As a federally tax-exempt institution, Brown University is also classified as an exempt organization in some states. This means that the University is exempt from "transactions privilege" and/or sales tax in these states.
Currently, the University has tax exemption certificates in 8 states. These certificates allow an exemption for purchases made by the University in the ordinary course of conducting its educational and research activities. Note that many of these states do not extend this exemption to room and meals taxes. In some cases, certain conditions or documentation requirements must be met before the exemption is granted. These may include:
- The exemption certificate number must be provided to the supplier when the purchase is made;
- Various forms found on the state's website must accompany the certificate at the time of purchase;
- All purchases must be billed directly to the College and paid for by the College.
Please see the Brown University State Sales Tax Exemptions document below to see which states we are currently exempt from sales tax, which states we are not exempt in and which states we are not eligible for exemption.
The available exemption certificates can also be downloaded below.
Please note that some of the forms will require some information to be completed such as the sellers name and address. This information should be completed by the departments that are purchasing the items.
If you have questions about state tax exemption certificates please email your inquiry to [email protected].