Ohio · Resale certificates
Ohio resale certificate, Form STEC B, done for you.
Ohio's resale certificate is a document, not a license the state mails you. The purchaser completes Form STEC B, the Sales and Use Tax Blanket Exemption Certificate, or STEC U for a single purchase, and gives it to the vendor, who keeps it. Nothing is filed with the Department of Taxation, so the evidence the job is done is the completed certificate itself.
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Who you are dealing with
Ohio Department of Taxation
- Handles:
- Publishes the STEC B and STEC U exemption certificate forms. Does not receive or approve completed certificates; the purchaser completes one and the vendor retains it.
- System:
- Fill-in PDFs from the department's forms library; no portal filing exists for the certificate
- Form:
- Form STEC B, Sales and Use Tax Blanket Exemption Certificate, for continuing purchases from one vendor; Form STEC U, Unit Exemption Certificate, for a single transaction
File STEC B: issue a Ohio resale certificate
It goes to the agency named above, through the system listed beside it. We prepare it, file it, and send you the written confirmation.
State fee. $0. The certificate is a form you complete, not a filing the state charges for. The vendor's license that usually stands behind it is covered on the Ohio sales tax registration page.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you issue a certificate
You need an Ohio resale certificate when a supplier asks for documentation before selling you inventory without charging sales tax. The form claims exception or exemption on purchases of tangible personal property and selected services made from the named vendor. Whether a given purchase qualifies for resale treatment is a determination for your CPA.
What comes next
Not applicable. Nothing is filed with the state, so nothing closes with the state. Keep a copy of every certificate you issue, because the vendor's copy is what protects the vendor and yours is what reconstructs the history if anyone asks.
How long it takes
There is no state processing. The certificate takes effect when the completed form reaches the vendor, and it stays in the vendor's files. What takes time is getting the underlying registration right first, where one is needed.
What we do
We confirm what this state requires, prepare the certificate or the application at your direction, and deliver the finished document. We do not tell you a purchase is nontaxable. We do not register a payroll account. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes Ohio harder than average
- Two forms, one decision: STEC B is a blanket certificate covering ongoing purchases from one named vendor, STEC U covers a single transaction. Handing a vendor the wrong one is the most common redo.
- The vendor's license number field says 'if applicable', which reads as optional and is not a licence to skip thinking. Which number belongs there depends on what registrations the purchaser holds, and a certificate with the wrong basis is what fails an audit years later.
- Construction contractors cannot use these forms to buy material for incorporation into real property under an exempt contract. Both forms say so on their face and point at Administrative Code rule 5703-9-14. That trips up contractors who assume any business purchase can ride a blanket certificate.
- Because nothing is filed with the state, nobody tells you a certificate is defective. A missing element sits quietly in the vendor's file until an Ohio audit reads it.
How Ohio compares
Whether a state issues the certificate or has you prepare it decides everything about the paperwork. The guide sets Ohio beside the other documented states.
Questions and answers
What is Ohio's resale certificate form?
Form STEC B, the Sales and Use Tax Blanket Exemption Certificate, for continuing purchases from one vendor, or Form STEC U, the Unit Exemption Certificate, for a single purchase. The purchaser completes the form and gives it to the vendor.
Do I file the STEC B with the Ohio Department of Taxation?
No. Neither form carries a submission address or filing instruction. The purchaser completes it, the vendor keeps it, and the department publishes the forms without receiving them. The completed certificate itself is the record.
Do I need a vendor's license to issue an Ohio resale certificate?
The form asks for a vendor's license number 'if applicable'. Which registration stands behind your certificate depends on what you hold and where you sell from, and that is exactly the part we confirm before preparing the form. If you need the Ohio registration itself, that is the sales tax registration service.
Can a construction contractor use Form STEC B for materials?
Not for material incorporated into real property under an exempt construction contract. Both STEC forms exclude that use on their face and point to rule 5703-9-14 of the Administrative Code. Contractors have their own certificate rules, and whether a purchase qualifies is a question for your CPA.
What do you need from me to start?
The business legal name and address, the Ohio registrations you hold, the vendors who want certificates on file, and whether each covers ongoing purchases or a single transaction. We prepare the certificates at your direction; whether a purchase qualifies for resale is your CPA's call.
Also in Ohio
A resale certificate rests on a sales tax registration in most states, so if the business is not registered yet, start there.
Agency details verified 2026-09-30
Sources
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.