PCC Forums

Has anyone used their business license to buy things wholesale or tax free?
How do you do that?

i haven't had to use it yet. but would be interested to know as well.

Hi hairycarrot!

While I don't have a business license/tax ID for my own personal business, I do work for a small nonprofit and use our tax ID to purchase things at cost and tax free.

I believe to be tax exempt or to have tax exempt status, you have to be a nonprofit or an educator...unless a wholesaler specifies...but I could be wrong on that. If you do have an exemption, you'll receive a tax exempt ID from the IRS. When you go to make purchases, you just let the seller know that you are tax exempt. It's really quite easy.

If you are going to a wholesaler to purchase items and they require your business license, just simply provide them with that or let them know that you have one. Sometimes you do have to ask or let them know. It's really just as simple as that.

some websites have 'wholesale logins' that you can access by either filling out a simple form with your biz address and tax ID (or there will be an email address to send said info to) sometimes wholesale info is kind of hidden at the bottom of the page or in an f.a.q. but it's certainly worth looking for. some discount online craft suppliers don't require a special wholesale login because they are already selling things at near-wholesale prices.

it is possible (though i have never tried) that you can give your tax id at joanns or michaels to not pay tax on items which you will then use to make things which you will sell in PA at a higher price and collect/submit taxes for (warning: NOT 100% sure on this, but it checks out as far as i can tell and it seems logical to not pay taxes multiple times on any one component. this request could thoroughly confuse some cashiers.) i'd be interested to hear what happens if anyone tries to do this.