Quick answer
A Florida resale certificate is the Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax (form DR-13) from the Florida Department of Revenue: businesses that register with the Department to collect sales tax are issued one. It lets you buy or rent property or services tax free when the property or service is resold or re-rented, including items that become a component part of a product you sell, but not items used by your business or for personal purposes, such as furniture, office equipment, computers or supplies. Law checked on 3 Oct 2026 on the Department's Annual Resale Certificate page, floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/annual_resale_certificate_sut.aspx.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, and this page is general information, not legal or tax advice. See where Nation fits.
What the Florida resale certificate is
In Florida, the resale certificate comes with sales tax registration: businesses that register with the Department to collect sales tax are issued one. After the Department approves your application, you receive a Certificate of Registration (Form DR-11) and a Florida Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax (Form DR-13). The second document is the one you show suppliers.
Presenting the certificate is also a declaration. The Department says that when you present it, you are certifying that the items or services purchased will be resold or rented.
This page follows the Florida Department of Revenue's own pages and the Florida Administrative Code, read on 3 Oct 2026. Tax rules can change, so check the Department's page before you rely on a detail here. Cities and counties can add their own rules. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Who qualifies for a Florida annual resale certificate
Only sales tax dealers get the certificate. The Department's brochure says certificates are issued only to dealers with a valid sales tax account whose registration status is active. It adds that a dealer on inactive status, or with only a use tax account, is not issued one.
Registration comes first: if your business will have taxable transactions, you must register as a sales and use tax dealer before you conduct business in Florida. Each place you sell from is handled separately, because businesses must register each location to collect, report and pay sales tax. Registering also means filing returns, and the Department's instruction is to file on time for each reporting period even if no tax is due.
Online sellers based outside Florida register once they pass the state's remote seller threshold, which is more than $100,000 in taxable remote sales into Florida in the previous calendar year. Under the Department's marketplace rules, a marketplace seller with a physical presence in Florida, or with more than $100,000 in remote sales to Florida customers outside the marketplace, must register as a dealer. For sales made through the marketplace, the rule runs the other way: when the marketplace provider certifies that it collects the tax, the seller may not collect it and leaves those sales off its own return.
Service businesses are the common gap. The brochure names attorneys, accountants, architects, doctors, dentists and daycare centers, and says such businesses are generally the end users of the products they use in providing a service, and generally do not qualify for the resale exemption.
How to get a resale certificate in Florida
You get the certificate by registering with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect Florida sales tax.
Gather your registration details
The Department's registration guide asks for details such as the date of first taxable activity at the location you are registering and the NAICS code for each of your business activities. For identification, a sole proprietor, or the sole member of an LLC, registers with a social security number. The guide also notes that the IRS requires any business with employees, and any partnership, corporation, nonprofit organization, trust or estate, to have a federal employer identification number (FEIN).
Register as a sales tax dealer
Apply online: the online Florida Business Tax Application uses an interactive wizard to work out which taxes you register for. Without internet access, you can file a paper Florida Business Tax Application (Form DR-1).
Get your certificate number
If you register online, you can return to the website to get your certificate numbers after three business days.
Download and print the certificate
The Department says registered, active dealers who file electronically must print their own certificate. You download and print it using your tax account information on the Print Annual Resale Certificates page, as often as needed. If you file on paper, the certificate is mailed with your annual coupon book or paper return.
Give a copy to your suppliers
When you buy for resale, you can give the seller a copy of your current certificate. For a vendor you buy from often, you do not have to present it each time, though some businesses' own procedures ask for it on every purchase.
What you can buy tax free with a Florida resale certificate
The Department lists the purchases the certificate covers: items that become a component part of a product you sell, such as nails, fabric and wood incorporated into a chair; items resold or re-rented as tangible personal property; and services that will be resold as part of your regular business operations. Its resale brochure adds incorporation as a material, ingredient or component part of goods produced for sale by manufacturing, compounding or processing.
Example: a candle maker in Florida buys wax, wicks and glass jars that end up in the candles she sells, and a heat gun she uses at her workbench. The wax, wicks and jars become part of her product, which matches the Department's component-part description. The heat gun is equipment her business uses, so she pays sales tax on it.
