What is a resale certificate called in California?

California calls it the California Resale Certificate (Form CDTFA-230). The buyer fills in and signs the California Resale Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · California

How to Use the California Resale Certificate

The short answer. The California Resale Certificate (Form CDTFA-230) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying California sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the California Resale Certificate and gives it to the seller. California publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in California at a Glance

What California calls it	California Resale Certificate (Form CDTFA-230)
How you get it	The buyer fills it in
Documents accepted	The state's form, or any document with the required information
Blank form	Download it from the state
Who may give one	A written statement accepted in place of a number (buyers not required to register in California)
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Not confirmed
How long it lasts	Does not expire
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Accepting it in good faith
Seller keeps it for	At least 4 years (the state's general sales tax records period)
Law	California statute and regulation, cited in the sources

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who May Give a Resale Certificate in California

A buyer that is not required to register in California may give the California Resale Certificate with a written statement in place of a registration number. If you are not required to hold a California seller's permit, for example because you make no sales in California, you write on the certificate a sufficient explanation of why you are not required to hold one, in place of the permit number.

The buyer fills in and signs the California Resale Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

California publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

The Multistate Tax Commission lists California among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for California say: California accepts it only as a resale certificate, not as an exemption certificate, and only under the rules of Regulation 1668.

We have not confirmed whether California accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

What the certificate must contain is set by California law, cited in the sources.

How Long It Lasts

The California Resale Certificate does not expire.

One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under California's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale.

The state's general sales tax records period is at least 4 years.

Worth Knowing in California

The certificate must be given to the seller before you are billed, within the seller's normal billing and payment cycle, or at or before delivery. A certificate taken later is not retroactive; the seller is then relieved only if it shows the goods were in fact resold (Reg. 1668(e)).

More for California Businesses

California's sales tax registration page
Sales tax nexus checker, to see where your sales may require you to register.
California LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in California, for selling through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: California calls it the California Resale Certificate (Form CDTFA-230). The buyer fills in and signs the California Resale Certificate and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer that is not required to register in California may give the California Resale Certificate with a written statement in place of a registration number. If you are not required to hold a California seller's permit, for example because you make no sales in California, you write on the certificate a sufficient explanation of why you are not required to hold one, in place of the permit number.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists California among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for California say: California accepts it only as a resale certificate, not as an exemption certificate, and only under the rules of Regulation 1668. We have not confirmed whether California accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
: The California Resale Certificate does not expire. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under California's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The state's general sales tax records period is at least 4 years.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's tax agency, or the multistate bodies' published notes, say about the certificate a buyer gives a supplier when it buys goods for resale, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own purchase qualifies: that turns on what you buy, whether you resell it, and where you are registered, and a certificate given for a purchase that does not qualify can leave the buyer owing the tax. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you give or accept one.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified California sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol1/sutr/1668.html18 CCR 1668, Sales for Resale
cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol1/sutr/1698.html18 CCR 1698, Records
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=6091Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 6091
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=6092Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 6092
cdtfa.ca.gov/DownloadFile.ashx?path=/formspubs/cdtfa230.pdfCDTFA-230, General Resale Certificate
mtc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Unif-Resale-Cert-revised-10-14-22.pdfMTC Uniform Sales & Use Tax Resale Certificate, Multijurisdiction (rev. 10/14/2022)
streamlinedsalestax.org/Shared-Pages/State-DetailStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, State Detail (member state list)
Law on resale certificates in California: Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 6091
Law on resale certificates in California: 18 CCR 1668
What the certificate must contain: 18 CCR 1668(b)(1)

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.