North Carolina: Sales Tax Handbook

North Carolina Sales Tax Exemption / Resale Forms 2 PDFs

If you are a retailer making purchases for resale, or need to make a purchase that is exempt from the North Carolina sales tax, you need the appropriate North Carolina sales tax exemption certificate before you can begin making tax-free purchases. This page explains how to make tax-free purchases in North Carolina, and lists two North Carolina sales tax exemption forms available for download.

Printable North Carolina Exemption Certificates

We have two North Carolina sales tax exemption forms available for you to print or save as a PDF file. If any of these links are broken, or you can't find the form you need, please let us know. You can find resale certificates for other states here.

Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption	Download Now
Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption (Multistate)	Download Now

North Carolina allows the use of uniform sales tax exemption certificates, which are general exemption certificates that can be used across multiple states. You can find more info about these uniform certificates at the bottom of this page.

How to use sales tax exemption certificates in North Carolina

A sales tax exemption certificate is a form you can fill out yourself certifying that you meet the qualifications outlined for making sales-tax-free purchases. You will need to present this certificate to the vendor from whom you are making the exempt purchase - it is up to the vendor to verify that you are indeed qualified to make a tax-exempt purchase.

The state of North Carolina provides certain forms to be used when you wish to purchase tax-exempt items such as prescription medicines.

The "Certificate of Exemption" can be considered to be a general exemption certificate, as it is valid for multiple items.

The downloadable forms can be downloaded on this page.

To apply the certificate, the buyer must first present the seller with their written certificate, which legally documents the exemption. The certificate should include the date it was created, the signature of the buyer or an employee or agent who signed on behalf of the buyer, both the seller's and buyer's addresses and names, the legal basis of the exemption being utilized, the buyer's tax registration or business license number, and a description of the merchandise that the buyer wishes to purchase.

How long is my North Carolina sales tax exemption certificate good for?

Blanket certificates remain valid infinitely(so long as the buyer is making recurring purchases, at least one per year) until it is canceled by the buyer. It must be noted that the only sales that the any certificate covers are sales for resales, although not by any contractors intending to utilize the property themselves.

Can I use a blanket resale exemption certificate in North Carolina?

North Carolina does permit the use of a blanket resale certificate, which means a single certificate on file with the vendor can be re-used for all exempt purchases made from that vendor. A new certificate does not need to be made for each transaction.

Acceptance of uniform sales tax certificates in North Carolina

North Carolina is a member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, an interstate consortium with the goal of making compliance with sales taxes as simple as possible in member states.

Because North Carolina is a member of this agreement, buyers can use the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) Uniform Sales Tax Certificate when making qualifying sales-tax-exempt purchases from vendors in North Carolina.

The following guidelines are provided for the use of the MTC Uniform Sales Tax Certificate in North Carolina: