Updated October 23, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 chart does not list a code called online seller or nonstore retailer. For nonstore retailers the instructions point to the code for the primary product the establishment sells, and the IRS’s own example is 456110. The code goes on line B, and a neighboring product code may describe your sales better depending on which product line brings in the most receipts.
What the chart lists for a seller who works online
A shop that sells over the internet looks for a code that says so, and the chart does not have one. Its retail trade rows are named for the product sold. A spread of them is below, in the chart’s own wording.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 449210 | Electronics & appliance retailers (including computers) |
| 455000 | General merchandise retailers |
| 456120 | Cosmetics, beauty supplies, & perfume retailers |
| 458110 | Clothing & clothing accessories retailers |
| 459110 | Sporting goods retailers |
| 459990 | All other miscellaneous retailers (including tobacco, candle, & trophy retailers) |
The chart’s rows are named for what is sold, not for how the sale is made. Because the chart holds no row for nonstore retailers, the instructions give a separate rule for them, covered below.
How Schedule C asks for the business
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
An example of the kind of description, not IRS wording: a short phrase on line A that names the main product you sell and says you sell it through a website or marketplace. That line A phrase describes the work in plain words, while line B carries only the code.
The nonstore retailer rule and the IRS example
The instructions address this situation directly on the line B text: “For nonstore retailers, select the PBA code by the primary product that your establishment sells.” The chart’s note on nonstore retailers says the same thing from the other side: “Retailers should select the PBA associated with their primary line of products sold.” The example the IRS gives is a drug seller: “For example, establishments primarily selling prescription and nonprescription drugs select PBA code 456110”. That example uses the chart row “Pharmacies & drug retailers”.
Read together, the quoted sentences make the product the thing that matters. The method of selling does not change which row you look at.
Picking by primary product line when you sell several things
Many online shops carry more than one kind of item. The chart’s two-step rule is about the activity that produces your receipts, so the question is which product line brings in the most. A store selling mostly beauty items would read the row “Cosmetics, beauty supplies, & perfume retailers”, while one selling mostly clothing would read “Clothing & clothing accessories retailers”. A store with a wide mix may find “General merchandise retailers” closer, and a store whose goods fit no named product row may look at “All other miscellaneous retailers (including tobacco, candle, & trophy retailers)”.
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
If you run a second, separate business, the instructions add: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Where to go next
The code sits on line B next to the line A description on Schedule C (Form 1040). The sales you report there start on Schedule C line 1, gross receipts or sales, and the sections after it cover returns, cost of goods sold and gross profit. Payment platforms that report your sales are covered on the Form 1099-K threshold page.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-23 (byte-identical to the archived copies). They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Looking for a row named online store or internet retailer. The chart has no such row; the instructions send nonstore retailers to the product rows.
- Choosing by how you sell instead of what you sell. The instructions say “For nonstore retailers, select the PBA code by the primary product that your establishment sells.” and the sales channel is not part of that sentence.
- Treating the IRS example as a code for every nonstore seller. “select PBA code 456110” is the example for a seller of drugs, not for other products.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C line 1, gross receipts or sales, returns, cost of goods sold and gross profit, and the Form 1099-K threshold page.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 23, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.