How to Get a Reseller’s Permit in New Jersey: NJ-REG and ST-3

To get a reseller’s permit in New Jersey, file Form NJ-REG with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services and select Sales and Use Tax as one of your tax types. What the state issues back is called a Certificate of Authority, and that document is New Jersey’s version of a reseller’s permit: it lets you collect the 6.625% sales tax from customers and buy inventory tax-free from suppliers. The filing is free and done online.¹

What the Certificate of Authority Actually Does

Registering a business in New Jersey produces two separate documents. The Business Registration Certificate (BRC) confirms you’re registered to do business in the state. The Certificate of Authority is the one that authorizes you to collect Sales and Use Tax on New Jersey’s behalf.² You need both, but the Certificate of Authority is what people mean when they talk about a reseller’s permit.

Holding the certificate unlocks two things. First, you can legally collect sales tax from customers on taxable goods and services. Second, you can issue a New Jersey Resale Certificate (Form ST-3) to your suppliers so you don’t pay sales tax when you buy inventory for resale. That exemption applies only to items you’ll resell. Anything you buy for your own use, from office furniture to cleaning supplies, is still taxable.

What to Gather Before You Apply

The online application moves quickly if you have everything in front of you when you start:

A Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). Corporations, LLCs, and partnerships all need one, available free and immediately from IRS.gov. Sole proprietors with no employees can use their Social Security Number instead, though many still get an EIN to keep personal and business filings separate.³
Your legal business name and any trade names, matching exactly what you filed with the IRS and the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services (DORES).
A physical New Jersey street address. A P.O. box alone won’t satisfy the requirement.
Your business start date, which sets the beginning of your tax obligations.
Your NAICS code, the federal industry classification for your business type, which you can look up on the Census Bureau’s website.⁴

LLCs and corporations have to file a Certificate of Formation (or Certificate of Authorization for out-of-state entities) with DORES before filing the NJ-REG. That formation filing costs $125 for for-profit entities and $75 for domestic nonprofits.⁵ Sole proprietors and general partnerships skip the formation step and go straight to NJ-REG.

One timing warning for international applicants: if your principal place of business is outside the United States, the IRS online EIN tool won’t work for you. You’ll have to apply by phone, fax, or mail, which can slow the whole New Jersey registration down.³

Filing the NJ-REG

Form NJ-REG is filed through the DORES online portal. Every person or entity doing business in New Jersey has to complete it, even for occasional sales. File at least 15 business days before you start doing business in the state.⁶

There is no fee for the NJ-REG filing itself. The $125 Certificate of Formation cost mentioned above is a separate filing for LLCs and corporations, not an NJ-REG charge. During the registration you’ll check Sales and Use Tax as a tax type, enter your EIN, legal entity name, business address, and start date, and submit.

Once the registration processes, you’ll receive your New Jersey Tax ID number, which is your EIN plus a three-digit suffix.¹ This is the number you’ll use for all state tax filings and communications. Both the Business Registration Certificate and the Certificate of Authority arrive electronically or by mail.

Display the Certificates

Both certificates have to be displayed at all times at your place of business and at any event where you sell goods or services, including events where sales are completed online or off-site.² If you sell at trade shows, craft fairs, or pop-ups, bring copies every time.

Using Form ST-3 to Buy Inventory Tax-Free

With the Certificate of Authority in hand, you can buy inventory without paying sales tax by giving your supplier a completed Form ST-3. On it, you certify that the goods are being purchased for resale, either as-is or as a component of something you’ll make and sell.⁷ The form asks for your name, address, and New Jersey Tax ID number.

Your supplier keeps the completed ST-3 on file for at least four years from the date of the last sale it covers, and must be able to produce it if the Division of Taxation audits them.⁷ A properly completed ST-3 is what relieves the supplier of liability for not collecting tax on that sale.

Don’t use the ST-3 for personal purchases or anything the business will use internally. The form is signed under penalty of perjury, and misuse is treated as a fraudulent exemption claim. A printer for your office or snacks for the break room is taxable, regardless of your reseller status.

What You’ll Owe Once You’re Registered

Every dollar of sales tax you collect belongs to the state. New Jersey law treats it as money held in trust, not business revenue.⁸ Spending it on operating costs is one of the fastest ways to create serious legal problems, including personal liability for the owner.

How Often You File

Every registered business files quarterly returns on Form ST-50. If you collected more than $30,000 in New Jersey Sales and Use Tax during the prior calendar year, you also owe monthly payments by Monthly Voucher for the first two months of each quarter, but only when the amount for that month exceeds $500. If a month’s liability is $500 or less, skip the voucher and include that amount on your next quarterly ST-50.⁹

If you collected $30,000 or less in the prior calendar year, you file only the quarterly ST-50 and ignore the monthly voucher system entirely, no matter how much you owe in any individual month.⁹

When Returns Are Due

Both monthly vouchers and quarterly returns are due by the 20th of the month following the end of the filing period. A quarterly return for January through March is due April 20th. A January monthly voucher is due February 20th.⁹ If the 20th lands on a weekend or holiday, you have until the next business day. File even in quarters where you had no taxable sales; a zero return is still a required return. Missing deadlines triggers automatic penalties starting at 5% of the tax due per month, plus interest at the prime rate plus 3%.¹⁰

Do You Need to Register If You’re Out of State?

You don’t need a storefront or warehouse in New Jersey to be required to register. If you deliver goods or services into New Jersey from out of state and your gross revenue from those sales exceeds $100,000, or you made 200 or more separate transactions into the state during the current or prior calendar year, you have to register for a Certificate of Authority and start collecting New Jersey sales tax. Either threshold triggers the requirement on its own.¹¹

Selling through a marketplace like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy is a different story. Under New Jersey’s marketplace facilitator law, the platform generally collects and remits the sales tax on those transactions for you. You’re still on the hook for tax on sales made outside the marketplace, whether through your own website, at a trade show, or from a physical location.¹²

If you’ll need to register in several states at once, the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System (SSTRS) lets you register in all participating member states through a single free portal. New Jersey is a member.¹³ The SSTRS handles registration only; returns and payments still go directly to each state through its own system.

1
Business.NJ.gov. Register for Taxes
2
Division of Taxation. Information for Vendors
3
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
4
U.S. Census Bureau. North American Industry Classification System
5
State of New Jersey – Department of the Treasury – Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Getting Registered
6
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Doing Business in New Jersey
7
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Form ST-3 – Sales Tax Resale Certificate
8
NJ Division of Taxation. New Jersey Sales Tax Guide
9
NJ Division of Taxation. Filing and Remitting Sales and Use Tax
10
NJ Division of Taxation. When to File and Pay
11
NJ Division of Taxation. Remote Sellers
12
NJ Division of Taxation. TB-83 – Sales Through a Marketplace
13
Streamlined Sales Tax. Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System (SSTRS)