Do I need to pay sales tax if I’m a reseller?

So you are a retail business, whether operating online or have a brick and mortar store, and sell products to customers.  If you are operating your store from the State of Illinois, for example, and sell to customers in Illinois, you charge those customers a sales tax (which was covered in our NEXUS 101 video).  Now, what if you buy products from another company and resell those products to your customers?  Should that other company charge you sales tax?  The answer is NO, since you are considered a reseller.  To be exempt from sales tax, the company that you are buying products from will ask you for your CERTIFICATE OF RESALE.  They need to retain this copy for their records.  Similarly, if a company was buying products from you, then reselling them to their customers, you need to request a CERTIFICATE OF RESALE from that company and retain it for your records.  If you do not have a CERTIFICATE OF RESALE, you need to pay sales tax on all purchases.

If you are an Illinois business and have registered in Illinois, you can obtain a CERTIFICATE OF RESALE by visiting the following website:  http://tax.illinois.gov/TaxForms/Sales/CRT-61.pdf

MAKE SURE THAT YOU REGISTERED AS A RETAILER IN ILLINOIS – visit: https://mytax.illinois.gov to REGISTER AND COMPLETE THE REG-1 FORM.

Every state is different – so make sure you revisit the state sales tax rules.