Virginia: Sales Tax Handbook
Virginia Sales Tax Exemption / Resale Forms
5 PDFs
If you are a retailer making purchases for resale, or need to make a purchase that is exempt from the Virginia sales tax, you need the appropriate Virginia sales tax exemption certificate before you can begin making tax-free purchases. This page explains how to make tax-free purchases in Virginia, and lists five Virginia sales tax exemption forms available for download.
Printable Virginia Exemption Certificates
We have five Virginia 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.
Virginia 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 Virginia
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 Virginia provides certain forms to be used when you wish to purchase tax-exempt items such as prescription medicines.
The "Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption" should be utilized when purchasing merchandise specifically for resale, lease, rental, or to package tangible personal property which is for sale.
The form 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 Virginia sales tax exemption certificate good for?
The most of the exemption certificates are considered to be indefinitely valid until the purchaser receives a notice from Department of Taxation that their certificate is no longer considered to be acceptable for them to use, or has been revoked. Non profit organization have an expiration date stated on the certificate itself.
Can I use a blanket resale exemption certificate in Virginia?
Unfortunately, Virginia does not permit blanket resale certificates, This means that a unique certificate must be on file with the vendor for each tax-exempt purchase made.
Acceptance of uniform sales tax certificates in Virginia
Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia.
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