Arkansas Resale Certificate PDF: Form ST-391 Use and Records

To buy inventory tax-free in Arkansas, you give your supplier a completed Form ST-391, the Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate, which the Department of Finance and Administration publishes as a free PDF on its website.¹ The certificate tells the seller not to charge sales tax because you intend to resell the goods, which shifts the tax to the point of final sale when your customer buys from you. You need a valid Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Permit to use it, and the form has to be filled out completely to protect either side in an audit.

Who Can Use the Resale Exemption

The exemption is limited to buyers “regularly engaged in the business of reselling” the items being purchased, and the buyer must hold a valid sales tax permit issued under Arkansas law.² It only covers goods you plan to sell to customers in the ordinary course of business. Office furniture, cleaning supplies, equipment you use internally, and anything else your business consumes rather than resells does not qualify, and buying those items on a resale certificate makes you personally liable for the tax.

Out-of-state buyers can also claim the exemption. An Arkansas seller may accept a valid retail or resale permit issued by another state in place of an Arkansas permit number, as long as the buyer provides proper documentation showing the home-state registration.²

How to Fill Out Form ST-391

The ST-391 is short, but every field matters. An incomplete certificate gives the seller no audit protection and can end with the tax being assessed against one or both of you years later. The form asks for:

Your Arkansas Sales/Use Tax Permit number. If you are an out-of-state buyer, use your home state’s equivalent permit number and identify the state that issued it.¹
The seller’s name, meaning the business you are buying from.
A specific description of the merchandise being purchased for resale. Vague entries like “various goods” or “merchandise” will not hold up.
Your business name, address, and signature. The business name has to match what appears on your permit.

Arkansas rules do allow you to claim the resale exemption without the ST-391 by providing your retail permit number or a written statement that the goods are purchased for resale. Using the formal certificate is still the safer route for both parties if the DFA ever looks at the transaction.²

When to Give the Certificate to Your Supplier

Handing over the completed ST-391 at the time of purchase is the clean way to do it. Arkansas also gives sellers 90 days from the date of sale to obtain a fully completed exemption certificate or equivalent documentation from the buyer. If the DFA later asks the seller to prove an exempt sale and no certificate is on file, the seller has an additional 120 days from the date of that request to either prove the sale was exempt or obtain a good-faith certificate from the buyer.³

Blanket Certificates for Regular Vendors

If you buy from the same vendor on a recurring basis, you can give them a blanket certificate instead of filling out a new ST-391 for every order. A seller can accept a blanket certificate from any purchaser they have a recurring business relationship with, defined as at least one purchase every 12 months.³ The blanket certificate stays valid without renewal as long as that recurring relationship continues. Let more than 12 months pass between purchases and the certificate lapses, so you will need to provide a fresh one.

Buying from Out-of-State Suppliers

Arkansas is a full member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement, which lets you use one certificate for suppliers across many states.⁴⁵²

You still need to provide a registration number for the state where you are claiming the exemption. If you are not registered in that state, you may list a permit number from any state where you are registered.⁵ You give the completed certificate to your supplier directly, not to any state agency or to the SST Governing Board.

What a Misused Certificate Costs You

Using the certificate to buy something you do not actually resell shifts the entire tax liability onto you. Arkansas treats any use of the property other than resale as a “withdrawal from stock,” and the tax becomes due the moment you divert the item from inventory.³ You are responsible for self-reporting that tax to the DFA. The seller is off the hook if they accepted your certificate in good faith.

Fail to self-report and the numbers climb fast. Arkansas charges 10% annual interest on unpaid tax from the date it was due, plus a failure-to-pay penalty of 1% per month on the unpaid balance, up to a combined maximum penalty of 35%.⁶ Running a business without any permit at all exposes you to further sanctions under the Arkansas Tax Procedure Act.⁷

Records You Need to Keep

Arkansas requires both buyers and sellers to keep tax records for at least six years after the return was filed, and the DFA can examine those records at any reasonable time during that period.⁸ Sellers need the completed ST-391 or equivalent on file for every exempt sale. Buyers should keep invoices for tax-free inventory that match the items described on the certificates they issued.

Electronic copies are acceptable as long as they are complete, legible, and available for DFA inspection. Records must be kept within Arkansas unless the DFA agrees otherwise.⁸ Six years is a long paper trail, and this is where small businesses most often get caught short in an audit.

1
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Arkansas Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate ST391
2
Legal Information Institute. Arkansas Code 006.05.06 53 – Exemptions from Tax – Sales for Resale
3
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 26-52-517 – Exemption Certificates
4
Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. Home
5
Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. Exemptions
6
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Penalty and Interest Charges
7
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 26-52-201 – Permit Required
8
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 26-18-506 – Preservation of Records