What is a resale certificate called in Illinois?

Illinois calls it the Certificate of Resale (Form CRT-61). The buyer fills in and signs the Illinois Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Illinois

How to Use the Illinois Certificate of Resale

The short answer. The Illinois Certificate of Resale (Form CRT-61) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying Illinois sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the Illinois Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller. Illinois publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in Illinois at a Glance

What Illinois calls it	Certificate of Resale (Form CRT-61)
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	Depends on the circumstances
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Not confirmed
How long it lasts	Depends on the circumstances
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Relief from the burden of proof only, see below
Seller keeps it for	At least 3.5 years
Law	Illinois 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 Illinois

Whether a buyer must hold an Illinois registration or resale number to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. You need an Illinois registration or resale number, unless you are an out-of-state buyer who will resell and deliver the goods only to customers outside Illinois, in which case you give your other state's registration number and a statement saying so.

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

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

The Multistate Tax Commission lists Illinois among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Illinois say: you must enter your Illinois registration or resale number (no other state's number is accepted), and it cannot be used for services bought for resale.

We have not confirmed whether Illinois accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the Illinois Department of Revenue.

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

How Long It Lasts

How long the Illinois Certificate of Resale stays valid depends on the circumstances. Illinois sets no statutory expiry date, but the Department of Revenue says a blanket certificate should be updated at least once every three years, and a new one should be given if a stated resale percentage changes.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Illinois's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate is relieved of the burden of proving the sale was for resale only after it takes the steps the state sets. The seller must confirm that the buyer's Illinois registration or resale number is valid and active at the time of the sale (the Department's Verify a Registered Business tool at mytax.illinois.gov does this).

The state says a seller should keep the certificate at least 3.5 years.

More for Illinois Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Illinois calls it the Certificate of Resale (Form CRT-61). The buyer fills in and signs the Illinois Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller.
: Whether a buyer must hold an Illinois registration or resale number to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. You need an Illinois registration or resale number, unless you are an out-of-state buyer who will resell and deliver the goods only to customers outside Illinois, in which case you give your other state's registration number and a statement saying so.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists Illinois among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Illinois say: you must enter your Illinois registration or resale number (no other state's number is accepted), and it cannot be used for services bought for resale. We have not confirmed whether Illinois accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the Illinois Department of Revenue.
: How long the Illinois Certificate of Resale stays valid depends on the circumstances. Illinois sets no statutory expiry date, but the Department of Revenue says a blanket certificate should be updated at least once every three years, and a new one should be given if a stated resale percentage changes. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Illinois's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate is relieved of the burden of proving the sale was for resale only after it takes the steps the state sets. The seller must confirm that the buyer's Illinois registration or resale number is valid and active at the time of the sale (the Department's Verify a Registered Business tool at mytax.illinois.gov does this). The state says a seller should keep the certificate at least 3.5 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 Illinois 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.

ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/086/086001300N14050R.html86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1405, Seller's Responsibility to Obtain Certificates of Resale and Requirements for Certificates of Resale
ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/003501200K2c.htm35 ILCS 120/2c, Resales of tangible personal property
tax.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/tax/forms/sales/documents/sales/crt-61.pdfCRT-61 Certificate of Resale (R-04/25)
tax.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/tax/forms/sales/documents/sales/CRT-61Instr.pdfCRT-61 Certificate of Resale Instructions (R-04/25)
tax.illinois.gov/businesses/crtinfo.htmlCertificate of Resale, Illinois Department of Revenue
mtc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Unif-Resale-Cert-revised-10-14-22.pdfMTC Uniform Sales & Use Tax Resale Certificate, Multijurisdiction (rev. Oct. 14, 2022), notes 5 and 12
Law on resale certificates in Illinois: 35 ILCS 120/2c
Law on resale certificates in Illinois: 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1405
What the certificate must contain: 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1405(b)

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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.