How Do I Get a PA Sales Tax Exemption Certificate?

To get a Pennsylvania sales tax exemption certificate, complete Form REV-1220 and give it to your seller either at the time of purchase or within 60 days after the sale.¹ Resellers, manufacturers, farmers, and government buyers can fill out the form directly. Nonprofits have to take one step first: apply to the Department of Revenue for an exemption number using Form REV-72, then use that number on REV-1220. The certificate lets qualifying buyers avoid the state’s 6 percent sales tax on eligible purchases.²

Who Qualifies

Pennsylvania law limits the exemption to specific buyers and specific uses. The main categories:

Resellers buying goods or services they intend to resell in the ordinary course of business.³
Manufacturers, processors, farmers, and dairy operators buying materials or equipment used directly in production.
The Commonwealth, its political subdivisions (counties, cities, boroughs, townships, and school districts), and public authorities.⁴
Religious organizations, nonprofit educational institutions, charitable organizations, and volunteer fire and ambulance companies that hold a valid exemption number from the Department of Revenue.¹

The purchase has to match the exempt activity. A nonprofit school can buy classroom supplies tax-free but can’t use the certificate for items unrelated to its educational mission.

Nonprofits: Get Your Exemption Number First

Charities, religious groups, nonprofit schools, and volunteer fire and ambulance companies can’t use Form REV-1220 until the Department of Revenue has assigned them an exemption number. That number is 8 digits and begins with 75. You apply through the department’s myPATH online portal or by mailing Form REV-72. There is no government fee.

Form REV-72 asks for the organization’s legal name, federal EIN, date it began operating, and officer compensation. You submit supporting documents with it:⁵

Articles of incorporation (or bylaws, if unincorporated), which must prohibit surplus funds from going to private benefit on sale or dissolution.
A current financial statement showing income and expenses by source and category. New organizations can substitute a proposed budget.
Your IRS determination letter, if you have one.
Your most recent IRS Form 990, if your organization files one.

A 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS doesn’t do this work for you. Federal tax-exempt status may make an organization eligible for state benefits but doesn’t grant them.⁶ You still need Pennsylvania’s 75-series number before making tax-free purchases.

Once approved, keep the department informed. Changes to your IRS status, court decisions affecting your exemption, or challenges to it must be reported in writing within 10 days.⁵

How to Fill Out Form REV-1220

The form is a downloadable PDF on the Department of Revenue website. It is void unless every field is filled in, so don’t leave anything blank.¹ What each section wants:

Purchaser and seller information: your full legal name and business address, and the seller’s name and address.
Type of exemption: check the one box that matches your reason (resale, manufacturing, nonprofit status, or another qualifying category). Pick only one.⁷
Account or exemption number: resellers enter their 8-digit Sales Tax License ID; nonprofits enter their 8-digit exemption number beginning with 75. If you don’t have a PA Sales Tax License ID and believe one isn’t required, explain why in the space provided.
Description of the property or services and how they relate to the exempt activity.
Signature and date from an authorized representative of the purchasing entity.⁷

Unit or Blanket

At the top of the form, you pick unit certificate or blanket certificate.¹ A unit certificate covers one transaction; you fill out a new form for every purchase. A blanket certificate covers all qualifying purchases of the same type from the same seller going forward, and stays valid as long as your exempt status is active and the nature of the purchases doesn’t change. If you start buying items for a different purpose, the blanket certificate no longer covers those transactions.

Give It to the Seller

Hand the completed REV-1220 to your seller when you buy so tax isn’t added to the invoice in the first place. If you can’t, Pennsylvania allows 60 days after the sale to deliver the certificate.¹ Deliver it inside that window and the sale is treated as exempt from the date it took place.

The seller isn’t required to accept your certificate. If the form is incomplete or the seller questions the exemption, they can charge tax. That’s why having every field filled in and your exemption or license number in hand before you shop matters.

Nonprofit Purchases of $200 or More Need REV-1715 Too

When a registered nonprofit makes a single purchase of $200 or more, the seller needs a second form on top of the REV-1220. Form REV-1715, the Exempt Organization Declaration of Sales Tax Exemption, has to be completed for each transaction at or above that threshold.⁸ The seller keeps the REV-1715 alongside the REV-1220 and the invoice. This applies to charitable, religious, and educational organizations, and to volunteer fire and ambulance companies with a valid exemption number.

Keeping the Certificate Valid

Religious organizations, nonprofit educational institutions, and charitable organizations have to renew their exemption number every five years.⁹ Volunteer fire companies and relief associations receive permanent exemptions and don’t renew.¹ If a renewable exemption lapses, purchases made without a valid number are fully taxable.

On the seller’s side, every exemption certificate has to be kept on file for at least four years from the date of the exempt sale.¹ During an audit, the Department of Revenue asks the seller to produce them. A seller who can’t produce a valid certificate for a transaction may be held responsible for the uncollected tax.

Multistate Resale Certificates

If your business operates across state lines, Pennsylvania accepts the Multistate Tax Commission’s Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, but only for resale transactions.¹⁰ For any other reason (manufacturing, farming, nonprofit status), you have to use Pennsylvania’s REV-1220. The Streamlined Sales Tax Exemption Certificate doesn’t work in Pennsylvania at all, because Pennsylvania is not a Streamlined member state.¹¹

Penalties for Misuse

Fraudulent use of an exemption certificate is a misdemeanor. A conviction can bring up to one year in jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both, plus the costs of prosecution.¹² These penalties reach anyone involved in the false statement, whether the buyer, the seller, or a representative. Beyond the criminal side, the Department of Revenue can impose civil penalties and assess the unpaid tax with interest back to the original transaction date.

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate REV-1220
2
Department of Revenue. Tax Rates
3
Department of Revenue. Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax
4
Cornell Law School / Legal Information Institute. 61 Pa. Code 32.23 – Sales to the Commonwealth or Its Political Subdivisions
5
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Application for Sales Tax Exemption REV-72
6
Internal Revenue Service. Federal Tax Obligations of Nonprofit Corporations
7
PA Business Hub. Complete the PA Tax Exemption Certificate
8
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Exempt Organization Declaration of Sales Tax Exemption REV-1715
9
Department of Revenue. How Often Must the Sales Tax Exemption for Exempt Institutions Be Renewed
10
Multistate Tax Commission. Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate – Multijurisdiction
11
Streamlined Sales Tax. Exemptions
12
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa. Code 32.2 – Exemption Certificates