To fill out Form ST-7, New Jersey’s Farmer’s Exemption Certificate, enter your New Jersey tax registration number (or the alternative identifier that fits your situation), your legal name and farm address, a specific description of the commodities you produce and the item or service you’re buying, then sign and date the certificate under penalties of perjury and hand it to your vendor at the time of purchase. The New Jersey Division of Taxation never receives a copy; the seller keeps it as proof the sale was properly exempt from the state’s 6.625% sales tax. Download the current PDF from the Division of Taxation’s sales tax forms page at nj.gov.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
The form is short, but every field matters. A blank or vague entry gives the seller a reason to refuse it, and an incomplete certificate leaves the seller without protection if the Division later questions the sale. Before you open the PDF, pull together three things:
- Your New Jersey tax registration number, or the substitute identifier you’ll use if you don’t have one (see below).
- The specific commodities your farm produces — livestock, nursery stock, vegetables, fruit, or whatever applies.
- A clear description of the item or service you’re buying, specific enough to match the vendor’s invoice.
The Identification Number Box
The upper-right corner of the form has a box for your New Jersey tax registration number. Which number you enter depends on how your farming operation is registered:
- If you’re registered with the New Jersey Division of Taxation, enter that registration number.
- If you aren’t required to register in New Jersey, use your federal employer identification number or your out-of-state registration number instead.
- If you’re a sole proprietor without any of those, enter the last three digits of your Social Security number in the box marked “Eligible Nonregistered Purchaser.” Individual purchasers must also provide a driver’s license number on the form.
You may see the field described elsewhere as a “12-digit ID.” That isn’t what the form says. Use whichever identifier matches your actual registration status, and make sure it matches your current records.
Farm Name, Address, and Commodities
Enter your full legal name and the physical address of the farming operation — not a mailing address if the two differ. Then describe what the farm produces. Be specific enough that a reviewer could connect the items you’re buying to the type of production you do. “Farming” is too vague. “Pick-your-own strawberries and fall pumpkins” or “wholesale cut flowers and nursery container stock” is the level of detail the form expects.
Describing the Purchase
On the purchase side, describe the tangible property or service clearly enough to match the vendor’s invoice. “Farm supplies” is too vague. “Drip irrigation tubing for tomato production” tells the story and ties the item to the commodities you listed above. The description is what connects your exemption to the specific sale, so write it the way you’d want an auditor to read it four years from now.
The exemption under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.16 covers tangible property and services used directly and primarily — more than 50% of the time — in producing, handling, and preserving agricultural or horticultural commodities for sale. If an item will serve both farm production and a personal or household use, and farm use isn’t the majority, it doesn’t qualify, and the certificate shouldn’t be used for it.
Signature and Date
You sign Form ST-7 under penalties of perjury, swearing that the information is true and that the purchase qualifies for exemption. That’s the legal weight behind the certificate. An inaccurate entry isn’t a clerical slip; it’s a sworn false statement. Date the certificate the day you give it to the seller.
Giving the Certificate to the Seller
Hand the completed form to the vendor at the time of purchase. Sellers are expected to accept it in good faith, meaning they have a reasonable basis to believe you’re a legitimate farmer buying qualifying goods or services. They aren’t expected to audit your operation or visit your property. What they do need is a fully completed certificate — a blank identification field, missing signature, or description that obviously doesn’t match a farming use (office furniture, say) gives the seller no protection and is grounds for them to refuse the exemption.
Blanket Certificates for Recurring Purchases
If you buy qualifying items from the same vendor regularly, you don’t need a fresh ST-7 every visit. A seller may accept a blanket Farmer’s Exemption Certificate covering all future purchases of similar items. Once a blanket certificate is on file, each later sales slip or invoice has to show your name, address, and New Jersey tax registration number.
A blanket certificate stays valid as long as a “recurring business relationship” exists, which the Division defines as no more than 12 months between transactions. While that relationship is active, the Division won’t require sellers to collect a renewal. Even so, the Division recommends updating blanket certificates every four years to keep the information current. If your address, registration number, or type of operation changes, file an updated certificate with your vendors right away rather than waiting for the four-year mark.
Keeping Your Copy
Both you and the seller must keep a signed copy of the certificate for at least four years from the date of purchase. If you use a blanket certificate, the seller also has to keep every sales slip or invoice that references it for the same four years. During an audit, Division of Taxation staff can ask for these records, and failing to produce them can result in an assessment of back tax plus interest and penalties.
What the Form Doesn’t Cover
Form ST-7 isn’t a general farm-business tax break. It covers tangible property and production or conservation services used directly and primarily to produce commodities for sale. Office supplies, personal errands, home maintenance, and equipment used mostly for non-farm purposes fall outside it, even if you run a working farm. Using the certificate on those purchases makes you liable for the full amount of uncollected tax, plus interest and penalties, and because the form is signed under penalties of perjury, intentional misuse carries exposure beyond a tax bill. The safest practice is simple: use the form only for purchases that genuinely go toward producing commodities for sale, and describe them honestly.