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How to Validate a Resale Certificate in Any US State

Sep 18, 2023 | Sales Tax

How to verify a resale certificate in every US State

Nearly every retailer will encounter a customer with a resale certificate from time to time. (Read our in-depth guide to resale certificates here.)

Usually, the buyer is buying your products with the intent to resell them. If you agree to that, your next step is to ensure that your buyer is above board. This means that they present you with a resale certificate (sometimes called an exemption certificate or by another name) stating that they plan to charge sales tax when they sell the products at retail.

Part of ensuring that your buyer is acting in good faith and without nefarious intent is to verify that their resale certificate number is valid. 

Fortunately, states don’t want to disrupt the flow of commerce (too much.) Most provide a way for you to quickly and easily logon and ensure that your customer attempting to buy from you without paying sales tax is legitimate. 

Here’s how to check.

How to Validate a Resale Certificate State-by-State

Have questions about using or accepting a resale certificate? Contact HOST!

Alabama

  1. Login to My Alabama Taxes
  2. Click on the Account ID for your tax account
  3. Under the “I want to” menu, click “Verify Account Number”
  4. Enter the requested information and submit for results

Alaska

In Alaska, sales tax permits/resale certificates are issued at the local level. Retailers should contact the local jurisdiction should you need to validate a resale certificate. Alaska also issues permits to remote sellers who exceed the state’s economic nexus threshold. In that case, you can verify the resale certificate by emailing the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission (ARSSTC). (See their contact info at the bottom of the page.) 

Arizona

  1. Go to the AZ Taxes License Verification page
  2. Enter the Arizona transaction privilege tax (TPT) number and submit for results

Arkansas

  1. Go the Arkansas Taxpayer Access point (ATAP)
  2. Under “Inquiries” click “Validate Sales Tax Permit”
  3. On the next page, enter Permit ID Type
    1. Choose from either “Sales & Use Tax Permit” or Streamlined Sales Tax Permit
  4. Depending on what you chose, enter the Permit ID number and click “Submit” for results

Note: If you’re not sure what you are verifying, here’s an example Streamlined Sales Tax program Certificate of Exemption 

California

  1. Go to the “Verify a permit, license or account” section of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) website
  2. Choose “Sellers Permit” from the dropdown next to “Which taxable activity type information are you searching for?”
  3. Enter the buyer’s sales tax permit ID in the “Identification Number” field and submit for results

Colorado

  1. Go to the Colorado Department of Revenue
  2. Under “Sales Tax License” click “Verify a License or Exemption Certificate”
  3. On the next screen, choose “Yes” if you wish to verify a single license. Choose “No” to verify multiple licenses at the same time
  4. Next, under the “Verify a License or Certificate” enter the buyer’s 8-digit Colorado Account Number
  5. The status of the buyer’s registration will show up on the bottom of your screen

Connecticut

  1. Go to the State of Connecticut License Lookup website
  2. Enter the sales tax license number provided to you by the buyer and click “Submit”

Florida

  1. Go to the Florida Seller Certificate Verification page
  2. Choose “Sales and Use Tax” from the “This request is for verification of:” dropdown
  3. Verify your Contact Name and Florida sales tax number
  4. On the next screen, enter the buyer’s resale certificate number and submit for results

Florida now also has a resale certification verification mobile app. 

Georgia 

  1. Go to Georgia e-Services
  2. Under the “Sales Tax” heading click “Verify Sales Tax ID(s)”
  3. Read the instructions and click Next
  4. Enter the buyer’s 9-digit Georgia sales tax number and click Next for your results

Hawaii 

  1. Go to the Hawaii Tax License Search page
  2. Enter required info (Taxpayer Name, DBA Name and Customer ID/Hawaii GET number) then click Search for your results 

Idaho

  1. Go to the Idaho Taxpayer Access Point (TAP)
  2. Under the Business header click “Validate a permit”
  3. Select “Sales & Use Tax” from the Permit Type dropdown menu
  4. Enter the buyer’s permit number and click next for results

Illinois 

  1. Go to the MyTax Illinois Registration Inquiry page
  2. Choose “License Number” from the ID Type dropdown
  3. Enter the buyer’s sales tax ID and click “Search” for results

Indiana 

Indiana does not have online verification of sales tax permits. Ensure that the buyer has filled out the Indiana Form ST-105 General Sales Tax Exemption Certificate completely in order to comply with sales tax law.

