# 51A158 — Kentucky Form 51A158: farm exemption certificate for supplies

- **Canonical URL:** https://formspedia.com/us/51a158/
- **Last updated:** 2026-11-08
- **Country & Language:** United States (`en-US`)
- **Form:** 51A158
- **Revision:** 51A158 (9-21)
- **Issuing Agency:** Kentucky Department of Revenue
- **Tax Area:** VAT and sales tax
- **Who Must File:** Kentucky farmers with an Agriculture Exemption Number buying exempt farm supplies
- **Filing Method:** Signed and given to each seller, who keeps it on file
- **Legal Basis / Statute:** KRS 139.480 and KRS 139.481
- **Official Form PDF:** https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/51A158%20(9-21).pdf

Form 51A158, the Farm Exemption Certificate, is the one-page document a Kentucky farmer gives a seller to buy farm supplies without paying the 6% sales tax: feed, seed, fertilizer, farm chemicals, farm machinery and parts, fuel for that machinery, and the other items listed on the form. The Kentucky Department of Revenue's current version is 51A158 (9-21). It is not filed with the Department. The seller keeps it.

### Who can give a seller Form 51A158

The farmer signs a statement that they are regularly engaged in one or more of three occupations printed on the form: tilling and cultivating the soil for the production of crops; raising and feeding livestock or poultry whose products ordinarily constitute food for human consumption; or raising and feeding llamas, alpacas, ratites, buffalo, aquatic organisms or cervids.

The Department's Agriculture Exemption Number FAQs (September 17, 2026) list the activities that qualify: crop production as a business (corn, flowers, fruit, hay, sod, soybeans, straw, timber, tobacco, vegetables, wheat), raising livestock sold for human food, raising poultry, producing milk for sale, and raising ratite birds, llamas, alpacas, buffalo, cervids or aquatic organisms. Raising horses and beekeeping do not qualify. The activity has to be for business purposes, not personal use or personal consumption.

The certificate covers purchases of supplies. Materials, machinery and equipment that will be built into the construction, repair or renovation of on-farm facilities are excluded by the text at the top of the form itself; those purchases go on a different certificate, Form 51A159.

### The Agriculture Exemption Number comes first

KRS 139.481 requires farmers who qualify for the agriculture exemptions to apply for an Agriculture Exemption (AE) Number and use it to claim them. The FAQs are direct about the consequence: any transaction claiming an agriculture exemption without an AE Number is invalid for exempt purchases. The second line of Form 51A158 has a place for it, labeled "Driver's License Number / State / KY Agriculture Exemption Number".

The number comes from Form 51A800, Application for Agriculture Exemption Number. The FAQs say to send the application by email to DOR.webresponsesalestax@ky.gov or by mail to the Division of Sales and Use Tax, Station 66, P.O. Box 181, Frankfort, KY 40602-0181, with at least one proof of farming activity:

- federal Schedule F, Profit or Loss from Farming (the Department calls this the preferred document and says it gives the quickest processing);

- federal Form 4835, Farm Rental Income and Expenses;

- other records of sales of agricultural products, such as receipts or invoices;

- a written statement of agriculture activity, only if none of the others is available.

When the application is approved, the Department mails a letter with the AE Number to the mailing address on the application, and it asks applicants to allow several weeks. A farm owned jointly by several people needs one AE Number, because the number belongs to the purchasing entity; if the farm has no legal name, the owners' names go in the "Legal Name" field. Farm employees buying for the farm use the farm's number.

### How to fill out Form 51A158

The front page has six blanks at the top, two groups of check lines and a signature line. The certificate prints no numbers; the numbers below match the markers in the image.

| Marker | Printed label | What to enter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Name of Farmer (Print) | The purchaser's name, meaning the farmer or farm entity that holds the AE Number. |
| 2 | Driver's License Number / State / KY Agriculture Exemption Number | The driver's license number and issuing state, and the AE Number from the Department's approval letter. |
| 3 | Mailing Address | The farmer's mailing address. |
| 4 | Farm Location | Where the farm is. |
| 5 | Name of Seller (Print), Seller's Address | The business you are buying from. One certificate per seller. |
| 6 | Occupation lines | Check each of the three farming occupations you are regularly engaged in. |
| 7 | Farmer must check appropriate line(s) | Check every kind of item you will buy from this seller tax free (11 lines, explained in the next section). |
| 8 | Farmer's Signature, Date | Signed under penalties of perjury. |

Between the occupation lines and the item lines, the farmer certifies having read the reverse side and that the items checked will be used for the exempt purposes in KRS 139.480. Each item in marker 7 is defined on that reverse side.

