To fill out Missouri Form 149, the Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate, enter your legal name and address and the seller’s, check the one exemption category that matches your purchase, fill in any ID number that category requires, describe specifically how the item will be used, then sign and date the form under penalty of perjury and give it to the seller. You do not file Form 149 with the Missouri Department of Revenue. The seller keeps it as proof the sale was legitimately tax-free. The blank form is at dor.mo.gov/forms/149.pdf.
Before You Start
Have two things ready before you pick up the form.
The first is the identification number the exemption category requires. If you are buying inventory for resale and you are a Missouri retailer, you must have a Missouri Tax ID Number; the seller cannot accept the certificate in good faith without one. If you are claiming resale as an out-of-state retailer, you need your home state’s Retailer’s State Tax ID Number. If you are a manufacturer or wholesaler buying for wholesale, no Missouri Tax ID is required, but you will state your home state on the form. If you are claiming the exemption as a nonprofit, government agency, school, or church, you need a Missouri Sales Tax Exemption Letter number or your Federal Employer Identification Number.
The second is the underlying authorization for exempt entities. Organizations cannot simply write “nonprofit” on Form 149 and buy tax-free. The Exemption Letter is issued only after the organization files Form 1746 with the Department of Revenue and submits the required documentation (IRS 501(c) determination, bylaws, financials, and so on). If you do not have the letter yet, Form 149 will not stand up on audit.
Step-by-Step: Completing the Four Sections
The certificate is one page divided into four working areas. Fill them in order.
Purchaser and Seller Information
At the top, enter your legal business or organization name and physical address, then the seller’s name and address. Use the exact legal names that appear on your tax accounts. This block is the paper trail that ties both parties to the exempt transaction, so nicknames, “doing business as” shorthand, and abbreviations invite problems if the certificate is later reviewed.
Type of Exemption
The middle of the form is a set of checkboxes, one per exemption category. Check only one. If you buy different kinds of exempt goods from the same seller (resale inventory and ingredient parts, for example), you may need a separate certificate for each category so the seller can match every purchase to the right exemption.
- Resale of tangible personal property: enter your Retailer’s State Tax ID Number and home state. Missouri retailers must supply a Missouri Tax ID Number.
- Resale of taxable services: enter your Missouri Tax ID Number.
- Manufacturer or wholesaler purchasing for wholesale: enter your home state. No Missouri Tax ID Number is required.
- Ingredient or component part: for materials, manufactured goods, machinery, and parts that become part of a finished product that will itself be subject to sales or use tax in Missouri or another state.
- Agricultural: for qualifying farm purchases such as feed, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, breeding animals, and farm machinery and equipment.
- Material recovery processing: for machinery and equipment used to establish or replace material recovery processing plants.
- Exempt entity: for organizations holding a Missouri Sales Tax Exemption Letter. Enter the exemption letter number or Federal Employer Identification Number.
Basis for Exemption
Below the checkboxes, the form asks you to describe the basis for the claim. Be specific. “Feed for beef cattle sold at auction” and “steel tubing incorporated into manufactured trailers” hold up on audit. “Farm use” and “manufacturing” do not. Someone unfamiliar with your business should be able to read the description and see the connection between the item you are buying and the exempt purpose you are claiming. Vague wording is the single most common reason a certificate draws scrutiny.
For a resale certificate, the basis is simply that you are buying the goods to resell them. For agricultural and manufacturing claims, tie the item to its use in your operation. If the same equipment will do both exempt and non-exempt work, the purchase may not fully qualify, and stretching the description to hide that is exactly the misstatement the perjury clause is aimed at.
Signature and Date
An authorized representative must sign and date the form. The signature line carries a perjury statement: you are declaring under penalties of perjury that everything on the certificate is true, complete, and correct. An unsigned certificate is not valid. Missouri regulations specifically leave a seller who accepts an unsigned certificate on the hook for the uncollected tax, which is why most sellers will refuse to process one.
Give the Form to the Seller
Hand the completed certificate to the seller at the time of purchase. Do not mail it to the Department of Revenue; the state is not a party to the transaction. The seller will look it over to confirm it is complete and that the exemption is reasonable for what is being sold. A furniture store, for example, has no basis to accept an agricultural exemption certificate for a living room sofa, and doing so leaves both sides exposed.
Once the seller has a valid certificate from you on file, they can generally rely on it for later sales to you as well, so you usually will not need to submit a new one for every purchase from the same vendor.
Keep a Copy
Even though the seller holds the original, keep your own copy. If the Department of Revenue later determines that a claimed exemption was improper, it can collect the tax, interest, and penalties directly from you as the purchaser, even when the seller accepted the certificate in good faith. Missouri requires contractors using the project exemption certificate (Form 5060) to keep invoices for five years, and treating your Form 149 records the same way is a reasonable safeguard against audit lookbacks.
When Form 149 Is the Wrong Form
Form 149 does not work for a contractor buying materials on behalf of an exempt entity for a construction project. That situation uses Form 5060, the Project Exemption Certificate under RSMo 144.062. The exempt entity fills out Form 5060 for a specific project, gives signed copies plus its Exemption Letter to each contractor and subcontractor, and those contractors present the certificate to material suppliers. Form 5060 covers only the identified project, does not extend to construction tools or equipment (only to materials incorporated into or consumed in the job), and expires on a set date that can be renewed if the project runs long.
What Happens If You Claim an Exemption You Shouldn’t
The perjury statement above your signature is not decoration. If the Department of Revenue finds that Form 149 was used for a purchase that did not qualify, you owe the tax that should have been paid plus interest, which is set at 7% for 2026. A finding of fraud or evasion adds a penalty of 25% of the defrauded amount. Willful violations of Missouri’s sales and use tax provisions, including filing a false return, are misdemeanors. A Class A misdemeanor conviction can carry up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for individuals or $5,000 for corporations. Missouri has no statute of limitations on tax fraud, so an old certificate remains enforceable.
If you are not sure a purchase qualifies for the exemption you would claim, pay the tax at the register and apply for a refund afterward. That path costs you a little cash flow. The other path costs you the tax anyway, plus interest, plus penalties, plus the record.