How to get a Louisiana Resale Certificate [2023 Guide]

A Louisiana Resale Certificate is a document that allows a business to purchase goods and services tax-free from suppliers for the purpose of reselling those goods and services. In order to use one, the retailer will need to provide a Louisiana Resale Certificate to their vendor. 

Learn more about what a resale certificate is, how to get one, and more.

What is a Resale Certificate?

When retailers purchase products to resell, they often don’t pay sales tax to the supplier on the purchase. The sales tax will still be paid, but instead of the retailer paying the state sales tax, the retailer charges sales tax to their customer on the final value of the merchandise. The collected sales tax is then sent by the retailer to the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

For instance, when a seafood market in Louisiana purchases items like shrimp, crawfish, or oysters from local fishermen or seafood distributors to sell in their market, by having a resale certificate, the market owner won’t pay sales tax on these transactions. When a customer purchases seafood to make dinner at home, the retailer will charge sales tax to the customer based on the full price of the items.

Throughout the course of the business day, the seafood market will accumulate sales tax from all their transactions with customers. Periodically, typically at the end of the month, the market owner will collect all the sales tax that has been charged to the customers and send it to the state of Louisiana.

The purpose of the certificate is to provide evidence of why sales tax was not collected on a transaction. Similar names for a resale certificate include reseller number, seller’s permit, sales tax exemption certificate, wholesale license, or reseller’s license. In order for the supplier to allow the tax-exempt purchase, the seller needs proof the buyer intends to resell the product by providing a valid resale certificate.

The sales tax exemption is only intended to be used for inventory that will be resold and not intended for the tax-free purchase of items used in normal business operations such as paper, pens, etc.

Getting Started

Before a business starts selling products or providing taxable services, it must first get a Louisiana Sales Tax License from the Louisiana Department of Revenue. The Sales Tax License is sometimes referred to as a seller’s permit, sales tax number, or sales tax permit.

Related: Do I need a business license?

Applying for a Louisiana Resale Certificate

Assuming the buyer’s Sales Tax License application was registered using a NAICS code that indicates the business sells tangible personal property, the Resale Certificate will be issued automatically by the Department of Revenue.

Otherwise, you will apply online through the Louisiana Department of Revenue’s LaTAP system.

The following information will be needed to begin the application process:

• Account numbers for all locations
• Locations and mailing addresses for all business locations
• Current NAICS code
• A valid e-mail address
• Last 2 years of resale inventory purchase amounts (for consolidated filers, purchase amounts should consist of the combined purchases of all members of the consolidation)

Louisiana Resale Certificate FAQs