Resale certificate
Stop paying sales tax on inventory you are going to resell.
Sales tax is meant to be paid once, by the final customer. If your supplier charges it to you and you charge it to your customer, the first payment is simply lost margin. A resale certificate, backed by a seller's permit, is the document your suppliers keep on file so they stop charging you. We obtain the permit, prepare the certificate, and deliver both to your dashboard.
Seller's permit and resale certificate · for wholesalers, Amazon and Shopify sellers
Buy inventory without paying sales tax on it
- 01You buy to resell
- 02Seller's permit obtained
- 03Resale certificate prepared
- 04Given to your suppliers
- 05Inventory bought tax-free
What it is
The document that stops your supplier charging you sales tax on inventory.
The seller's permit is issued by a state and lets your company collect that state's sales tax from customers. The resale certificate is a form you complete, citing your permit number, and give to a supplier. It tells the supplier that you are buying for resale and will collect the tax yourself when you sell, so the supplier does not charge it. The permit makes the certificate valid; the certificate is what your supplier actually wants.
From the state where your company has sales tax nexus — usually where your inventory sits or where your sales cross the state's threshold. Not the state where the LLC was formed. Many states accept the multistate resale certificate, so a permit from one state can support a certificate accepted by suppliers in several others. We tell you which applies to your suppliers.
- What it does
- Removes supplier sales tax
- On goods you buy to resell. Your supplier keeps the certificate on file and invoices you without tax.
- Requires
- A seller's permit
- The certificate is only valid with a permit number behind it. The permit is issued by the state where you collect.
- Who asks for it
- Wholesalers, Amazon, manufacturers
- At account opening. Distributors will not sell to you tax-free without one; Amazon's wholesale and brand programmes ask for it.
- Covers
- Goods for resale only
- Not your own equipment, packaging or supplies. Using it for those is misuse, and states penalise it.
Why it matters
Paying sales tax twice is a margin problem you can fix in a week.
A private-label seller sources from a US manufacturer and pays sales tax on every production run, because the manufacturer has no certificate on file and charges it by default. The seller then collects sales tax from customers at the point of sale. The tax paid to the manufacturer is not recoverable — it is not a credit, it is a cost. On a product with a thirty percent margin, eight percent lost at the top line is a quarter of the profit. The certificate that stops it is one form.
How it works
From wholesale invoices to tax-free inventory.
A resale certificate is a representation to your supplier that the goods are for resale. Use it for anything else — a laptop, shelving, packaging you consume — and the state treats it as tax evasion, with penalties. Keep it to inventory. We obtain and prepare the documents; deciding what qualifies on a given purchase is yours, and a bookkeeper's, to judge.
Who asks for it
- Wholesale distributorsAt account opening, before they will sell to you tax-free.
- Amazon and marketplacesBrand and wholesale programmes ask for a resale certificate.
- Private-label manufacturersUS-based suppliers charge tax without one.
01Wholesale, private label, retail arbitrage
You buy goods to sell them on
Sales tax is meant to be paid once, by the final customer. If you buy inventory to resell, you should not be paying it to your supplier.
02Step one
A seller's permit comes first
A resale certificate is only valid with a seller's permit behind it. We obtain the permit in the state where you have to collect.
03Step two
The resale certificate is prepared
The state's certificate, or the multistate form where a state accepts it, completed with your permit number and business details.
04Every new supplier
You give it to your suppliers
Each supplier keeps a copy on file and stops charging you sales tax on qualifying purchases. Amazon and wholesale distributors ask for it at onboarding.
05Every order
Inventory bought tax-free, tax collected from customers
You collect sales tax from your customers at the point of sale and remit it with your returns. The margin you were losing to supplier tax comes back.
Resale Certificate
$249
$249
For a company you already have, or added to a formation order. Any state or government fee is invoiced at cost, exactly as the state charges it. Full refund before we begin the work.
Get My Resale CertificateWhat’s included
- Obtaining the seller's permit from the state where your company has to collect sales tax
- Preparing the resale certificate on the state's form, or the multistate form where the state accepts it
- Both documents delivered to your dashboard as PDFs, ready to send to each supplier
- A note of when the state expires certificates, where it does, so yours is renewed before a supplier rejects it
Not included
- Sales tax returns, which are ongoing bookkeeping work once the permit is issued
- Certificates for states where your company has no sales tax registration
- Advice on whether a specific purchase qualifies as a purchase for resale
Permit and certificate
Two documents that work together.
A distributor opening a wholesale account will ask for the certificate before invoicing tax-free, and keep it on file. Amazon's brand and wholesale programmes ask for a resale certificate or sales tax permit as part of verification. Manufacturers that ship from the US charge tax without one. Having the certificate ready at onboarding is the difference between a tax-free first order and a taxed one.
- Seller's permit
- Issued by the state · lets you collect sales tax from customers
- Resale certificate
- Given to suppliers · lets you buy inventory tax-free
- Multistate form
- Accepted by many states for a single certificate across suppliers
- Renewal
- Some states expire certificates; we tell you when
Direct answers
Frequently asked questions.
Checked 2026-07-28. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it the same day.
Yes. The certificate belongs to the company, not the owner. Your US LLC applies for the seller's permit with its EIN, and the certificate is issued in the company's name.
The state where your company has sales tax nexus — where your inventory is stored, or where sales cross the state's threshold. Not the state of formation. We confirm the right state before applying.
Amazon's wholesale and brand programmes ask for a resale certificate or a sales tax permit number as part of business verification. The permit and certificate we prepare are the documents they are asking for.
In some states, yes — periods vary from one to several years, and some certificates are valid until revoked. We note the expiry for your state so it is renewed before a supplier rejects it.
No. Only for goods you will resell, or that become part of goods you sell. Equipment, supplies and anything your business consumes are taxable purchases, and using the certificate for them is penalised.
Our fee is shown on this page. Most states charge nothing to issue a seller's permit; where a state charges a fee or requires a deposit, it is invoiced at cost.
Keep the margin
Pay sales tax once, at the right end of the sale.
We obtain your seller's permit, prepare the resale certificate, and deliver both to your dashboard ready for your suppliers.
Resale Certificate — $249
Get My Resale Certificate