To apply for EBT at your business, submit the free online SNAP Retailer Application (Form FNS-252) to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service through its retailer portal. The form itself takes about 15 minutes, and FNS is required to approve or deny a completed application within 45 days. Once authorized, you receive a seven-digit FNS number and a SNAP permit, and only then can you accept EBT payments.
Before you open the application, work through the eligibility test, gather your paperwork, and understand what FNS will check after you hit submit.
Does Your Store Qualify
FNS uses two alternative tests. You only need to pass one.
Criterion A is inventory-based. Your store stocks at least 36 staple food items across four categories: fruits or vegetables; dairy; meat, poultry, or fish; and breads or cereals. Each category needs at least three different varieties, and each variety needs at least three stocking units on the shelf. At least two of the four categories must include a perishable item.
Criterion B is sales-based. More than half of your gross retail sales come from staple foods, meaning items people typically cook and eat at home as a meal. Hot prepared foods, candy, soft drinks, and other accessory items don’t count toward that 50%. Butchers, bakeries, and seafood markets often qualify this way even without 36 separate items on the shelf.1Food and Nutrition Service. Store Eligibility Requirements
A convenience store that stocks real produce, milk, eggs, and meat can pass Criterion A. One built mostly around chips, soda, and tobacco generally cannot pass either test.
What to Gather Before You Start
Missing paperwork is the most common reason applications stall, and FNS can deny an incomplete submission outright. Have all of this ready before you begin:
- Business legal name, mailing address, physical street address, and Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Full legal name, home address, Social Security Number, and date of birth for every owner, partner, or corporate officer
- Your most recent IRS business tax return if the store has been open at least a year, or a written sales estimate if it’s newer
- A copy of your current business license (health permit, sales tax permit, or similar)
- A government-issued photo ID and SSN verification for each owner
- Recent supplier invoices or receipts showing consistent stock of staple foods
FNS also requires you to sign a release authorizing the agency to verify your business tax filings with other agencies. Refusing to sign results in automatic denial.2eCFR. 7 CFR 278.1 – Approval of Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns
Submitting the Application
The whole process runs online through the USDA FNS portal. Create an account, then open the SNAP Retailer Application (Form FNS-252). There is no application fee.
Once you start the application, you have 30 days to finish and submit it. If you miss that window, FNS deletes the draft and you have to start over. After the form itself, the portal walks you through uploading supporting documents; the upload instructions appear at the end.3Food and Nutrition Service. How Do I Apply to Accept SNAP Benefits
What Happens After You Submit
FNS is required by regulation to approve or deny within 45 days of receiving a complete application. The clock only starts once your paperwork and any third-party verification the agency requests are in hand. Anything missing pauses it.2eCFR. 7 CFR 278.1 – Approval of Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns
During those 45 days, FNS may ask for additional documentation or send an authorized inspector to your store. The visit is a check that your shelves actually carry the staple food inventory you described. Organized supplier invoices and a well-stocked floor make this straightforward.
If approved, you receive a SNAP permit listing your store name, location, owner names, and a unique seven-digit FNS number. You’ll use that FNS number to order and program your EBT-capable equipment. You cannot accept any SNAP benefits until the permit is issued under your ownership.3Food and Nutrition Service. How Do I Apply to Accept SNAP Benefits
If Your Application Is Denied
A denial isn’t the end. You can request an administrative review through the USDA’s Administrative Review Division. If that review upholds the denial, 7 U.S.C. ยง 2023 allows you to file a judicial appeal in federal district court within 30 days of the final administrative determination. The deadlines are tight, so act quickly after a denial letter arrives.
Setting Up EBT Equipment
Most retailers are responsible for buying or leasing their own EBT-capable point-of-sale terminal. Several third-party vendors sell or lease compatible terminals, and your state’s EBT processor can point you to approved options. You’ll use your FNS number to have the terminal programmed for SNAP transactions.
Some businesses qualify for free equipment and services instead: farmers’ markets, direct-marketing farmers, military commissaries, non-profit food buying cooperatives, group living arrangements, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and certain prepared meal services.3Food and Nutrition Service. How Do I Apply to Accept SNAP Benefits States distribute those free terminals through their own EBT equipment programs, funded through provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill.4Food and Nutrition Service. State EBT Equipment Program
Once the terminal is installed, train every employee who will handle EBT transactions. FNS expects training to be completed within 30 days of authorization or a new hire’s start date, and the training must be documented. Staff need to know which items are SNAP-eligible, how to process a transaction, and what to do when a card is declined.
Rules Your Staff Have to Follow
Compliance starts on day one, and this is where new retailers most often stumble. SNAP benefits cover food for home consumption: fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, bread, cereals, snack foods, non-alcoholic beverages, and seeds and plants that produce food for the household.
SNAP benefits cannot be used for:
- Beer, wine, liquor, or any alcoholic beverages
- Cigarettes, tobacco, or vaping products
- Anything containing controlled substances, including cannabis and CBD products
- Vitamins, medicines, or supplements (anything labeled with “Supplement Facts”)
- Live animals, except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered before pickup
- Hot foods at the point of sale
- Any non-food items: pet food, cleaning supplies, paper products, hygiene items, cosmetics
The hot-food rule catches some owners off guard. If you sell rotisserie chickens or run a deli, those items must ring up separately from the SNAP transaction. Configure your POS to flag ineligible items automatically.
Violations carry heavy consequences. A first sanction disqualifies a store from SNAP for six months to five years, a second sanction runs 12 months to 10 years, and trafficking (exchanging benefits for cash or ineligible items) triggers permanent disqualification with no path back.6eCFR. 7 CFR 278.6 – Disqualification of Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns Trafficking can also bring federal criminal charges on top of the loss of authorization.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2024 – Violations and Penalties
Adding Online SNAP Sales Later
Authorization to accept EBT in the store doesn’t automatically cover online orders. SNAP online purchasing is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, but if you want to add it, you must meet the same stocking requirements, send a letter of intent to the FNS SNAP Online Purchasing mailbox, and partner with an approved eCommerce platform provider. All platform costs and disputes fall on you as the retailer; FNS doesn’t endorse or backstop any provider.8Food and Nutrition Service. Stores Accepting SNAP Online9Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP EBT eCommerce Platform Providers List
Keeping Your Authorization Current
SNAP authorization isn’t permanent. FNS reauthorizes retailers on a schedule, typically every five years, and mails a letter with instructions to the address on file as the date approaches. You can check status through the same USDA account you used to apply. Reauthorization mirrors the original application, so keeping your documentation current and your staple food inventory above threshold makes renewal routine. If you’ve moved, changed ownership, or let inventory slip, fix those issues before the letter arrives.