Buy a gas station in Indiana

Most buyers use an SBA loan. An SBA 7(a) loan (up to $5M — up to $5.5M only for qualifying manufacturing and energy projects) can cover the business, the property, equipment and working capital. An SBA 504 loan is built for the real estate: roughly 50% from the bank, 40% from an SBA-backed lender and 10% from you — often 15%, because lenders treat gas stations as special-purpose property. Plan on about 10 to 20% down overall, plus inventory at closing, and have proof of funds ready for your offer: you’ll show it with your Letter of Intent, not before.

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SBA 7(a) loans ↗ · SBA 504 loans ↗

In Indiana, underground storage tanks are registered and inspected by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) under 329 IAC 9 — the tank program sits with the environmental agency. Owners also have to show financial responsibility for a possible leak, which most Indiana station owners meet through the state’s Excess Liability Trust Fund (ELTF), administered by IDEM.

What to verify before you sign, and what lands on you at closing:

• Ask the seller for the IDEM tank registration (renewed annually, $90 per tank for petroleum), inspection and leak-detection records, the annual fee payment history, tank install dates, and any past release with its closure (No Further Action) letter. IDEM’s facility records are public — your lender will order a Phase I environmental review either way, and a station under an IDEM violation or delivery prohibition is a station that may not be able to take fuel.
• Your ELTF position starts where the seller’s ends. Eligible owners hold an IDEM certificate of financial assurance showing the ELTF stands behind the site. For releases under the current rules the deductible is a flat $15,000 and the Fund reimburses 100% of eligible cleanup costs up to $2.5 million per incident — but unpaid annual tank fees are added in and have to be cured, and costs from a release the seller never reported are not reimbursable. Get the seller’s fee status and incident history in writing during due diligence: this is the Indiana surprise that costs buyers real money.
• At closing, a 30-day clock starts. You notify IDEM of the ownership change by filing the UST notification form (State Form 45223) within 30 days of the transfer, covering the new owner, operator and financial responsibility. Miss it and you own the violation letters that follow — IDEM enforces this deadline.
• Old tanks are not always a deal-killer in Indiana. Since 2023 the state has also used the ELTF to reimburse 50% of approved costs to close, remove or replace aging tanks for eligible owners. If a station is right except for its tank farm, ask whether the site qualifies before you walk away — or price the work net of the reimbursement.

IDEM storage tanks ↗ · Indiana ELTF ↗ · EPA underground storage tanks ↗

• Beer and wine (Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission). Indiana stations sell carryout beer and wine — never liquor — on dealer permits: a beer dealer permit, or a beer and wine dealer permit for both. Dealer permits are capped by a population quota that scales with the size of the community, and in many towns the quota is full, so the buyer normally transfers the seller’s existing permits instead of applying new. A transfer needs the Commission’s approval: the application goes through the county’s local alcoholic beverage board, with public notice and a hearing, before the ATC acts — allow weeks to a few months, and file the day the contract is signed. Permit purchase money is normally held in escrow until the ATC approves, and the Commission won’t act for an applicant on the state’s tax warrant list, so both sides’ tax standing gets checked early. There is no separate Sunday permit; Sunday carryout runs on the dealer permits.
• Lottery (Hoosier Lottery). The retailer contract does not transfer. You start a new retailer request with the Lottery’s licensing team, which runs background and tax-standing checks before issuing a contract for the location. File as soon as the purchase contract is signed so lottery sales don’t gap at the changeover.
• Tobacco and sales tax (ATC and Department of Revenue). Your own tobacco sales certificate from the ATC costs $200 for three years per location, and cigarettes may only be bought from licensed distributors and wholesalers. Your own Registered Retail Merchant Certificate — required to collect Indiana sales tax — comes from the Department of Revenue and never transfers from the seller. Plan both early so they don’t hold up closing.

Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission ↗ · Hoosier Lottery ↗

• You can inherit the seller’s sales taxes — unless a form is filed 45 days out. Under Indiana’s successor liability law (IC 6-8.1-10-9.5), buying more than half of a business’s tangible personal property — fixtures, equipment and inventory — makes you liable for the seller’s unpaid sales, use, county innkeeper’s and food and beverage taxes, plus penalties and interest, up to the purchase price. The protection is mechanical: file a Notice of Transfer in Bulk with the Department of Revenue at least 45 days before you take possession or pay. The Department answers within 20 days — either a summary of what the seller owes (you withhold it from the price and remit it) or a tax clearance letter, valid 60 days, confirming the seller is clean. Two consequences for your deal: the notice has to go in the week the contract is signed, and no contract clause ("seller keeps his taxes") overrides the statute if you skip it.
• There is no transfer tax — but property taxes run in arrears. Indiana charges no real estate transfer tax at all: recording the deed costs a sales disclosure form (State Form 46021) with a $10 filing fee, the auditor’s transfer charge and a flat recording fee. The property cost to model instead is the proration — Indiana property taxes are paid in arrears, so who owes what through the closing date is a contract term worth real money on a larger site. Settle it before you compare deals, not at the closing table.

Match tax returns to P&Ls, monthly fuel gallons to supplier statements, and inside sales to POS reports. Read the fuel supply agreement for term, gallons owed, assignment rules and any payback of incentives, and if the land is leased, confirm the years left. Our guide on fuel supply contracts explains what to look for.

Offers go in as a Letter of Intent with price, deposit, a 30 to 60 day due diligence period, financing terms and inventory at cost — with your proof of funds attached, the first and only time we ask for it. Then come the Phase I, lender approval, the ATC permit transfer, the supplier’s consent, an inventory count and the keys — and, specific to Indiana, the bulk-transfer notice filed at signing so its 45 days run while everything else does. With financing and a permit transfer running in parallel, most Indiana station purchases close 60 to 90 days after the LOI is accepted. The full path is in how to buy a business.