How to Fill Out Ohio Tax Exempt Form: Reason, Signing, 90-Day Rule

To fill out an Ohio tax-exempt form, you complete Form STEC B (the blanket certificate for ongoing purchases from one vendor) or Form STEC U (for a single transaction) with your business’s legal name and address, type of business, Federal Employer Identification Number, Ohio vendor’s license number if you have one, the vendor’s name and address, a specific exemption reason recognized under Ohio law, a description of the items being purchased, and your signature and date. You then give the completed form to the vendor. It is not filed with the Ohio Department of Taxation.¹ Because Ohio’s combined state, county, and transit sales tax rate can reach 8.75%, a properly completed certificate saves real money, and a sloppy one creates real liability.²

Pick the Right Form First

Ohio uses two main exemption certificates for tangible personal property and selected services. STEC B is the blanket certificate. Once you give it to a vendor, it covers every qualifying purchase you make from that vendor going forward, and you do not have to fill out a new form for each order. STEC U is the unit certificate. It covers one transaction only.¹

If you expect to buy from this seller again, use STEC B. If it is a one-time purchase, STEC U is simpler. One STEC B covers one vendor, so if you buy from five suppliers you fill out five separate blanket certificates.

The form is available as a downloadable PDF from the Ohio Department of Taxation.³

Confirm You Actually Qualify

Ohio Revised Code Section 5739.02 lists the transactions that are exempt from sales and use tax. The categories that account for most exemption certificate use are:

Resale. You are buying goods to resell in the same form to your own customers.
Manufacturing. You are buying materials, machinery, or equipment used directly in producing tangible personal property for sale.
Government purchases. The State of Ohio, its political subdivisions, and other state governments where reciprocity exists.
Charitable and nonprofit organizations. Churches, 501(c)(3) organizations, and nonprofits operated exclusively for charitable purposes, when the purchase furthers the exempt mission.

The statute also covers agriculture, packaging materials, and certain services.⁴ The rule that governs every category is the same: the actual use of the item has to match the exemption you claim. Buying office furniture and calling it a manufacturing input will not survive an audit.

Gather Your Information Before You Start

Have these details in front of you:

Your business’s full legal name as registered with the state, plus the street address, city, state, and ZIP.
A specific description of what your business does. “Wholesale distributor of restaurant equipment” is better than “wholesale.”
Your Federal Employer Identification Number.
Your Ohio vendor’s license number if you hold one. This confirms you are a registered Ohio business authorized to collect sales tax on your own sales.
The vendor’s name and address.

Fill In the Vendor and Purchaser Sections

The top of STEC B identifies the seller. Enter the vendor’s name and address in the space provided. That is the one business this certificate will cover.

Below that, enter your purchaser information: legal business name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. Then enter the type of business you operate. Be specific enough that the vendor, and any auditor who later looks at the file, can see why your purchases qualify. “Retail clothing store” carries more weight than “retail.”

State the Exemption Reason Clearly

This is the field where most certificates fail. STEC B requires you to state a valid reason for claiming exemption, and that reason has to match one of the categories recognized under Ohio law.³ If you are buying for resale, write “purchased for resale.” If you are buying manufacturing equipment, identify it as such. Do not leave the field blank and do not write something vague like “exempt.” A certificate without a specified exemption reason will be disallowed on audit.⁵

Describe What You Will Be Buying

The form asks for a description of the items or services you plan to purchase under the exemption. Because a blanket certificate covers all future qualifying purchases from that vendor, the description should identify the general category rather than a single SKU. “Wholesale clothing inventory” or “steel bar stock for manufacturing” gives the vendor and a future auditor enough to work with.

Sign, Date, and Submit

A paper certificate needs the purchaser’s signature, printed name, title, and date.¹ The signature is a legal declaration that the information is accurate and the purchases genuinely qualify. The date sets when the blanket exemption takes effect for that vendor relationship.

If you submit the certificate electronically, no signature is required, but every other field still has to be complete.¹ A form with missing fields, on paper or on screen, can be rejected by the vendor, and a careful vendor will reject it, because accepting an incomplete certificate leaves them exposed if the state later questions the sale.

Once complete, deliver the certificate directly to the vendor. Physical delivery, mail, and secure electronic submission are all fine, and the choice usually depends on what the seller prefers.¹ Do not send it to the Department of Taxation.

The 90-Day Window

Ideally the vendor has the certificate at or before the first purchase. Ohio also allows a 90-day grace period. If no certificate is provided or obtained within 90 days after the sale, the presumption flips and tax is treated as due.⁵ Do not let that window close.

Keep the Certificate Current

Ohio blanket exemption certificates do not technically expire, but they can go stale. If your business type, your Ohio vendor’s license status, or the nature of your purchases changes, the exemption reason on file may no longer reflect what is actually happening. When that changes, fill out a fresh STEC B and give it to the vendor. Both sides should hold onto exemption certificates for at least four years from the date of the last covered transaction.¹

What a False or Sloppy Certificate Costs

Presenting a false exemption certificate violates Ohio Revised Code Section 5739.26. Penalties under Section 5739.99 start at $25 to $100 for a first offense. Subsequent offenses can reach $500 for a corporation, and an individual faces fines up to $100 plus up to 60 days in jail. Those are the criminal penalties for the false certificate itself. They do not include the back taxes.

On the tax side, the state can add a penalty of up to 50% of the assessed amount under ORC Section 5739.133.⁶ Interest on unpaid sales tax runs at 7% annually for 2026.⁷ Across a three-year audit lookback, a wrongly exempted $100,000 in purchases at a combined 7.5% tax rate produces $7,500 in tax, up to $3,750 in penalties, and compounding interest on top. The savings from cutting corners on the form disappear fast.

Fill each field in, name a real exemption reason, describe the goods honestly, sign it, date it, and hand it to the vendor within the 90-day window. That is what a correctly completed Ohio tax-exempt form looks like.

1
Ohio Department of Taxation. ST 2005-02 – Exemption Certificate Forms
2
Ohio Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax
3
Ohio Procurement. STEC B Sales and Use Tax Blanket Exemption Certificate
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code Title 57 Chapter 5739 Section 5739.02
5
MTC.gov. Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate – Multijurisdiction
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5739.133
7
Ohio Department of Taxation. Annual Certified Interest Rates