### What each line in the purchase list covers

Page 2 of the certificate defines each item and cites the subsection of KRS 139.480 behind it. Several of them have limits that are easy to miss at the counter.

| Line on the form | Limit stated on page 2 | KRS 139.480 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Baling twine and wire | For baling hay and straw | (26) |
| Farm chemicals | Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides and similar, used in crop production as a business or in raising the food-producing animals listed | (8) |
| Farm machinery, attachments and parts | Used exclusively and directly in tilling the soil for crops as a business, raising and feeding livestock or poultry, or producing milk for sale. Automobiles, trucks, trailers and truck-trailer combinations are excluded | (11) |
| Farm work stock | For use in farming operations | (6) |
| Feed and feed additives | Includes pre-mixes. Not feed for farm work stock | (9) |
| Gasoline, special fuels, natural gas, LP gas | Used exclusively and directly to operate farm machinery or on-farm grain, soybean, poultry, livestock, ratite, llama, alpaca, dairy or aquaculture facilities | (15) |
| Livestock or poultry | Livestock only when sold for breeding or dairy purposes, by or to a person regularly engaged in farming; poultry for breeding and egg production | (4), (5) |
| Ratites, llamas, alpacas, buffalo, aquatic organisms, cervids | Used in an agricultural pursuit | (23), (25), (28), (29), (30) |
| Seed or fertilizer | Seed for food crops or crops sold in the regular course of business; fertilizer applied on land producing such crops; used only by the purchasing farmer | (7) |
| Embryos and semen | For reproduction of livestock whose products ordinarily constitute human food, sold to a person in the business of farming | (24) |
| Water | Used in crop production as a business or in raising livestock, poultry, the animals listed above and dairy cattle | (27) |

For the machinery line, page 2 lists examples beyond tractors and implements: irrigation systems, tobacco curing equipment, farm wagons, portable insecticide sprayers, chain saws, mechanical posthole diggers, silo unloaders, grain and hay elevators, milking machines, mechanical bulk tanks, cooling units, brooders, incubators, automatic egg gathering systems, automatic feeding equipment and waterers, and tobacco transplant clipping, heating and seeding systems.

### How long the certificate lasts and who owes the tax

Form 51A158 is a blanket certificate. One copy covers your purchases from that seller and stays valid until you notify the seller in writing that it is no longer valid. You do not fill out a new one for each invoice.

The seller carries the risk if the paperwork is missing. The caution at the bottom of the form says sellers that fail to obtain a completed certificate are liable for the sales and use tax under KRS 139.270, and are relieved only if they keep a file of the certificates for at least four years, as KRS 139.720 provides. The AE Number FAQs add that sellers can check a buyer's number in the Department's online exemption status search.

The farmer carries the risk if an item is used for something else. By signing, you agree that if property bought on the certificate is used in a nonexempt manner, you owe the sales tax as if you were the retailer, measured by your purchase price, and will send it to the Department of Revenue, Frankfort, Kentucky 40620. Penalties under KRS 139.990 can apply.

### Renewing the AE Number before December 31, 2026

According to the FAQs, AE Numbers issued so far expire on December 31, 2026, and renewals from that date run for four years. The Department's renewal FAQ page says a renewed number stays valid through December 31, 2030. A certificate on file with a seller is only as good as the AE Number written on it.

