You are right no sales revenue = no business, thus no need for certification for tax exemption.Wrong! Unless you can show me where it says you have to have a certain amount of revenue FROM SALES before a certificate would be granted. You can have a business with no sales revenue and still get certification for tax exemption...
According to you a startup company can't buy tax exempt because they have no sales...and they may have no business because they can't buy tax exempt...Pretty idiotic theory isn't it.
Oh you can start up alright, just be stand prepared to demonstrate you are actually a business, and not just a paper shell looking to purchase business use exemptions for personal use.
Easy to do actually, real businesses have clients and real sales and state tax administrators are quite experienced in recognizing one.
Of course if you should be challenged, you do have the affirmative route of demonstrating the criteria of Section 701, to preserve your tax exempt status.
Otherwise, I have no doubt you will be able explain why you are unable show sales and activities commensurate with being the business you would like to claim you to be to maintain your tax exempt purchases.
Yep, a retail sales tax system actually does have enforcement efforts, and really does require you to be the business that you claim to be.
However, you can always try to scam the system if really want to.
Who knows, you might even be able to get away with it, just like many do under the income tax system today, in declaring personal purchases as business expenditure. An activity that hardly unknown in the current system. No reason why one couldn't try the same under a sales tax.
Same business, same MO ought to work so go for it.