What is a resale certificate called in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin calls it the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (Form S-211). The buyer fills in and signs the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.

Resale certificate · Wisconsin

How to Use the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate

The short answer. The Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (Form S-211) lets a business buy goods for resale without paying Wisconsin sales tax. The buyer fills in and signs the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller. Wisconsin publishes a form, but any document that carries the information the state requires is accepted.

Resale Certificates in Wisconsin at a Glance

What Wisconsin calls it	Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (Form S-211)
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	Depends on the circumstances
MTC uniform certificate	Accepted, with conditions
Streamlined Sales Tax certificate	Accepted
How long it lasts	Does not expire
Blanket certificate	Allowed
What protects the seller	Obtaining a fully completed certificate
Seller keeps it for	4 years (the state's general sales tax records period)
Law	Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin

Whether a buyer must hold a Wisconsin seller's permit to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. If you make retail sales in Wisconsin, enter your Wisconsin seller's permit number. A business registered as a seller in another state that makes no retail sales in Wisconsin may enter that state's name and permit number instead.

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

Which Documents Are Accepted

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

The Multistate Tax Commission lists Wisconsin among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Wisconsin say: Wisconsin accepts the MTC certificate for the resale exemption only, not for any other exemption.

Wisconsin accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.

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

How Long It Lasts

The Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate does not expire.

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

For Sellers Who Accept One

Under Wisconsin's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller must obtain a fully completed certificate by 90 days after the sale, or, within 120 days after the Department asks for 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 the buyer to claim an unlawful exemption, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its Wisconsin location when the certificate shows that exemption is not available in Wisconsin.

The state's general sales tax records period is 4 years.

Worth Knowing in Wisconsin

A continuous certificate stays in effect until you rescind it in writing to the seller. Marking a single purchase order taxable does not cancel it.

More for Wisconsin Businesses

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

Frequently Asked Questions

: Wisconsin calls it the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (Form S-211). The buyer fills in and signs the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate and gives it to the seller.
: Whether a buyer must hold a Wisconsin seller's permit to buy for resale depends on the circumstances. If you make retail sales in Wisconsin, enter your Wisconsin seller's permit number. A business registered as a seller in another state that makes no retail sales in Wisconsin may enter that state's name and permit number instead.
: The Multistate Tax Commission lists Wisconsin among the states that accept its uniform resale certificate, with conditions. The Commission's notes for Wisconsin say: Wisconsin accepts the MTC certificate for the resale exemption only, not for any other exemption. Wisconsin accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption.
: The Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate does not expire. One blanket certificate may cover repeat purchases from the same seller.
: Under Wisconsin's law, a seller that obtains a fully completed certificate is relieved of liability for the tax on that sale. The seller must obtain a fully completed certificate by 90 days after the sale, or, within 120 days after the Department asks for 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 the buyer to claim an unlawful exemption, or accepted an entity-based exemption for goods received at its Wisconsin location when the certificate shows that exemption is not available in Wisconsin. The state's general sales tax records period is 4 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 Wisconsin 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.

docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Tax%2011.14Wis. Admin. Code Tax 11.14 Exemption certificates (including resale certificates)
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/77.52(14)Wis. Stat. 77.52(14)
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Tax%2011.92Wis. Admin. Code Tax 11.92 Records and record keeping
revenue.wi.gov/dorforms/s-211f.pdfForm S-211 Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (R. 6-22)
revenue.wi.gov/DOR%20Publications/pb201.pdfPublication 201 Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Information (1/19)
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)
Law on resale certificates in Wisconsin: Wis. Stat. 77.52(14)
Law on resale certificates in Wisconsin: Wis. Admin. Code Tax 11.14
What the certificate must contain: Wis. Admin. Code Tax 11.14(2)(b), (6)(b)

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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.