INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF RESALE CERTIFICATESFOR NON-NEW JERSEY SELLERS ST-3NR1. Registered sellers who accept fully completed exemption certificates within 90 days subsequent to the date of sale are relieved ofliability for the collection and payment of sales tax on the transactions covered by the exemption certificate. The followinginformation must be obtained from a purchaser in order for the exemption certificate to be fully completed:•Purchaser’s name and address;• Type of business;• Reasons(s) for exemption;• Purchaser’s New Jersey tax identification number or, for a purchaser that is not registered in New Jersey, theFederal employer identification number or out-of-State registration number. Individual purchasers mustinclude their driver’s license number;• If a paper exemption certificate is used (including fax), the signature of the purchaser.The seller’s name and address are not required and are not considered when determining if an exemption certificate is fully completed.A seller that enters data elements from paper into an electronic format is not required to retain the paper exemption certificate.The seller may, therefore, accept this certificate as a basis for exempting sales to the signatory purchaser and is relievedof liability even if it is determined that the purchaser improperly claimed the exemption. If it is determined that thepurchaser improperly claimed an exemption, the purchaser will be held liable for the nonpayment of the tax.2. Retention of Certificates - Certificates must be retained by the seller for a period of not less than four years from the date of the lastsale covered by the certificate. Certificates must be in the physical possession of the seller and available for inspection.3. Acceptance of an exemption certificate in an audit situation – On and after October 1, 2011, if the seller either has not obtainedan exemption certificate or the seller has obtained an incomplete exemption certificate, the seller has at least 120 days after theDivision’s request for substantiation of the claimed exemption to either:1. Obtain a fully completed exemption certificate from the purchaser, taken in good faith, which,in an audit situation, means that the seller obtain a certificate claiming an exemption that:(a) was statutorily available on the date of the transaction, and(b) could be applicable to the item being purchased, and(c) is reasonable for the purchaser’s type of business; OR2. Obtain other information establishing that the transaction was not subject to the tax.If the seller obtains this information, the seller is relieved of any liability for the tax on the transaction unless it is discovered throughthe audit process that the seller had knowledge or had reason to know at the time such information was provided that the informationrelating to the exemption claimed was materially false or the seller otherwise knowingly participated in activity intended topurposefully evade the tax that is properly due on the transaction. The burden is on the Division to establish that the seller hadknowledge or had reason to know at the time the information was provided that the information was materially false.EXAMPLES OF PROPER USE OF RESALE CERTIFICATE FOR NON-NEW JERSEY SELLERS(a) A craftsman registered in Pennsylvania as a retail and wholesale seller of furniture comes to New Jersey to purchase lumberwhich he will use in making furniture.(b) A merchant registered as a retail seller of books in Connecticut purchases books for his inventory from a New Jersey dealer andsends his employee to pick up the merchandise.(c) A computer store owner registered as a retailer in Wisconsin purchases canned software for her inventory while attending atrade show in New Jersey, and carries it away from the show herself.EXAMPLES OF IMPROPER USE OF RESALE CERTIFICATE FOR NON-NEW JERSEY SELLERS(a) A lumber dealer may not accept an ST-3NR from a contractor who intends to use it in working on his customers’ real property,because under New Jersey law, contractors are considered to be the retail purchasers of the construction materials that they use.(b) A bookseller may not accept an ST-3NR from a doctor who is purchasing books for patients to read in her waiting room,because this would not be a purchase for resale.(c) A candy wholesaler may not accept an ST-3NR from a purchaser who shows a New Jersey store address on the form, becausethis information would give the seller reason to believe that the purchaser should be registered in New Jersey.(d) A plant nursery may not accept an ST-3NR from a New York florist who requests delivery of the plants by common carrier tohis New York location, because this would not be a New Jersey sale.REPRODUCTION OF RESALE CERTIFICATE FORMS:Private reproduction of both sides of resale certificates may be made without the prior permission of the Division of Taxation.FOR MORE INFORMATION:Call the Customer Service Center at: (609) 292-6400. Send an e-mail to: nj.taxation@treas.state.nj.usWrite to: New Jersey Division of Taxation, Information and Publications Branch, PO Box 281, Trenton, NJ 08695-0281.