What is a resale certificate called in North Carolina?

North Carolina calls it the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form E-595E). The buyer fills in and signs the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · North Carolina

How to Use the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption in North Carolina

The short answer. The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form E-595E) lets a business buy goods for resale without paying North Carolina sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the certificate and gives it to the seller. North Carolina publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in North Carolina at a Glance

What North Carolina calls it	Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form E-595E)
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 North Carolina 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	Not confirmed
Law	North Carolina 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 North Carolina

A buyer located outside North Carolina that is not required to register there may give the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption with a registration number issued by another state.

The buyer fills in and signs the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

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

North Carolina accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.

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

How Long It Lasts

How long the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays in effect without renewal as long as no more than 12 months pass between your purchases from that seller.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under North Carolina'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 completed certificate, or the same information, within 90 days of the sale, or a fully completed certificate or other information showing the sale was not taxable within 120 days after the Department asks for substantiation. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully, accepted an entity-based exemption not available in North Carolina for goods received at its own location, had knowledge or had reason to know at the time the information was provided that it was materially false, or knowingly participated in activity intended to purposefully evade the tax.

We have not confirmed how long a seller should keep a resale certificate; check with the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Worth Knowing in North Carolina

Instead of the paper form, you may give the seller your name, address, registration number, reason for exemption and type of business electronically.

More for North Carolina Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: North Carolina calls it the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form E-595E). The buyer fills in and signs the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer located outside North Carolina that is not required to register there may give the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption with a registration number issued by another state.
: North Carolina accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate. North Carolina accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
: How long the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays in effect without renewal as long as no more than 12 months pass between your purchases from that seller. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under North Carolina'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 completed certificate, or the same information, within 90 days of the sale, or a fully completed certificate or other information showing the sale was not taxable within 120 days after the Department asks for substantiation. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully, accepted an entity-based exemption not available in North Carolina for goods received at its own location, had knowledge or had reason to know at the time the information was provided that it was materially false, or knowingly participated in activity intended to purposefully evade the tax. We have not confirmed how long a seller should keep a resale certificate; check with the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

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 North Carolina 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.

ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_105/GS_105-164.28.htmlN.C. Gen. Stat. 105-164.28 Certificate of exemption
ncdor.gov/e595e-4-2022-webfillpdf/openForm E-595E Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Web-Fill 4-22)
ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/sales-and-use-tax/sales-and-use-tax-forms-and-certificates/exemption-certificatesNCDOR Exemption Certificates
ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/sales-and-use-tax/sales-and-use-tax-forms-and-certificates/exemption-certificates/form-e-595e-streamlined-sales-and-use-tax-certificate-exemptionForm E-595E, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption
ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/sales-and-use-tax/sales-and-use-tax-forms-and-certificates/sales-and-use-tax-registration-applications/sales-tax-guidance-newly-registered-taxpayersSales Tax Guidance for Newly Registered Taxpayers
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/about-us/state-informationStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board: State Information (member list)
Law on resale certificates in North Carolina: N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-164.28
What the certificate must contain: N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-164.28(a)(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.