It seems quite strange to me that I have to manually input tax information. This is an on-line shopping cart, so one would think that we could reach anyone in the world, at least the US (or whatever your home country is)… yet most people talk about just adding taxes for one state (i.e. NY, CA).
Is there a third-party solution/mod/add-on/whatever that will load the tax information for all states?? 
I’ve searched this forum and so far haven’t found anything like this… nor is it requested as a new feature for 1.3.6…
Seems like someone could make a lot of money if they developed something like this.
If you know of a solution, please let me know. Thanks!
I am not sure why you would want to charge sales tax to everyone in the US
lets say I have my business in California then I only need to charge sales tax to people who buy in California, if someone in Newy york orders then they are tax exempt
Just my take on this…
I agree that “someday” this might be necessary, but at the moment, unless you live in a district (state) that collects sales tax regardless of the shipping destination, (which i believe are only 3 in the US) it is impractical to create a code/add-on to address the situation.
Also, chances are real good that IF you have operations/stores/distribution centers or a presence in more than one state, you would probably be buying a more “robust”/complex shopping cart than cs. CS has a lot of bang for the buck, but, you are correct that when the US States decide to collect online sales tax, it will be a nightmare for every small operator. Just Ohio alone has 12 different tax rates that had to be programmed in, and this forum has assisted NY Sales Tax folks, and that looked tough.
Oh…and since most states are still in the 19th century, updating and keeping current EVERY TAX District to charge the correct tax would be overwhelming…states would need to provide a feed and make it easier for online merchants to collect and remit. By the time you did all the editing/programming, some district in Podunk, Iowa would change their rate from .0650 to .0675 to pay for prosecuting cow tippers.
Okay, I’m confused. I thought I had to charge tax based on shipping destination.
We have a brick&mortar store in Washington state (only)… who do I need to tax?
Suggestions on where I can go to find out more information on this? Or search keywords. I’m thoroughly confused now.
Check with your states website (tax authority)
I believe you only need to charge sales tax for shipping to your home state.
What is the change?
Currently, Washington retailers collect local sales tax based on the jurisdiction from which a product is shipped or delivered - “origin-based.” Starting July 1, 2008, they will need to collect based on the destination of the shipment or delivery - “destination-based.” This only affects shipments and deliveries to locations within Washington State.
Effective date: July 1, 2008
Until July 1, 2008, nothing changes about the way you collect, report, and remit retail sales tax. Information and assistance will be provided to help affected businesses prepare for this change.
[URL=“http://dor.wa.gov/Content/FindTaxesAndRates/RetailSalesTax/DestinationBased/MoreSST.aspx”]http://dor.wa.gov/Content/FindTaxesAndRates/RetailSalesTax/DestinationBased/MoreSST.aspx[/URL]
As far as adapting your CS-Cart rules for shipping and collecting sales tax
you can easily follow the instructions in a couple of threads…
Search Sales Tax
Here is one good one:
Sales Tax
wow…you even get a tax credit for updating
To help retailers transition to destination-based sales tax, the state Department of Revenue is providing web resources, workshops, tutorials, and other assistance. In addition, after July 1, 2008, certain small retailers are eligible for up to a $1,000 tax credit (to offset any necessary changes to their accounting, point-of-sale, or other systems)
This is usually referred to as having “nexus” or a physical presence in a state. Meeting nexus
definitions varies by state… but most say “physical” presence such as an office, building,
warehouse, etc…
Here’s a good link to all the state dept of revenue which is a good starting place:
[url]http://www.at-homeworks.com/state_tax.htm[/url]
Many also say employees like sales reps, owners, or any employee who helps promote the sales
in that state also qualify you for nexus, and therefore puts the tax collection onus on the
company - as opposed to the buyer believe it or not. This is what all the fuss is about with “internet sales tax” - Technically, if the business sells to a
customer in another state without nexus, there is nothing the state can do to force the state sales tax collection on the company.
Most state tax laws actually say (and have forms) for individuals to report and pay sales tax on these types of purchases. As you could imagine, that’s not happening… hence the push from the states to pass the so called “internet tax” into play…
Good Luck,
sraza
Hi Mike,
A little off topic, but do you program in all 12 tax rates for the various counties in Ohio? I thought you could just use the tax rate for the county where the shipping originates and apply that for all Ohio sales?
[quote name=‘disneyana’]Hi Mike,
A little off topic, but do you program in all 12 tax rates for the various counties in Ohio? I thought you could just use the tax rate for the county where the shipping originates and apply that for all Ohio sales?[/QUOTE]
As per status quo in Ohio, when I opened my store, the “powers to be” at State Tax HQ said that was the way I needed to do it. It has since been changed again, to charge the Sales Tax in the County where you are located. Who knows when they will change their minds again. Half the time, they haven’t a clue anyways.
:rolleyes:
So, to answer your question, I believe you need to charge Franklin County Tax Rates.
(Columbus, I assume?)
My daughter lives in Dublin
It is now 2011. According to my sources, Ohio wants you to charge sales tax rate of the county to where the shipment is being sent, not the county where the business resides. Ohio has 88 counties with differing sales tax rates. The only way I know of doing this is to manually create 88 “locations” in cs-cart and define each location by the zip codes that are in each county. What a nightmare! Can someone help!!
I would honestly just collect your local tax rate for any shipment into Ohio. I think that shows diligence on your part to collect taxes period. California has crap like that with numerous different county tax rates. No thanks.