What's happening
Tax-exempt bidders — resellers, dealers, nonprofits, farms — will ask you not to charge sales tax on their invoices. Tax exemption is handled between you and the bidder: HiBid does not collect their exemption certificates or apply exemptions for you, and your obligations depend on your state or province's rules.
What to check first
Get the certificate before you invoice. Ask the bidder for a current, valid exemption or resale certificate for the jurisdiction of the sale. Verify the name on the certificate matches the bidder (or their business) on the invoice.
Confirm it applies to this sale. Certificates are typically jurisdiction-specific and category-specific — a resale certificate from another state may not apply, and some goods aren't exempt even with a certificate. When in doubt, check with your accountant or your state's revenue department.
Keep it on file. You — not HiBid — are the party who needs the documentation if your tax filing is ever examined. Store the certificate with the auction's records and note its expiration if it has one.
What to tell your bidder
Send the certificate to you before checkout — exemptions are much easier to apply before the invoice is generated than to fix with a corrected invoice afterward.
If they buy from you regularly, you can keep their certificate on file and flag their customer record as tax exempt so future invoices are handled automatically.
If they've already been charged tax and the certificate checks out, you'll issue a corrected invoice or refund the tax portion per your normal process.
When to contact support — and what we check
Contact us if you've marked a customer or invoice as tax exempt in your software and tax is still calculating, or if you need help correcting an invoice that was generated before the exemption was applied. Send the auction number, invoice number, and bidder, and we'll help you get the records right. For questions about whether a certificate is valid or what your jurisdiction requires, consult your accountant — support can help with the software, not tax advice.