What is a resale certificate called in Iowa?

Iowa calls it the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 31-014). The buyer fills in and signs the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Iowa

How to Use the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate

The short answer. The Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 31-014) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying Iowa sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller. Iowa publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in Iowa at a Glance

What Iowa calls it	Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 31-014)
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	Another state's registration accepted (buyers located outside Iowa that are not required to register)
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Accepted
How long it lasts	Depends on the circumstances
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Obtaining a fully completed certificate
Seller keeps it for	Until a stated event, see below
Law	Iowa 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 Iowa

A buyer located outside Iowa that is not required to register there may give the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate with a registration number issued by another state.

The buyer fills in and signs the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

Iowa accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate.

Iowa accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.

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

How Long It Lasts

How long the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays valid until the buyer cancels it, or until 12 months pass with no purchases between the same buyer and seller.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Iowa's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller must obtain the fully completed certificate, or its data elements, at the time of sale or within 90 days after it; failing that, it can still be relieved by obtaining a fully completed certificate taken in good faith, or proving the sale was not taxable, within 120 days of the Department's request. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim the exemption unlawfully, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its own location where the certificate shows that exemption is not available.

The state's general sales tax records period ends on an event rather than after a set number of years. Keep the certificate for as long as it may be relevant to the Department of Revenue's determination of tax for any year, and until any pending appeal is finally resolved.

More for Iowa Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Iowa calls it the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 31-014). The buyer fills in and signs the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer located outside Iowa that is not required to register there may give the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate with a registration number issued by another state.
: Iowa accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate. Iowa accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
: How long the Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays valid until the buyer cancels it, or until 12 months pass with no purchases between the same buyer and seller. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Iowa's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller must obtain the fully completed certificate, or its data elements, at the time of sale or within 90 days after it; failing that, it can still be relieved by obtaining a fully completed certificate taken in good faith, or proving the sale was not taxable, within 120 days of the Department's request. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim the exemption unlawfully, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its own location where the certificate shows that exemption is not available. The state's general sales tax records period ends on an event rather than after a set number of years. Keep the certificate for as long as it may be relevant to the Department of Revenue's determination of tax for any year, and until any pending appeal is finally resolved.

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 Iowa 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.

legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/rule/701.209.1.pdfIowa Admin. Code r. 701-209.1, Exemption certificates
legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/423.45.pdfIowa Code 423.45, Refunds; exemption certificates
legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/423.51.pdfIowa Code 423.51, Administration of exemptions
revenue.iowa.gov/media/2265/download?inline=Iowa Sales/Use/Excise Tax Exemption Certificate 31-014 (09/08/2025) and instructions
legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/agency/05-27-2026.701.pdfIowa Administrative Code, Revenue Department [701] (05-27-2026), rule 701-11.3 Taxpayer records
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)
streamlinedsalestax.org/Shared-Pages/State-DetailStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, State Information (member state list)
Law on resale certificates in Iowa: Iowa Code 423.45(4); Iowa Code 423.51
Law on resale certificates in Iowa: Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-209.1
What the certificate must contain: Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-209.1(1)(a)

More for Iowa 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.