To complete New Jersey’s Form ST-13, the Contractor’s Exempt Purchase Certificate, gather the property owner’s exemption documentation, fill in every field on the one-page form (certificate type, seller information, your New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number and business details, the exempt-entity category with names and addresses, and your signature), and give it to your supplier at or before the time of sale. The form lets contractors buy materials, supplies, and certain services free of New Jersey’s 6.625% sales tax when the purchases go exclusively toward construction, improvement, alteration, or repair work on real property owned by a qualifying exempt entity.1New Jersey Division of Taxation. Contractor’s Exempt Purchase Certificate An incomplete certificate is invalid, and the seller must charge you tax.
What to Gather Before You Start
The ST-13 does not stand alone. Before you complete one, the property owner has to give you documentation proving the project qualifies under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.22. Which document you need depends on who owns the property.2Justia Law. New Jersey Code 54:32B-8.22 – Sales Made to Contractors or Repairmen
- If the owner is an exempt organization (a nonprofit or similar entity), get a copy of their ST-5 Exempt Organization Certificate.
- If the owner is a New Jersey or federal governmental entity, get a signed purchase order or contract. Governmental entities from other states do not qualify.
- If the owner is a qualified housing sponsor, get a Housing Sponsor Letter of Exemption from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
Without the right document from the owner, you have no basis for the exemption.3New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Contractors and New Jersey Taxes
You also need your New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number, which is your federal EIN plus a three-digit suffix assigned when you register for taxes with the state. If you have not yet registered, you can do so through the NJ Division of Revenue’s online portal before making exempt purchases.4Business.NJ.gov. Register for Taxes
Download the current PDF from the New Jersey Division of Taxation’s website. The form is a single page.1New Jersey Division of Taxation. Contractor’s Exempt Purchase Certificate
Filling In the Form
Certificate Type
At the top, check either Single-Purchase Certificate or Blanket Certificate. A single-purchase certificate covers one transaction. A blanket certificate covers all future purchases of the same general type of property or service from that seller, so long as no more than 12 months pass between transactions. That 12-month gap is the outer limit of what the Division of Taxation treats as a recurring business relationship.5Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 18:24-10.5 – Exemption Certificates If you buy lumber from the same supplier every few weeks for a months-long project, a blanket certificate spares you from filling out a new form each visit.
Seller and Purchaser Information
Fill in the seller’s name and address. Then enter your own information as the purchaser: your New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number, your business name as registered with the Division of Taxation, and your address. The purchaser fields are what determine whether the certificate counts as fully completed for liability purposes, so double-check them.6Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 18:24-10.4 – Acceptance of Exemption Certificates
Exemption Basis
This is the heart of the form. Check one of four boxes to identify the type of entity whose property you are working on, and fill in the associated names and addresses.
- Exempt Organization: enter the organization’s name and address plus the work site address.
- New Jersey or Federal Governmental Entity: enter the entity’s name and address plus the work site address.
- Housing Sponsor under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.22(c): enter the sponsor’s name and address plus the housing project name and address. This category applies to sponsors certified by NJHMFA that obtained NJHMFA financing for a project also receiving federal, state, or local subsidies.
- Housing Sponsor under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.22(d): enter the sponsor’s name and address plus the affordable housing project name and address. This category, added by P.L. 2024, c.3, covers sponsors engaged in affordable housing projects where every unit is restricted to occupants with moderate, low, or very low incomes under the Fair Housing Act.
Sponsors filing under subsection (d) should keep documentation certifying that all units are intended for those income levels, and must produce it if the Division of Taxation asks.7New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Contractor Purchases
Signature and Date
Print your name, sign as the contractor or an authorized employee, add your title, and date the form. A paper or faxed certificate requires a physical signature. An electronic submission does not require a signature, but every other field still has to be filled in.1New Jersey Division of Taxation. Contractor’s Exempt Purchase Certificate
What the Certificate Actually Covers
Qualifying purchases are construction materials, construction supplies, and certain services used exclusively and entirely consumed in the building, improvement, alteration, or repair of the exempt entity’s real property. “Exclusively” is the operative word. If any part of a purchase goes toward a project that does not qualify, the ST-13 cannot be used for it.2Justia Law. New Jersey Code 54:32B-8.22 – Sales Made to Contractors or Repairmen
Equipment does not qualify. Bulldozers, jackhammers, computers, and similar tools you buy, lease, or rent to perform the work remain taxable even when they are used only on a qualifying job. Only materials and supplies that get consumed or incorporated into the project are exempt.7New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Contractor Purchases Using an ST-13 to buy equipment, or to buy anything for a non-qualifying project such as a private homeowner’s renovation, is misuse and carries civil fraud exposure in addition to the unpaid tax and interest.8Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 18:2-2.9 – Part of Assessment Due to Civil Fraud
Giving It to Your Supplier
Hand the completed certificate to your supplier at or before the time of sale. The seller is required to collect New Jersey’s 6.625% sales tax on taxable property or services unless you provide a fully completed certificate.9New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax A seller who receives your certificate within 90 days of the sale date is relieved of liability for collecting tax on that transaction, provided the form is fully completed.1New Jersey Division of Taxation. Contractor’s Exempt Purchase Certificate
Keeping Your Copy
Contractors working on affordable housing projects under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.22(d) are required to retain a copy of every ST-13 issued to their suppliers.7New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Contractor Purchases For any other project type, keeping copies is still sensible practice, because a Division auditor can ask to see your side of the paper trail and four years is a long time to rely on your supplier’s filing system. Sellers must retain each certificate for at least four years from the date of the last sale it covered, along with the matching sales slips, invoices, and receipts.5Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 18:24-10.5 – Exemption Certificates
If You Already Paid Tax by Mistake
If you paid sales tax on a purchase that actually qualified under N.J.S.A. 54:32B-8.22, you can request a refund within four years of the date the tax was paid. File Form A-3730, Claim for Refund, with documentation showing the purchase was for exclusive use on the real property of a qualifying entity.7New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Contractor Purchases This is the usual remedy when a contractor did not have the property owner’s exemption documentation in hand at the time of purchase and paid tax to the supplier as a precaution.