Georgia resale certificate (Form ST-5): how liquidation buyers get and use one

What Form ST-5 is, and what it does not cover

Form ST-5 is the Georgia Department of Revenue's Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption for Georgia purchasers; the version on DOR's ST-5 page is revision 07/11/22. You sign it and give it to a supplier, and qualifying purchases from that supplier made after the date on the form are made without Georgia sales tax. DOR's Nontaxable Sales page puts it in one line: a Georgia business can buy tangible personal property for resale without paying sales tax by giving the supplier a properly completed Form ST-5.

Liquidation buyers use box 1, purchases “for RESALE ONLY”. The form attaches three conditions to it:

• Resale only. Tax-free treatment does not extend to anything the purchaser uses, “including items the purchaser will donate”.
• A sales tax number is required, unless the purchaser is on a short list of organisations such as churches, private K-12 schools and scout councils. A bin store or online reseller is not on that list.
• You sign under penalties of perjury, and accept that anything bought on the certificate becomes subject to sales and use tax if you use or consume it any other way.

People say resale certificate, reseller permit or tax-exempt form and often mean two things: the sales tax number you get by registering with DOR, and the ST-5 you fill out with that number on it. You need both, in that order. New to liquidation? The guide to buying liquidation pallets covers the whole process.

Step 1: Get a Georgia sales tax number

The number comes from registering a sales and use tax account on the Georgia Tax Center (GTC), DOR's online self-service portal. DOR's Tax Registration page says anyone meeting the definition of “dealer” in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2 must register “regardless of whether all sales will be online, out of state, wholesale, or exempt from tax.” Selling mostly online or to other states does not by itself take you out of that requirement.

DOR's registration instructions run to 14 steps for a new business. Condensed:

A business that already has a GTC login takes a shorter path: log in, click More…, choose Register a New Tax Account and select Sales & Use Tax. What happens next, in DOR's words:

“After your online submission, you should receive your specific tax account number within 15 minutes by email.”

“Sales and use tax registration does not require renewal and remains in effect as long as the business exists with no change in ownership or structure.”

If your ownership or structure changes later, ask your tax advisor whether to register again, and what the account means for the returns you file.

Step 2: Fill out Form ST-5, field by field

Download the blank Form ST-5 PDF from DOR. It is one page: eight exemption boxes and a short purchaser block. Every field, in order:

Most problems come from blank fields. DOR's good-faith test starts with “fully completed”, so fill every line that applies, keep the business name identical to your DOR registration and keep a signed copy.

Step 3: Use it on Two Bro Sales

Two Bro Sales is a marketplace for business buyers only, with no consumer bidding. Every buyer account is verified once, with a resale certificate, before it can bid. Verification happens in buyer onboarding, right after you create an account:

You upload it once. After approval it works with every seller on the platform, so you never re-verify storefront by storefront. If a document can't be accepted you are told why, and if your certificate changes you can submit a new one from your account.

Does it expire, and how do sellers verify it?

DOR's Nontaxable Sales page: “Most certificates of exemption and letters of authorization do not expire, with the exception of the Georgia Agricultural Tax Exemption (GATE) certificate, which expires on an annual basis.” A resale ST-5 is not a GATE certificate, and the registration behind it needs no renewal while the business exists with no change in ownership or structure. That is why the expiration date on the Two Bro Sales certificate step is optional.

How a seller checks your number

The lookup DOR describes checks the sales tax number on a certificate, not the paper itself. Sellers use the Sales Tax ID Verification Tool on GTC: under Searches, click Sales Tax ID's, enter one or more numbers (or import DOR's Excel template) and print the results. DOR notes it only verifies Georgia sales tax numbers, not out-of-state sales tax numbers, federal employer identification numbers or Social Security numbers.

What good faith means for the seller

Georgia treats every sale as taxable until shown otherwise, and the burden of proof sits with the seller unless it takes a valid certificate in good faith (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-38). DOR's tests:

On a sale for resale, the certificate relieves the seller only if the purchaser is in the business of selling tangible personal property and lists a sales tax number valid at the time of purchase, and the seller has no reason to believe the goods won't be resold. For a buyer, the point is simple: a complete form with an honest type of business is what lets a seller accept it.

Buying from outside Georgia

Form ST-5 is a Georgia purchaser's form. DOR rule Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-12-1-.08 says ST-5 is used by “registered Georgia dealers and/or Georgia purchasers”, while Form ST-4 is used “by out-of-state dealers purchasing tangible personal property in Georgia for resale in another state.” DOR publishes it on its ST-4 page. On Form ST-4 (Rev. 08/2017), the purchaser certifies that it:

• is licensed and registered outside Georgia;
• does not sell goods or services, solicit orders or perform any service in Georgia;
• has no presence in Georgia beyond making purchases of tangible personal property;
• will remove everything bought on the certificate from Georgia immediately after purchase.

A purchaser with Georgia activity beyond those purchases, the form says, will register with DOR for sales and use tax and will not use ST-4. Like ST-5, it is signed under penalties of perjury.

Two Bro Sales' rule for out-of-state buyers

Yes. We accept Georgia Form ST-5 or your state's equivalent (business registration in states without sales tax); ask your tax advisor which document applies to Georgia pickups.

The document you upload is how Two Bro Sales confirms you are a business buying for resale. Accepting it is not a ruling on which exemption certificate Georgia law expects for your purchase, and nothing here says any document is legally sufficient. Pickup is local, at the seller's warehouse in metro Atlanta, Georgia, so ask your tax advisor which certificate applies before your first Georgia pickup, and bring Form ST-4 to that conversation. Driving in? See the pickup guide on picking up from out of town.

What counts as misuse

The DOR sources are brief on this. Here is what they say, without additions:

• Your own use is taxable. Box 1 does not extend to anything the purchaser uses or will donate, and property bought on the certificate is subject to sales and use tax if used or consumed any other way.
• The declaration is sworn. You sign under penalties of perjury that it is true, correct and made in good faith.
• Certificates can be revoked. Rule 560-12-1-.08 says misuse is “sufficient cause for the Commissioner to revoke the Certificate of the seller, purchaser or both.”
• Sellers lose the protection without good faith. The burden of proof stays with a seller that doesn't take a valid certificate in good faith.

The everyday cases are easy to spot: the vacuum from a returns pallet that goes home with you, the tools you put to work in your own shop. Ask your tax advisor how to report tax on items like these, and on unsold leftovers you later give away, since the form names donated items. Opening a store? The guide to starting a bin store covers the rest of the setup.

FAQ

General questions about accounts, fees and pickup are on the Two Bro Sales FAQ, and the bidding rules are on How it works.

Is a Georgia resale certificate the same as a sales tax number?

No. The number comes from registering with DOR; Form ST-5 is the certificate you fill out with that number on it.

How do I get a sales tax ID in Georgia?

Register a sales and use tax account on the Georgia Tax Center with Register a New Georgia Business. DOR says the number should arrive by email within 15 minutes of submitting.

Can I look up a Georgia resale certificate?

Sellers can check the Georgia sales tax number on it with DOR's Sales Tax ID Verification Tool on GTC.

Does a Georgia resale certificate expire?

DOR says most certificates of exemption do not expire; the GATE agricultural certificate is the exception.

Do I need a separate certificate for each seller on Two Bro Sales?

No. You upload it once, a person reviews it, and once approved your account can bid with every seller on the platform.

I'm outside Georgia. Can I bid?

Yes. We accept Georgia Form ST-5 or your state's equivalent (business registration in states without sales tax); ask your tax advisor which document applies to Georgia pickups.