To get a resale certificate in New Jersey, register your business through the state’s NJ-REG system to receive a Certificate of Authority and a New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number, then fill out Form ST-3 and hand it to your supplier. The form itself is free, needs no state approval, and lets your vendor sell to you without charging the 6.625% sales tax on goods you intend to resell.1NJ Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax The paperwork only works, though, once you’re properly registered.
Register the Business First
Before Form ST-3 means anything, New Jersey has to know you as a business authorized to collect sales tax. Registration happens in two steps. First, file a certificate of formation (or a certificate of authorization if you’re an out-of-state entity) with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Second, file Form NJ-REG, the combined tax and employer registration. Both are online. Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, and LPs must obtain a federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS before either filing.2Department of the Treasury – Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Getting Registered
The formation filing fee is $125 for most for-profit entities and $75 for domestic nonprofits. NJ-REG itself carries no additional charge.2Department of the Treasury – Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Getting Registered
Once NJ-REG processes, you receive a Certificate of Authority. That document is your permission to collect New Jersey sales and use tax, and it’s what makes your resale certificate legitimate. Form ST-3 requires you to certify that you hold a valid Certificate of Authority and to write in your New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number.3New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3) Note that the Certificate of Authority is not the same as the Business Registration Certificate. The BRC is for public contracting and state grants, not sales tax.
Don’t skip registration and try to use a resale certificate anyway. A supplier who accepts a certificate from an unregistered buyer gets no liability protection, and the state can pursue that seller for the uncollected tax. Most vendors know this and will refuse.
Fill Out Form ST-3
Form ST-3 is a PDF you download from the Division of Taxation’s website.4NJ Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Forms and Certificates It’s short. Every required field has to be filled in, though. An incomplete certificate gives the seller no protection in an audit, so vendors reviewing your paperwork tend to be strict.
You’ll need to provide:
- Your legal business name, exactly as it appears in the Division of Taxation’s records.
- Your business’s physical address.
- Your New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number from NJ-REG.
- Your type of business (retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer, and so on).
- A specific description of the property or services being purchased for resale. Vague entries like “various merchandise” invite audit scrutiny.
- The purpose of the purchase, by checking the correct box: resale in present form, resale as a component part of a manufactured product, or another qualifying use.
- The signature of an owner, partner, or corporate officer, and the date. Unsigned certificates are invalid.3New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3)
The seller’s name and address are not required for the certificate to be considered fully completed, though most buyers fill them in anyway.3New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3)
The signature line sits under a sworn statement that the information is true, signed under penalties for perjury and false swearing. Read it before you sign.
Choose Single-Purchase or Blanket
A checkbox at the top of Form ST-3 lets you designate the certificate as either single-purchase or blanket. A single-purchase certificate covers one transaction. A blanket certificate covers all future purchases of the same general type of property from that vendor, so long as no more than 12 months pass between transactions. Once that gap exceeds a year, the blanket certificate expires and you need to issue a new one.3New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3)
If you use a blanket certificate, there’s a follow-through requirement that businesses often miss. Every subsequent invoice or sales slip must be marked with the purchaser’s name, address, and taxpayer identification number. The blanket certificate sits in a file at the vendor’s office; the invoices are what auditors actually look at. Make sure your purchasing team includes those identifiers on each order.
Give It to the Vendor, Not the State
The completed certificate goes to your supplier, not to New Jersey. You hand it over at or before the time of purchase. Physical copy, fax, or digital scan all work. The vendor keeps it on file as their proof for not collecting sales tax on the transaction.1NJ Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax
Vendors aren’t obligated to accept your certificate. Some have internal policies requiring extra verification, and that’s their call. If a vendor declines, you’ll pay sales tax upfront and can claim a credit or refund on your own sales tax return. It works, but the cash-flow hit is avoidable with clean paperwork in hand.
If you forget to provide the certificate at the time of sale, the seller has a 90-day window to obtain a fully completed certificate from you and still be relieved of liability for the uncollected tax.5Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Admin Code 18:24-10.5 – Exemption Certificates; Conditions, Retention, and Inspection; Use of Resale Certificates by Out-of-State Sellers After 90 days, that protection is gone regardless of whether you eventually turn in the form.
Keep a Copy for Four Years
Both buyer and seller must retain the certificate for at least four years under N.J.A.C. 18:24-2.5.6Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Admin Code 18:24-2.5 – Resale and Exemption Certificates If the Division of Taxation audits you and no certificate can be produced, the seller loses liability protection and the buyer loses the exemption. The tax becomes due as though the certificate never existed.
Four years is the floor. Some businesses hold these records for six or seven years to cover audits that reach further back on suspicion of fraud. Digital copies are acceptable; keep them legible, organized by vendor, and backed up.
If Your Business Is Registered Outside New Jersey
Form ST-3 is for buyers registered with New Jersey. If your business is registered elsewhere and you’re buying from a New Jersey supplier for resale in another state, you use Form ST-3NR, the Resale Certificate for Non-New Jersey Sellers.4NJ Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Forms and Certificates It requires evidence that you hold a valid seller’s license in at least one other jurisdiction. And if you take physical delivery of the goods at the seller’s New Jersey location, meaning you or your carrier picks them up in-state, a standard out-of-state resale certificate or multi-jurisdictional form won’t do; you need ST-3NR specifically.5Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Admin Code 18:24-10.5 – Exemption Certificates; Conditions, Retention, and Inspection; Use of Resale Certificates by Out-of-State Sellers
New Jersey is a full member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. If you buy for resale in multiple SSUTA states, you can use a single SSUTA Certificate of Exemption and attach the Multistate Supplemental form listing each state and your registration number there.7Streamlined Sales Tax. Certificate of Exemption Instructions As of late 2025, 23 states are full SSUTA members, plus Tennessee as an associate member.8Streamlined Sales Tax. State Detail
Don’t Use It for Things You Won’t Resell
The resale certificate applies only to items you actually intend to resell. Buying tax-free with ST-3 and then using the goods yourself, whether as office supplies, promotional giveaways, samples, or display items, triggers a New Jersey use tax obligation at the same 6.625% rate.9New Jersey Division of Taxation. ANJ-7 New Jersey Use Tax You report and pay that on your regular sales and use tax return.
Intent at the time of purchase is what matters. If you knew you weren’t going to resell an item, the certificate shouldn’t have been used. If the change in use came later, when you originally planned to sell something and then decided to keep it for internal use, report the use tax on your next return and move on. Businesses that routinely pull inventory for internal use without tracking use tax are sitting on audit exposure that compounds every quarter.
Deliberate misuse is worse. Using ST-3 to dodge sales tax on personal purchases or on items you know won’t be resold exposes you to back taxes, interest running from the original purchase date, and potential criminal charges under the perjury language on the form.3New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3) When auditors identify a pattern of misuse in a sample period, they may extrapolate that error rate across the full audit window rather than reviewing each transaction, which can multiply the assessment substantially. In misuse cases the state pursues the buyer, not the seller, provided the seller collected a properly completed certificate.5Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Admin Code 18:24-10.5 – Exemption Certificates; Conditions, Retention, and Inspection; Use of Resale Certificates by Out-of-State Sellers
Register through NJ-REG, wait for your Certificate of Authority and taxpayer ID, complete Form ST-3 in full, hand it to each supplier, and keep a copy on file for at least four years. That’s the whole process.