If you have questions, contact the Indiana Department of Revenue at (317) 232-2240.

Iowa

  1. Go to Iowa Data
  2. Enter the buyer’s resale certificate number in the “Find in this dataset” search bar to verify their ID and status

Kansas 

  1. Go to the Kansas Department of Revenue Exemption Certificate page
  2. Enter the Kansas registration number then click “Search” for results

Kentucky

Kentucky does not provide online verification of resale certificates. Instead, ensure that the Kentucky Resale Certificate (example here) is completely and accurately filled out. 

Louisiana

  1. Go to the Louisiana DOR Resale Certificates page
  2. Scroll down to “Resale Certificate Validation”
  3. Enter your Louisiana account number and business name
  4. Click “Verify” to validate your eligibility to check the status of a resale certificate
  5. Now the resale certificate validation screen will appear. Enter your buyer’s account number from the resale certificate in the “Purchaser’s Louisiana Account Number”
  6. Enter the buyer’s legal business name in the “Purchaser’s Business Name” box.
  7. Press “Enter” for results

Maine

  1. Go to the Maine Tax Portal
  2. Under the “Additional Services” header, choose “Sales and Service Provider Tax Resale and Exemption Lookup”
  3. Enter the buyer’s “Certificate Type” and “Certificate Number” then click “Search” for results

Maryland

  1. Go to Maryland’s Online Verification of Maryland Tax Account Numbers page
  2. Enter either the buyer’s “Maryland Sales and Use Tax Number” or their “Exemption Certificate Number” (if a nonprofit)
  3. Click “Check Exempt Status” for results 

Massachusetts

  1. Go to MassTaxConnect
  2. Under the “Businesses” heading choose “Verify Resale Certificate Form ST-4”
  3. On the next page, choose “Sales Tax Account ID” as the “ID Type”
  4. Enter your sales tax ID in the “Seller Acct ID” field 
  5. Enter the buyer’s account ID in the “Buyer Account ID field” then click Next for results

Michigan

Michigan does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Michigan Treasury at 517-636-6925.

Minnesota

Minnesota does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out Minnesota Form ST3, Certificate of Exemption or other applicable resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Minnesota Department of Revenue at 651-556-3000.

Mississippi

  1. Go to the Mississippi Department of Revenue
  2. Under the “Tools” section click “Verify a Permit Number”
  3. For “Permit Type” enter either “Sales Permit” or “Seller’s Use” depending on the type of certificate you’ve been given
  4. Click “Search Permit” for results

Missouri

Missouri does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out Missouri Form 149 or other applicable resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Missouri Department of Revenue at 573-751-2836.

Nebraska

Nebraska does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out Nebraska Form 13, Resale or Exempt Sale Certificate or other applicable resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Nebraska Department of Revenue at 800-742-7474.

Nevada

  1. Go to the Nevada Department of Taxation Permit Search page
  2. Under “Reseller Permit Search” choose to search either by Business Name, Business Permit Number (TID) (recommended), or by Address
  3. Enter the specified information, confirm you are not a robot, then click “Search” for results

New Jersey

  1. Go to the New Jersey On-Line Business Registration Certificate Service page
  2. To validate a buyer’s New Jersey resale certificate, enter the first four characters of the buyer’s business or trade name in the “Name Control” field
  3. Enter their resale certificate number in the “Certificate Number” field
  4. Note that you can ignore the other two fields
  5. Click “Submit” for results

New Mexico

  1. Go to New Mexico Taxation & Revenue
  2. Under the “Businesses” heading click “Check New Mexico Business Tax ID Status”
  3. On the next page, enter the buyer’s “NM Business Tax ID” their “5 Digit Zip Code” and the “Last Four Digits of their FEIN, ITIN or SSN”
  4. Click “Next for results

New York

  1. Go to the New York Registered Sales Tax Vendor Lookup
  2. Enter the security code and click “Continue”
  3. Enter the vendor’s “Sales tax identification number” and click “Continue” for results

