What is a resale certificate called in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania calls it the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (Form REV-1220). The buyer fills in and signs the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Pennsylvania

How to Use the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate

The short answer. The Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (Form REV-1220) lets a business buy goods for resale without paying Pennsylvania sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the certificate and gives it to the seller. Pennsylvania requires its own form rather than a document you draw up yourself, apart from the MTC certificate (which the Commission's notes list Pennsylvania as accepting), covered below.

Resale Certificates in Pennsylvania at a Glance

What Pennsylvania calls it	Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (Form REV-1220)
How you get it	The buyer fills it in
Documents accepted	The state's own form; other routes below
Blank form	Download it from the state
Who may give one	A written statement accepted in place of a number (buyers located outside Pennsylvania that are not required to register)
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Not confirmed
How long it lasts	Not confirmed
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Accepting it in good faith
Seller keeps it for	At least 4 years
Law	Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

A buyer located outside Pennsylvania that is not required to register there may give the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate with a written statement in place of a registration number. If you do not hold a Pennsylvania Sales Tax License or wholesaler certificate ID, write a statement on the certificate (line 8 of REV-1220) explaining why a Pennsylvania number is not required.

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

Which Documents Are Accepted

Pennsylvania requires its own form rather than a document you draw up yourself, apart from the MTC certificate (which the Commission's notes list Pennsylvania as accepting), covered below.

The Multistate Tax Commission lists Pennsylvania among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Pennsylvania say: Pennsylvania accepts it as a resale certificate only, not for any other exemption. Enter your 8 digit Pennsylvania Sales and Use Tax license number, or explain why you are not licensed.

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

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

How Long It Lasts

We have not confirmed how long the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate stays valid; check with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Pennsylvania's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The certificate must be properly completed, the seller must have it within 60 days after the sale, and the seller must not know that any information on it is false.

The state says a seller should keep the certificate at least 4 years. The period runs from the date of each exempt sale the certificate covers.

Worth Knowing in Pennsylvania

REV-1220 covers every Pennsylvania exemption, so for inventory check box 3 and enter your 8 digit Sales Tax License or wholesaler certificate ID. The seller must have the certificate within 60 days of the sale.

More for Pennsylvania Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Pennsylvania calls it the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (Form REV-1220). The buyer fills in and signs the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer located outside Pennsylvania that is not required to register there may give the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate with a written statement in place of a registration number. If you do not hold a Pennsylvania Sales Tax License or wholesaler certificate ID, write a statement on the certificate (line 8 of REV-1220) explaining why a Pennsylvania number is not required.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists Pennsylvania among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Pennsylvania say: Pennsylvania accepts it as a resale certificate only, not for any other exemption. Enter your 8 digit Pennsylvania Sales and Use Tax license number, or explain why you are not licensed. We have not confirmed whether Pennsylvania accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
: We have not confirmed how long the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate stays valid; check with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Pennsylvania's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The certificate must be properly completed, the seller must have it within 60 days after the sale, and the seller must not know that any information on it is false. The state says a seller should keep the certificate at least 4 years. The period runs from the date of each exempt sale the certificate covers.

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 Pennsylvania 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.

pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/revenue/documents/formsandpublications/formsforbusinesses/sut/documents/rev-1220.pdfREV-1220 Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (07-23)
pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/061/chapter32/s32.2.html61 Pa. Code 32.2 Exemption certificates
pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/061/chapter32/s32.3.html61 Pa. Code 32.3 Sales for resale
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 25
hub.business.pa.gov/Home/HelpCenterDetail/CompletethePATaxExemptionCertificatePA Business One-Stop Hub, Complete the PA Tax Exemption Certificate (revised 4/4/2025)
hub.business.pa.gov/Home/HelpCenterDetail/ManufacturersProcessorsWholesalersPA Business One-Stop Hub, Manufacturers/Processors/Wholesalers
Law on resale certificates in Pennsylvania: 61 Pa. Code 32.2 and 32.3
What the certificate must contain: 61 Pa. Code 32.2(b)(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.