Resale certificate · Virginia

How to Use the Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale)

The short answer. The Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) (Form ST-10) is for goods bought for resale. The buyer fills in and signs the Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) and gives it to the seller. Virginia publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in Virginia at a Glance

What Virginia calls it	Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) (Form ST-10)
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 Virginia that are not required to register)
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Not confirmed
How long it lasts	Does not expire
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Accepting it in good faith
Seller keeps it for	3 years (the state's general sales tax records period)
Law	Virginia 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 Virginia

A buyer located outside Virginia that is not required to register there may buy for resale using a registration number issued by another state. The document it gives is Form ST-10 with its other-state registration number, or its own state's resale certificate if that certificate carries all the information on Form ST-10.

The buyer fills in and signs the Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) and gives it to the seller.

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

Virginia accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, with conditions. Virginia Tax rulings P.D. 95-316 and P.D. 19-125 accept a multistate blanket certificate only if it carries all the information Form ST-10 requires, is used only for the Form ST-10 purposes (resale, taxable lease or rental, and packaging), and the buyer is registered in a state listed on it. Virginia is not one of the states listed on the current MTC form.

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

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

How Long It Lasts

The Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) does not expire.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Virginia's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. A certificate that is incomplete, invalid or inconsistent on its face never protects the seller, and protection ends once the Tax Commissioner gives notice that the certificate is no longer acceptable.

The state's general sales tax records period is 3 years.

Worth Knowing in Virginia

Form ST-10 may not be used to buy cigarettes for resale; cigarette dealers use Form ST-10C issued by Virginia Tax. A construction contractor who uses or consumes the materials may not use Form ST-10 either.

More for Virginia Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Virginia calls it the Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) (Form ST-10). The buyer fills in and signs the Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) and gives it to the seller.
: A buyer located outside Virginia that is not required to register there may buy for resale using a registration number issued by another state. The document it gives is Form ST-10 with its other-state registration number, or its own state's resale certificate if that certificate carries all the information on Form ST-10.
: Virginia accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, with conditions. Virginia Tax rulings P.D. 95-316 and P.D. 19-125 accept a multistate blanket certificate only if it carries all the information Form ST-10 requires, is used only for the Form ST-10 purposes (resale, taxable lease or rental, and packaging), and the buyer is registered in a state listed on it. Virginia is not one of the states listed on the current MTC form. We have not confirmed whether Virginia accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption; check with the Virginia Department of Taxation.
: The Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Resale) does not expire. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Virginia's law, a seller that takes a resale certificate in good faith is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. A certificate that is incomplete, invalid or inconsistent on its face never protects the seller, and protection ends once the Tax Commissioner gives notice that the certificate is no longer acceptable. The state's general sales tax records period is 3 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 Virginia 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.

law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-623/Va. Code 58.1-623 Sales or leases presumed subject to tax; exemption certificates
law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title23/agency10/chapter210/section280/23VAC10-210-280 Certificates of exemption
law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title23/agency10/chapter210/section470/23VAC10-210-470 Dealer's records
tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/exemption-certificates/any/st-10-any.pdfForm ST-10 Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Rev. 05/26)
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/97-95Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 97-95, Resale certificates
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/95-316/Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 95-316, Generic Exemption Certificates
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/19-125Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 19-125, Resale Exemption: Foreign Export Customers
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/10-21Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 10-21
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/97-329Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 97-329, Out-of-state resale and exemption certificates
mtc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Unif-Resale-Cert-revised-10-14-22.pdfMTC Uniform Sales & Use Tax Resale Certificate, Multijurisdiction (revised 10/14/2022)
streamlinedsalestax.org/about-us/state-informationStreamlined Sales Tax Governing Board: State Information (member list)
tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/25-81Ruling of the Tax Commissioner P.D. 25-81
Law on resale certificates in Virginia: Va. Code 58.1-623
Law on resale certificates in Virginia: 23VAC10-210-280
What the certificate must contain: Va. Code 58.1-623(B); P.D. 97-95 (minimum information list)

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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.