What is a resale certificate called in Georgia?

Georgia calls it the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser (Form ST-5). The buyer fills in and signs the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Georgia

How to Use the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser

The short answer. The Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser (Form ST-5) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying Georgia sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser and gives it to the seller. Georgia names 2 documents for this, set out below.

Resale Certificates in Georgia at a Glance

What Georgia calls it	Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser (Form ST-5)
How you get it	The buyer fills it in
Documents accepted	The documents the state names
Blank form	Download it from the state
Who may give one	Depends on the circumstances
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Accepted
How long it lasts	Does not expire
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Relief from the burden of proof only, see below
Seller keeps it for	At least 3 years (the state's general sales tax records period)
Law	Georgia law, 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 Georgia

Whether a buyer must hold a Georgia sales and use tax number to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. A Georgia buyer must give its Georgia sales tax number on Form ST-5. A buyer outside Georgia whose only Georgia activity is buying goods it removes from Georgia uses Form ST-4 with its home state tax ID, and a buyer outside Georgia with no Georgia nexus may give its home state number when the goods are drop shipped to its customer in Georgia.

The buyer fills in and signs the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

Georgia names these documents:

Form ST-5, Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption (Georgia purchasers)
Form ST-4, Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption for an out-of-state purchaser that removes the goods from Georgia

The Multistate Tax Commission lists Georgia among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Georgia say: enter your Georgia sales tax number. A home state number is accepted instead only when you are located outside Georgia, have no Georgia nexus, and the goods are drop shipped to your customer in Georgia.

The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board lists Georgia as a member state, and member states accept its Certificate of Exemption.

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

How Long It Lasts

The Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser does not expire.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Georgia's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of the burden of proving the sale was for resale.

The state's general sales tax records period is at least 3 years.

Worth Knowing in Georgia

Sellers may verify your number with the Department's Sales Tax ID Verification Tool. Give each supplier one completed certificate and it covers your later purchases.

More for Georgia Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Georgia calls it the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser (Form ST-5). The buyer fills in and signs the Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser and gives it to the seller.
: Whether a buyer must hold a Georgia sales and use tax number to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. A Georgia buyer must give its Georgia sales tax number on Form ST-5. A buyer outside Georgia whose only Georgia activity is buying goods it removes from Georgia uses Form ST-4 with its home state tax ID, and a buyer outside Georgia with no Georgia nexus may give its home state number when the goods are drop shipped to its customer in Georgia.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists Georgia among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Georgia say: enter your Georgia sales tax number. A home state number is accepted instead only when you are located outside Georgia, have no Georgia nexus, and the goods are drop shipped to your customer in Georgia. The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board lists Georgia as a member state, and member states accept its Certificate of Exemption.
: The Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser does not expire. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Georgia's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of the burden of proving the sale was for resale. The state's general sales tax records period is at least 3 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 Georgia 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.

dor.georgia.gov/document/form/st-5-sales-tax-certificate-exemption/downloadForm ST-5 Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Georgia Purchaser (Rev. 07/11/22)
dor.georgia.gov/document/form/formst-4pdf/downloadForm ST-4 Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, Out of State Purchaser (Rev. 08/2017)
rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/560-12-1-.08Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-1-.08 Certificate of Exemption
dor.georgia.gov/taxes/business-taxes/sales-use-tax/nontaxable-salesGeorgia DOR, Nontaxable Sales
dor.georgia.gov/taxes/business-taxes/sales-use-tax/file-payGeorgia DOR, Sales and Use Tax File & Pay (FAQ on record retention)
mtc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Unif-Resale-Cert-revised-10-14-22.pdfUniform Sales & Use Tax Resale Certificate, Multijurisdiction (revised 10/14/2022), note 9
streamlinedsalestax.org/docs/default-source/forms/exemption-certificateb926a7ab4a0d43e1ad4fe8eb19e79cbb.pdf?sfvrsn=857843d_5Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption, SSTGB Form F0003 (Revised 12/21/2021), with instructions
streamlinedsalestax.org/state-details/georgiaStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, Georgia state details page with the Streamlined States full and associate member lists
Law on resale certificates in Georgia: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-1-.08
What the certificate must contain: O.C.G.A. 48-8-38, as quoted on the Georgia DOR Nontaxable Sales page

More for Georgia LLCs

Start and set up

Taxes, money and growth

Stay compliant

Operate in other states

Compare structures

By owner type

By profession

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.