What is a resale certificate called in Minnesota?

Minnesota calls it the Certificate of Exemption (Form ST3). The buyer fills in and signs the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Minnesota

How to Use the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption

The short answer. The Minnesota Certificate of Exemption (Form ST3) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying Minnesota sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller. Minnesota publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in Minnesota at a Glance

What Minnesota calls it	Certificate of Exemption (Form ST3)
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 (any buyer not registered in Minnesota)
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Accepted
How long it lasts	Does not expire, with conditions
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Obtaining a fully completed certificate
Seller keeps it for	At least 3.5 years (the state's general sales tax records period)
Law	Minnesota 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 Minnesota

A buyer that is not registered in Minnesota may give the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption with a registration number issued by another state.

The buyer fills in and signs the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

The Multistate Tax Commission lists Minnesota among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Minnesota say: enter your Minnesota tax ID in the MN row, or if you have none, another state's ID and that state, your FEIN, or a driver's license or state ID number with the state of issue. You must also check a Minnesota business type code, and the MTC form may be used to claim the resale exemption only.

Minnesota accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.

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

How Long It Lasts

The Minnesota Certificate of Exemption does not expire. It stays valid unless the information on it changes.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Minnesota's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller is protected if it obtains the completed certificate within 90 days after the sale, or within 120 days after a Department request. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax or solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully. A certificate obtained after a Department request does not protect a seller that knew or had reason to know it was materially false, or that knowingly took part in evading the tax.

The state's general sales tax records period is at least 3.5 years.

Worth Knowing in Minnesota

Form ST3 covers every Minnesota exemption, not only resale, so check reason H (Resale) on it. A liquor retailer cannot sell alcoholic beverages to a buyer claiming the resale exemption without the commissioner's written approval.

More for Minnesota Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Minnesota calls it the Certificate of Exemption (Form ST3). The buyer fills in and signs the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer that is not registered in Minnesota may give the Minnesota Certificate of Exemption with a registration number issued by another state.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists Minnesota among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Minnesota say: enter your Minnesota tax ID in the MN row, or if you have none, another state's ID and that state, your FEIN, or a driver's license or state ID number with the state of issue. You must also check a Minnesota business type code, and the MTC form may be used to claim the resale exemption only. Minnesota accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
: The Minnesota Certificate of Exemption does not expire. It stays valid unless the information on it changes. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Minnesota's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller is protected if it obtains the completed certificate within 90 days after the sale, or within 120 days after a Department request. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax or solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully. A certificate obtained after a Department request does not protect a seller that knew or had reason to know it was materially false, or that knowingly took part in evading the tax. The state's general sales tax records period is 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 Minnesota 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.

revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/297A.72Minn. Stat. 297A.72 Exemption certificates
revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/297A.665Minn. Stat. 297A.665 Presumption of tax; burden of proof
revisor.mn.gov/rules/8130.7501/Minn. R. 8130.7501 Returns and records
revenue.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2026-06/st3-26.pdfForm ST3, Certificate of Exemption (Rev. 6/26)
revenue.state.mn.us/guide/nontaxable-salesNontaxable Sales (Minnesota Sales and Use Tax Business Guide)
revenue.state.mn.us/streamlined-sales-and-use-taxStreamlined Sales and Use Tax (Minnesota 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. 10/14/2022), note 18
streamlinedsalestax.org/for-businesses/exemptionsStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board: Exemptions (member states)
Law on resale certificates in Minnesota: Minn. Stat. 297A.72; Minn. Stat. 297A.665
Law on resale certificates in Minnesota: Minn. R. 8130.7501
What the certificate must contain: Minn. Stat. 297A.72, subd. 2
Minn. Stat. 340A.505

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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.