What is a resale certificate called in North Dakota?

North Dakota calls it the Certificate of Resale (Form SFN 21950). The buyer fills in and signs the North Dakota Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · North Dakota

How to Use the North Dakota Certificate of Resale

The short answer. The North Dakota Certificate of Resale (Form SFN 21950) is the document a business gives a supplier to buy goods for resale without paying North Dakota sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the North Dakota Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller. North Dakota names 3 documents for this, set out below.

Resale Certificates in North Dakota at a Glance

What North Dakota calls it	Certificate of Resale (Form SFN 21950)
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	Another state's registration accepted (buyers located outside North Dakota 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 Dakota 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 North Dakota

A buyer located outside North Dakota that is not required to register there may give the North Dakota Certificate of Resale with a registration number issued by another state.

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

Which Documents Are Accepted

North Dakota names these documents:

Certificate of Resale (SFN 21950)
the MTC Uniform Sales and Use Tax Certificate
the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption

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

North Dakota accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.

How Long It Lasts

How long the North Dakota Certificate of Resale stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays valid without renewal as long as no more than 12 months pass between your purchases from that seller. The Tax Commissioner's guideline also advises sellers to obtain certificates at least every two years.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under North Dakota'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 the required data elements, within 90 days of the sale, or, within 120 days after the state requests substantiation, obtain one taken in good faith or otherwise show the sale was not taxable. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its own location where the state's posted form shows the exemption is not available. On the 120-day route it also loses protection if it had knowledge or had reason to know that the information was materially false, or knowingly took part in purposefully evading the tax.

We have not confirmed how long a seller should keep a resale certificate; check with the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.

More for North Dakota Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: North Dakota calls it the Certificate of Resale (Form SFN 21950). The buyer fills in and signs the North Dakota Certificate of Resale and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer located outside North Dakota that is not required to register there may give the North Dakota Certificate of Resale with a registration number issued by another state.
: North Dakota accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate. North Dakota accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
: How long the North Dakota Certificate of Resale stays valid depends on the circumstances. A blanket certificate stays valid without renewal as long as no more than 12 months pass between your purchases from that seller. The Tax Commissioner's guideline also advises sellers to obtain certificates at least every two years. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under North Dakota'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 the required data elements, within 90 days of the sale, or, within 120 days after the state requests substantiation, obtain one taken in good faith or otherwise show the sale was not taxable. The seller loses this protection if it fraudulently failed to collect the tax, solicited buyers to claim an exemption unlawfully, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its own location where the state's posted form shows the exemption is not available. On the 120-day route it also loses protection if it had knowledge or had reason to know that the information was materially false, or knowingly took part in purposefully evading the tax. We have not confirmed how long a seller should keep a resale certificate; check with the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.

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 Dakota 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.

tax.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/forms/business/sales-use/resale-cert1.pdfCertificate of Resale SFN 21950 (3-2026)
tax.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/guidelines/business/sales-use/sales-use-and-gross-receipts-tax-requirements-1.pdfSales Tax: Sales, Use, and Gross Receipts Tax Requirements Guideline
ndlegis.gov/prod/acdata/pdf/81-04.1-01.pdfN.D. Admin. Code 81-04.1-01-15 Certificate of resale
ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c39-4.pdfN.D.C.C. ch. 57-39.4 (57-39.4-18 Administration of exemptions)
ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c39-2.pdfN.D.C.C. ch. 57-39.2 (57-39.2-10 Records required, sales for resale exempt)
ncdor.gov/e595e-4-2022-webfillpdf/openForm E-595E (SST Certificate of Exemption, NCDOR copy)
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 Dakota: N.D.C.C. 57-39.2-10; N.D.C.C. 57-39.4-18
Law on resale certificates in North Dakota: N.D. Admin. Code 81-04.1-01-15

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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.