight unseen to retail buyers, or supply pet stores, brokers or research facilities. Covered businesses need the license before they start that activity, and licensed facilities are inspected. Small-scale breeders with no more than four breeding females may be exempt, subject to federal conditions.

LLCs, partnerships, corporations and businesses with employees generally need one, while some sole proprietors may not for federal tax purposes. The EIN is free from the IRS.

Send your first written question today. The local zoning office is a good place to start, because its answer decides whether a home kennel works at your address at all. Then check DOR and USDA against the way you actually sell, and keep every answer with your sales and animal records.

• agnet.mdac.ms.gov: Mississippi Code 69-29-2
• aphis.usda.gov: Animal Welfare Act regulations
• aphis.usda.gov: application material
• aphis.usda.gov: USDA APHIS
• dor.ms.gov: DOR Notice 72-11-001
• dor.ms.gov: Mississippi Department of Revenue Business Tax FAQ
• dor.ms.gov: Mississippi Department of Revenue
• irs.gov: IRS
• irs.gov: Publication 583
• irs.gov: Schedule C instructions
• jacksonms.gov: City of Jackson zoning ordinance
• ms.gov: Mississippi One Stop Business Guide
• sos.ms.gov: Secretary of State Business FAQs
• sos.ms.gov: Secretary of State fee schedule