The salon row shows that the same product can fall on either side. Shampoo sold for customers to take home can be bought for resale. Shampoo used at the wash basin is used by the business.
What you cannot buy tax free
The certificate does not cover property or services that will be used but not resold or rented, or used before selling or renting the goods. It also does not cover items used by your business or for personal purposes, such as furniture, office equipment, computers or supplies.
If you buy something tax free to resell and then use it in your business or personally, you must report and pay use tax on the item. The Department says use tax is calculated at the same rate as sales tax and reported on your sales and use tax return. Florida's general state rate is 6%, and many Florida counties add a discretionary sales surtax that applies to most transactions subject to sales or use tax.
The resale certificate is also the wrong document for items exempt for another reason. For an item exempt because of how it is used, such as fertilizer bought for farming, the purchaser should give the seller an exemption certificate, not the resale certificate.
Fraudulent use is a crime. The Department says there are criminal and civil penalties for fraudulent use of a resale certificate, and its brochure states that resale fraud is a third-degree felony subject to a 200% penalty. Audits look at these purchases too: the Department routinely examines resale transactions and certificates as part of its audits.
What suppliers check on your certificate
The Department says the certificate must have the proper business name and must be current. It also says the address on the certificate does not need to match the location address of the purchaser, and that a selling dealer can accept a certificate that shows only the owner's name and not the d/b/a name.
You do not mark a reason on it either: the buyer does not need to show the purpose of the transaction; the bullets on the certificate are only examples.
Accepting a Florida resale certificate from a customer
If you sell to businesses that resell, Florida requires records for those tax-free sales: a seller must document each tax-exempt sale for resale using one of the methods the Department lists. The Department adds that a seller may select a different method to document each sale for resale.
Accepting a copy of the certificate protects the seller in one case. The brochure says a seller who accepts a copy is not held liable for the tax if the buyer later turns out not to have been an active, registered dealer. The protection has a limit: a seller should not accept a certificate if it knows or has reason to believe the goods are bought for reasons other than those stated on it.
When the Florida annual resale certificate expires
Every certificate expires on December 31. Each year brings a new one: a new certificate is issued each year while you keep doing business in Florida and stay registered to collect sales tax.
New certificates are posted each November, on the Department's website, for the following calendar year. Paper filers are mailed a new certificate each year in mid-November. A business that registers a new location late in the year gets a longer first certificate: certificates issued to new business locations from mid-October run from the issue date through the following calendar year. Send suppliers the new copy once it is out, since they check that it is current.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. The resale certificate itself comes from the Florida Department of Revenue.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. It is general information about Florida's rules, not legal or tax advice.
Describe what you makeQuestions about the Florida resale certificate
How do I get a resale certificate in Florida?
You get a Florida resale certificate by registering with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect sales tax, either online or with a paper Florida Business Tax Application (Form DR-1). Online registrants can get their certificate number after three business days. After that, you download and print it using your tax account information. The certificate comes with the sales tax registration.
When does the Florida annual resale certificate expire?
The Florida Annual Resale Certificate expires on December 31 each year. Under the Department's rules, a new certificate is issued each year while you keep doing business in Florida and stay registered to collect sales tax. New certificates are available each November, on the Department's website, for the following calendar year.
Can I use a Florida resale certificate for business supplies?
A Florida resale certificate does not cover business supplies. It cannot be used for items used by your business or for personal purposes, such as furniture, office equipment, computers or supplies. If you buy an item tax free to resell and then use it yourself, you must report and pay use tax on the item on your sales and use tax return.
Do I need to sign a Florida resale certificate?
A Florida resale certificate does not need a signature: the Department says signatures are no longer required. When you present it, you are certifying that the items or services purchased will be resold or rented. Knowingly using it to avoid tax on things you keep is resale fraud, which the Department's brochure calls a third-degree felony subject to a 200% penalty.
Can an out-of-state business use a Florida resale certificate?
A Florida resale certificate is issued only to dealers with a valid sales tax account whose registration status is active. An out-of-state dealer without one can still buy tax free from a Florida supplier by giving the statement described in Rule 12A-1.0015(3), Florida Administrative Code, declaring that the goods will be transported outside Florida by the nonresident dealer for resale and for no other purpose.