Tax Exemption

Most of our customers are tax exempt. Send us your certificate once and we will apply it to your account so tax is never charged again.

Who is usually exempt

• Public K-12 school districts and charter schools
• Private and parochial schools
• Colleges and universities
• Cities, counties, townships, special districts and state agencies
• Parks and recreation departments
• Public libraries
• Churches and religious organisations
• 501(c)(3) non-profits
• Federal agencies and military installations
• Resellers purchasing for resale

Homeowner associations are generally not exempt, though some non-profit community associations are. If you are unsure, send us what you have and we will tell you.

How to submit your certificate

1. Send us your state exemption certificate, resale certificate, or a copy of your purchase order if you are a federal buyer.
2. We verify it and tag your customer account as exempt.
3. Tax stops being charged from that point on, on every order, without you having to ask again.

Two documents we regularly receive that are not valid exemption certificates: a sales tax permit, and a W-9. Both are commonly submitted by mistake. What we need is the exemption or resale certificate issued by your state.

Make sure the name and address on the certificate match the account you are ordering under, and that it is signed and dated.

Federal buyers

Federal agencies and military installations generally provide either the first four digits of a government purchase card or a hard copy of the purchase order, rather than a state-issued certificate.

Multi-state certificates

If you operate across state lines, two multi-state forms are widely accepted and can save you filing separately in each state: the Multistate Tax Commission Uniform Sales and Use Tax Certificate, and the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board Certificate of Exemption.

Finding your state's form

A state-by-state guide showing exactly which form applies to your organisation type is being compiled and will appear here. In the meantime, send us whatever certificate you already hold and we will tell you promptly whether it is what we need.

Already ordered and were charged tax?

If you were charged tax on an order that should have been exempt, send us the certificate and the order number. We will sort out the refund.