North Carolina

  1. Go to the North Carolina Registry of Sales and Use Tax Numbers
  2. Enter the buyer’s resale certificate number in the “Account ID/SST ID#” field
  3. Enter the buyer’s name or business name in the “Taxpayer Name” field
  4. Click “Submit” for results

Ohio

  1. Go to Ohio Sales & Use Tax
  2. Scroll down or search for “List of Active Vendors.” Clicking on this will download a spreadsheet of active Ohio vendors
  3. Open the spreadsheet with Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet software and search for the buyer
  4. If after searching different criteria such as taxpayer business name or Ohio Tax ID number the buyer isn’t on the spreadsheet, they are likely not current with their Ohio registration. (Note that the spreadsheet is updated weekly).

Oklahoma 

  1. Go to the Oklahoma Taxpayer Access Point (OKTAP)
  2. Under the “Help” header click “Search”
  3. On this page click “Sales Permits”
  4. Click “Sales Permits” again on the next page
  5. Under search type enter the type of document you received from the buyer: Sales Tax Account ID, Exemption Account ID, or Permit
  6. Enter the document number then click “Search” for results

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out Pennsylvania Rev-1220 form or other applicable resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue at 717-787-1064.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out resale certificate. (Rhode Island resale certificate example.) If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Rhode Island Division of Taxation at 401-574-8829.

South Carolina

South Carolina does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out form ST-8A South Carolina Resale Certificate or other applicable resale certificate. If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the South Carolina Department of Revenue at 844-898-8542​.

South Dakota

South Dakota does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the South Dakota Department of Revenue at 1-800-829-9188.

Tennessee

  1. Go to TNTAP
  2. Click “View Options” under the “Information & Inquiries” heading
  3. On the next page, click “Sales & Use Tax Certificate Lookup”
  4. Choose the type of resale certificate the buyer gave you. It will likely either be “Blanket Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Resale” or “Streamline [sic] Sales Tax ID”
  5. Enter the buyer’s certificate number in the “Exemption Number” field and click “Submit” for results 

Texas

  1. Go to the Texas Sales Taxpayer Search
  2. Enter the buyer’s “Taxpayer ID” and “FEI Number” (You can also search by location and name)
  3. Click “Search” by the field you chose for results

Utah

Utah does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out for Utah TC-721 Exemption Certificate or other applicable resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Utah Department of Revenue at 801-297-2200.

Vermont

Vermont does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out for Vermont Form S-3 or other applicable resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Vermont Department of Taxes at 802-828-2551.

Virginia

Vermont does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out for Virginia Form ST-10 or other applicable resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact Virginia Tax at 804-367-8037.

Washington

  1. Go to the Washington State Department of Revenue
  2. Under the “Reports and Tools” heading select “Business Lookup”
  3. Select “Reseller Permit,” this will leave only one field to fill out
  4. Enter the buyer’s “Reseller permit #”
  5. Confirm you are not a robot then click “Search” for results

Washington DC

  1. Go to MyTaxDC
  2. Under the “More…” header click “Search for Certificate/License Exemptions”
  3. Choose “Certificate/License Type” (for resale certificates this is generally “Resale Certificate” or “Sales and Use Tax Certificate”
  4. In “Account ID” enter the buyer’s Washington DC sales & use tax account number
  5. In “Certificate/License ID” enter the buyer’s resale certificate number
  6. Click “Submit” for results

West Virginia

West Virginia does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the West Virginia Tax Division at 304-558-3333.

Wisconsin

  1. Go to Wisconsin “My Tax Account”
  2. Under the “Businesses” header, click “Search Account Number/Filing Frequency”
  3. Select “Sales and Use Tax” as “Withholding or Sales and Use?”
  4. Select “Wisconsin Tax Number” as “ID Type”
  5. Enter the buyer’s Wisconsin sales tax ID, Business or Last Name and zip code then click “Next” for results

Wyoming

Wyoming does not provide online verification of resale certificates. In this case, ensure that the buyer presents you with a completely and accurately filled out resale certificate.  If you have questions about a resale certificate, contact the Wyoming Department of Revenue at 307-777-5200.

Have questions about using or accepting a resale certificate? Contact HOST