There are two ways to renew:

- On paper, with Form 51A801 (09-26), Sales and Use Tax Application for Agriculture Exemption Renewal. It asks for the AE Number, the legal name of the farm, the responsible party's name, title, Social Security number and driver's license number, the FEIN if there is one, the farm and mailing addresses, and whether the farming activity has changed. The renewal page says to email it to DOR.webresponsesalestax@ky.gov; the form also lists P.O. Box 181, Station 66, Frankfort, KY 40602-0181 and fax (502) 564-2041. After approval, the renewal letter and exemption cards arrive by mail within 7 to 10 business days.

- Online at MyTaxes. You first request a PIN letter: register an account, go to Profile, then Add New Taxpayers, choose "I do not have enough information about my business, and I need a PIN letter", then the AGRICULTURE EXEMPTION ID option, and enter your AE license number. The PIN letter comes by mail with instructions for finishing the renewal online.

The 51A801 notes that renewal does not automatically exempt all purchases; each purchase still has to meet the requirements printed on Form 51A158 or 51A159. If you stop the activities that qualified you, the FAQs say to contact the Department within 60 days so the number can be canceled.

### Form 51A158, Form 51A159 and Form 51A260

The Department names three documents a farmer can use with an AE Number. Form 51A159, the On-Farm Facilities Certificate of Exemption for Materials, Machinery and Equipment, is for building, repairing or renovating on-farm facilities; when a contractor buys the materials, the farmer and contractor sign it jointly, and it is valid only for purchases within the effective dates written on it. Form 51A260, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption, can carry the AE Number instead of Form 51A158.

A certificate is not always needed. The FAQs say a farmer may simply give the AE Number to an existing supplier, who records it with the certificate already on file, or to a new supplier, who sets up an exemption record tied to the farm and the address behind that number. Sellers still have to keep records linking the number to the customer and the items bought.

### Where to get Form 51A158 and who to ask

The [Form 51A158 (9-21) PDF](https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/51A158%20(9-21).pdf) is published by the Kentucky Department of Revenue. Print both pages: the front is the certificate, the back holds the definitions the farmer certifies having read. Give the completed and signed certificate to the seller, not to the Department. Questions go to the Division of Sales and Use Tax at (502) 564-5170 (option 1 for sales tax) or DOR.webresponsesalestax@ky.gov. This page explains the form; it is not tax advice for a particular operation.

### Questions about the Kentucky farm exemption certificate

#### Can an out-of-state farmer use Form 51A158 in Kentucky?

Every person claiming a farm exemption in Kentucky needs a valid Kentucky AE Number, including out-of-state residents. If the Kentucky seller ships the goods to the buyer's address or farm outside the state, the sale is exempt as interstate commerce for Kentucky tax purposes, without an AE Number.

#### Do I need a new certificate for every purchase?

One signed certificate per seller is enough. It is a blanket certificate and stays valid until you tell the seller in writing that it is not.

#### Does Form 51A158 cover a farm truck or trailer?

Page 2 excludes automobiles, trucks, trailers and truck-trailer combinations from the farm machinery exemption.

#### Can I use it to buy lumber for a new barn?

Materials, machinery and equipment that become part of building or renovating on-farm facilities go on Form 51A159, and the 51A158 itself says it may not be issued for them.

### Official sources

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [Form 51A158 (9-21), Farm Exemption Certificate](https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/51A158%20(9-21).pdf)

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [FAQs for Agriculture Exemption Number Program (9-17-26)](https://revenue.ky.gov/Business/Sales-Use-Tax/Documents/FAQs%20for%20AGRICULTURE%20EXEMPTION%20APPLICATION%20-%209-17-26.pdf)

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [FAQs for Agriculture Exemption Renewal Program](https://revenue.ky.gov/News/Pages/FAQs-for-Agriculture-Exemption-Renewal-Program.aspx)

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [Form 51A801 (09-26), Application for Agriculture Exemption Renewal](https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/51A801%20-%20Sales%20and%20Use%20Tax%20Application%20for%20Agriculture%20Exemption%20Renewal.pdf)

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [Form 51A159 (9-21), On-Farm Facilities Certificate of Exemption for Materials, Machinery and Equipment](https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/51A159%20(9-21).pdf)

- Kentucky Department of Revenue, [Sales & Use Tax](https://revenue.ky.gov/Business/Sales-Use-Tax/Pages/default.aspx)