Buyer’s responsibility when making exempt purchases
You must keep records of all your purchases, and show whether you paid tax on them.
- Records must show what you bought, when you bought it, how much you paid for the goods, and how much tax you paid.
- Your accounting records must include the standard books and records maintained in a business.
- Keep all your records for at least four years. (You may need to keep them for seven years if you don’t file sales tax returns).
Use tax
When you buy, use, or store taxable goods in Idaho, but didn’t pay sales tax when you bought them, you owe use tax.
Use tax is often due when:
- You buy goods from an internet retailer that doesn’t collect tax
- You buy a taxable item from a seller who didn’t charge sales tax because the seller has your exemption certificate on file
- You buy an item in a state that doesn’t have sales tax, then bring the item to Idaho
- You change how you use an exempt item (See If you change the primary use of an item.)
Learn more about use tax on our Sales and Use Taxes section.