Non-Resident Contractor

A nonresident contractor is one who does not maintain a regular place of business in this state. "A regular place of business" means and includes any bona fide office (other than a statutory office), factory, warehouse, or other space in this state at which the taxpayer is doing business in its own name in a regular and systematic manner, and which is continuously maintained, occupied, and used by the taxpayer in carrying on its business through its regular employees regularly in attendance. A temporary office at the site of construction shall not constitute a regular place of business.

Any person doing business with a nonresident contractor shall withhold payment of an amount of three percent (3%) of the contract price until thirty (30) days after the contractor has completed the contract; upon receipt of a Certificate of No Tax Due, the person may release the 3% payment to the nonresident contractor.

A Rhode Island Certificate of No Tax Due demonstrates that a nonresident contractor has remitted all Rhode Island sales/use and withholding taxes to the Rhode Island Division of Taxation for a project.

Please fill out the Nonresident Contractor Request for Audit form located on the Audit Forms page. 

Once you have completed the form, please email the form, along with all requested information, as listed on the form, to Tax.Contractor@tax.ri.gov

If you are unable to electronically send the above documentation, please mail to the following address:

Rhode Island Division of Taxation

Audit & Investigation

One Capitol Hill, 3rd Floor

Providence, RI 02908  

Attn: NRC Section

If the nonresident contractor fails to submit a certificate of no tax due on the project to the person holding the funds, the 3% deposit needs to be remitted to the State of Rhode Island within thirty (30) days after the nonresident contractor has completed the project. A 3% Nonresident Contractor Deposit form should be completed and mailed, along with a check.

Please use the Nonresident Contractor Deposit Form and Nonresident Contractor Request for Audit Form found on the Audit Forms page.