How to Get and Complete the Iowa Resale Certificate (Form 31-014)

Iowa’s resale and exemption certificate, Form 31-014, is filled out by the purchaser and handed to the seller — the Iowa Department of Revenue never receives it directly. Completing it correctly is how a business avoids paying Iowa’s 6% state sales tax (plus the 1% local option tax in most jurisdictions) on qualifying purchases such as inventory bought for resale, manufacturing equipment, or qualifying farm machinery.¹ The current version is 31-014a, dated 09/08/2025, and is available as a free PDF from the Department’s Common Forms page or directly at revenue.iowa.gov.² Once signed, the certificate stays on file with the seller as proof that the transaction was legitimately tax-exempt.

Purchases That Qualify

The exemption turns on how the purchaser uses the property, not on who the purchaser is. Iowa Administrative Code Rule 701—209.1 sets the framework: if the purchaser signs under penalty of perjury that the purchase is for a nontaxable purpose and the seller accepts the certificate in good faith, the seller is relieved of liability for the uncollected tax.³

The form lists over a dozen exemption categories. The most common ones:

Resale. A retailer or wholesaler buying inventory to sell to customers. The final consumer pays tax at the register, so taxing the retailer’s purchase would be double taxation.
Leasing. Goods bought to lease out, where the lease payments themselves are subject to sales tax.
Processing. Materials that become part of a finished product sold at retail, including chemicals, solvents, and reagents consumed during processing.⁴
Manufacturing machinery, equipment, replacement parts, supplies, and computers that are directly and primarily used in processing by a manufacturer. The exemption reaches test equipment for quality control, R&D equipment, pollution control equipment, and recycling equipment.⁵
Farm machinery and equipment that is either self-propelled and directly and primarily used in production, or customarily drawn or attached to self-propelled equipment. “Directly and primarily used” means more than 50% of total use time on agricultural production. Replacement parts for qualifying farm machinery have their own checkbox.⁶
Grain bins and replacement parts, qualifying computer software, and specified digital products, each with a separate checkbox.
Direct pay. Businesses that hold a Department-issued direct-pay permit check this box and enter the permit number, then self-assess and remit tax directly instead of paying it to the seller.⁴
Other. A catch-all line where you describe a different statutory exemption.

How to Fill Out Form 31-014

Download the current 31-014a and complete each section. The purchaser is responsible for filling it out.

Seller information. Full legal name and address of the business making the sale.
Purchaser information. Full legal name, address, and contact details of the buying business.
Sales and use or excise tax permit number. Enter your Iowa permit number if you have one. The form says “if required” — retailers with a sales and use tax permit must provide it, but out-of-state purchasers who don’t hold an Iowa permit can leave this field blank.
Nature of business. Select the category that describes what you do: wholesaling, retailing, manufacturing, farming, or another option.
Reason for exemption. Check the box for your claimed exemption. It must line up with the nature of business you selected. A retailer claiming the resale exemption is consistent; a retailer claiming the farm equipment exemption is not, unless the same business also farms.
Description of property or services. Be specific. “Lumber for resale” or “chemicals used in manufacturing” work. “Merchandise” or “supplies” do not — vague descriptions invite scrutiny during an audit and can be treated as invalid.
Single-purchase or blanket certificate. Check “Single-purchase certificate” for one transaction, or “Blanket certificate” if you buy from this seller regularly.
Signature and date. The purchaser signs under penalty of perjury. An unsigned certificate is invalid.

Blanket Certificates and How Long They Last

A blanket certificate covers all qualifying purchases from the same seller going forward, so you don’t have to fill out new paperwork for every order. It remains valid until the purchaser revokes it or until 12 months pass with no purchases between the same buyer and seller.⁴ If a full year goes by without an order, the certificate expires automatically and you’ll need to provide a new one before your next tax-exempt purchase.

When to Give the Certificate to the Seller

Hand the completed certificate to the seller at or before the time of the transaction. If it doesn’t make it in at the point of sale, the seller has a 90-day window after the transaction to collect a fully completed certificate. Beyond that, the seller can still avoid liability if they produce a valid certificate or other proof of exemption within 120 days of the Department requesting substantiation during an audit.³ Missing both deadlines puts the seller on the hook for the tax, which typically means they’ll come back to you for it.

Out-of-State Purchasers

You can still use Form 31-014 if your business is based outside Iowa. The resale exemption doesn’t require an Iowa permit; the form’s instructions note that a purchaser “may act as either a retailer or wholesaler and may not be required to have a sales and use tax permit.”⁴ Leave the permit number field blank and complete the rest of the form.

Iowa is also a member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, so sellers can accept the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) Certificate of Exemption as a valid alternative.⁷ If you already have a completed SST certificate on file with a seller, you generally don’t need to also give them a separate Iowa form for the same exemption.

If You Later Use the Goods Yourself

If you buy something tax-free under a resale exemption and then pull it off the shelf for your own use, you owe use tax on that item. Iowa’s Sales and Use Tax Guide is direct on this: businesses that purchase items tax-free for resale but later use them for personal or business operations must self-assess and remit use tax.¹

How you report it depends on volume. If your business owes $1,200 or more in use tax per year, you need a sales and use tax permit and report the amount as “taxable purchases” on your regular sales and use tax return. If you owe less than $1,200 and don’t already hold a permit, you can file the Iowa Non-Permit Use Tax Return.¹ Failing to self-report use tax can result in liability plus penalty and interest when the Department catches the discrepancy during an audit.

Penalties for Misuse

Using Form 31-014 to avoid sales tax on personal purchases carries real criminal exposure. The certificate is signed under penalty of perjury, and Iowa Code §423.40 makes willful attempts to evade sales or use tax, or filing a false or fraudulent return with intent to evade, a class “D” felony.⁸ A class “D” felony carries up to five years in prison and a fine between $750 and $7,500.⁹

Short of a felony charge, willfully making a false return or willfully failing to pay at least 90% of the tax owed is a fraudulent practice, separately punishable under Iowa’s general fraud statutes.⁸ The Department has six years to bring a prosecution for these offenses, longer than the standard three-year window for civil assessments. If the purchase isn’t genuinely exempt, pay the tax at the register.

1
Iowa Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Guide
2
Iowa Department of Revenue. Common Forms
3
Iowa Administrative Rules. ARC 8151C
4
Iowa Department of Revenue. Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate
5
Iowa Department of Revenue. Iowa Sales and Use Tax on Manufacturing and Processing
6
Legal Information Institute. Iowa Code r 701-214.17
7
Iowa Department of Revenue. Streamlined Sales Tax
8
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 423.40
9
Worth County Iowa. Fines