Does the contractor still pay tax on materials?

Yes. The ST-8 only exempts the labor portion of a capital improvement. The contractor pays sales tax on the materials they buy, the same as any other purchase. The ST-8 keeps the labor charge to the customer untaxed.

Do I send the ST-8 to New Jersey?

No. The property owner gives the signed ST-8 to the contractor, and the contractor keeps it with the job records. It is only produced if the Division of Taxation audits the contractor. It is never mailed to the state.

Can I fill the ST-8 from a scanned copy?

Yes. FillWizard runs OCR on scanned ST-8 PDFs and detects the fields automatically, whether the file is a fillable form or a scanned image from an old job folder.

How long should the contractor keep the ST-8?

Keep it with the job records for at least four years, which covers the standard New Jersey sales-tax audit window. FillWizard stores each completed ST-8 so the contractor can retrieve it if a job is ever reviewed.

New Jersey Division of Taxation · US

Fill NJ ST-8 in under two minutes

Save the property owner and contractor once, describe the capital improvement, and export a signed-ready ST-8 the contractor keeps on file.

Fill NJ ST-8 now See how it works

The New Jersey ST-8 is the certificate a property owner gives a contractor to certify that work on real property is a capital improvement, not a repair. With a valid ST-8 on file, the contractor does not charge NJ sales tax on the labor portion of the job. FillWizard saves the property owner, the contractor, and the job details, fills the ST-8 in under two minutes, and keeps it for the contractor's records.

Certificate of Exempt Capital Improvement

The ST-8 certifies that a job is an exempt capital improvement — a permanent addition that increases the property's value or extends its life. It tells the contractor not to charge sales tax on labor and gives the contractor audit-proof documentation for keeping that labor untaxed.

The property owner (the customer) completes and signs the ST-8 and gives it to the contractor. The contractor keeps it — it is never sent to the state, but it must be produced if the Division of Taxation audits the job.

Where teams lose time

Re-entering property owner and contractor details on every capital improvement job
Confusing a capital improvement (ST-8) with a taxable repair or maintenance job
Lost certificates that leave the contractor exposed in a sales-tax audit

Why FillWizard

What you get from a saved profile

Saved property and contractor profiles reused across every ST-8

OCR for scanned ST-8 PDFs from older job files

Review layer flags a missing signature or an unchecked capital-improvement box before export

Workflow

How to fill NJ ST-8

01
Save the property owner and contractor once (names, addresses, NJ tax ID)
02
Describe the capital improvement job — address, scope, contract date
03
Review the mapped fields, export the ST-8, and hand it to the contractor for their files

What it covers

Inside NJ ST-8

What counts as a capital improvement

A capital improvement is permanent work that increases the value of the property or extends its useful life: a new roof, a finished basement, a new HVAC system, an addition, new windows. Repairs and maintenance that simply keep the property in working order — patching a roof, servicing the furnace, repainting — are taxable and do not qualify for an ST-8.

ST-8 vs. ST-3 vs. ST-4

ST-8 = exempt capital improvement (property owner to contractor). ST-3 = resale certificate (a business buying goods to resell). ST-4 = exempt use certificate (machinery, equipment, and other exempt-use purchases). They are different exemptions — using the wrong one fails an audit.

Who keeps the certificate

The contractor keeps the completed ST-8 with the job records, generally for at least four years. It is never filed with New Jersey. If the Division of Taxation reviews the contractor's books, the ST-8 is the proof that the untaxed labor was a legitimate capital improvement.

Watch out for

Common mistakes on NJ ST-8

Using an ST-8 for a repair or maintenance job — only true capital improvements qualify
Leaving the property owner's signature blank, which voids the exemption
Skipping the description of the work, so the certificate cannot stand up to an audit
Charging sales tax on materials but forgetting the labor is the part the ST-8 exempts

FAQ