Missouri Sales Tax Exemption for Nonprofits: Form 1746 and Form 149

A Missouri nonprofit stops paying the state’s 4.225% sales tax by filing the Missouri sales tax exemption form for nonprofits, Form 1746, with the Department of Revenue, and then presenting Form 149 to vendors at the register once the Department issues an exemption letter. Form 1746 is the application. The exemption letter is your credential. Form 149 is the certificate a vendor keeps on file to justify not charging you tax.¹

Which Nonprofits Missouri Actually Exempts

A 501(c) letter from the IRS is not automatic proof to the state. Missouri applies its own criteria under Chapter 144 of the Revised Statutes and the associated administrative regulations, and reviews organizations one at a time.¹ The categories the Department recognizes are:

Religious and charitable organizations, for sales made to or by them in their religious or charitable functions.
Educational institutions that provide systematic instruction.
Civic, social, service, and fraternal organizations, but only when operating solely in a civic or charitable capacity and only when net proceeds go toward those purposes.
Missouri state agencies, political subdivisions, and federal agencies, which qualify without supporting documentation.

The regulation ties the exemption to your “functions and activities,” not to your organization as a whole.² The same fraternal group can buy supplies tax-free for a charitable youth program and still owe tax on equipment for a fee-generating office serving the general public.

What to Send With Form 1746

Form 1746 is available on the Department of Revenue’s website. The form itself asks for your organization’s name, street and mailing addresses, the location where books and records are kept, information on at least one or two officers, and any Missouri Tax ID number the state has previously issued you.³

The attachments are where most applications succeed or stall. Send:

A copy of your IRS 501(c) determination letter. Federal agencies, state agencies, Missouri political subdivisions, and public schools are not required to submit this.
A Certificate of Incorporation or Registration from the Missouri Secretary of State, if your nonprofit is incorporated or registered here.
Bylaws describing how the organization operates and what happens to its assets on dissolution.
A three-year financial statement showing sources and amounts of income and a breakdown of expenses. If the organization is younger than three years, send what you have; if it’s younger than six months, send a projected one-year budget. Bank statements are not accepted. A spreadsheet, ledger, or Form 990 copies will work.
For out-of-state nonprofits, a copy of the sales tax exemption letter from your home state.

The regulation also lets the Department request any other document it considers reasonable.⁴ If you can’t provide something on the list, include a letter explaining why. Silence on a missing attachment is what sends files to the bottom of a reviewer’s pile.

Submitting the Application

Mail the completed Form 1746 and attachments to the Department of Revenue’s Taxation Division in Jefferson City. The exemptions team can also be reached at 573-751-2836, by fax at 573-522-1271, or at salestaxexemptions@dor.mo.gov.¹

If the documentation establishes that you qualify, the Department issues a letter of exemption containing a Missouri Tax ID number vendors will ask to see. The letter belongs to the named organization only and is not transferable.⁴

No processing timeline is published. Plan on several weeks, longer when attachments are missing or the financials lack detail. You cannot make tax-exempt purchases until the letter is in hand.

What Form 149 Does at the Register

Form 149 is the Missouri Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate. You hand it to the vendor; they keep it on file. Fill in the vendor’s name, your organization’s name and address, and your Missouri Tax ID number, then check the box matching your exemption type — Religious, Charitable, and other categories are listed on the form.

Vendors are not required to accept the certificate, and they can be held liable if they accept an exemption claim not made in good faith, so expect some sellers to look closely at what you hand them.¹ Providing false information on Form 149 can bring penalties and revocation of your exempt status. Auditors do follow up on exemption certificates.

What the Exemption Does Not Cover

The exemption applies to purchases used directly in your exempt functions and to sales your organization makes where the net proceeds go toward its exempt purpose and are separately tracked.² Beverage sales at an event whose proceeds are not separately accounted for do not qualify. Equipment for a fee office that does not serve the exempt purpose does not qualify.

The rule that catches nonprofits off guard: you cannot use the exemption letter to run a competitive commercial business open to the general public, even when every dollar of profit funds your charitable work. That activity requires a Missouri Retail Sales Tax License, and you must collect and remit tax like any other seller.¹

Keeping the Letter Valid

Once issued, the exemption letter stays in effect unless changes to your organization’s structure or operations would make it invalid.⁴ Sellers, however, are required to update their records every five years. When a vendor asks for a fresh copy, request one from the Department by phone, fax, email, or mail.¹

If the letter has fully expired, a fresh copy is not enough. You’ll need to submit a new Form 1746 with current attachments and go through the review again. During that gap, expect to pay sales tax on purchases.

The Federal Filing That Protects Your State Exemption

The Missouri exemption rests on your underlying federal tax-exempt status. Lose the federal status and the state exemption goes with it. The most common way organizations lose federal status is by failing to file the required annual return for three consecutive years, which triggers automatic revocation.⁵

Which return you owe depends on size: Form 990 for organizations with gross receipts of $200,000 or more or total assets of $500,000 or more; Form 990-EZ below those thresholds; Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less; and Form 990-PF for all private foundations regardless of size. Returns are due on the 15th day of the fifth month after your tax year ends — May 15 for a calendar-year filer. Form 8868 gets an automatic six-month extension of the filing deadline but does not extend payment of any unrelated business income tax. Churches and certain church-affiliated organizations are generally exempt from annual filing under 26 U.S.C. § 6033(a)(3).⁵ Every other exempt nonprofit should treat the annual return as the price of keeping its Missouri exemption alive.

1
Missouri Department of Revenue. Maintain Non Profit Organizations
2
Legal Information Institute. Missouri Code 12 CSR 10-110.955 – Sales and Purchases-Exempt Organizations
3
Missouri Department of Revenue. Form 1746 – Missouri Sales or Use Tax Exemption Application
4
Legal Information Institute. Missouri Code 12 CSR 10-110.950 – Letters of Exemption Issued by the Department of Revenue
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 26 Section 6033 – Returns by Exempt Organizations