The ultimate "HOW TO" for Configuring In-State CA Tax

[getitdone99]

I spent hours, even days trying to sift through all the posts on how to set up in-state tax for California. Seems like no one has actaully done a step-by step how to. So I want to give back and give it a try, however I would like for someone experienced to review my step-by-step instructions to ensure they are correct and accurate.

 

This would help sooooooooooooo many people.

 

Here is my instructions I want to reveal, but of course want to make sure that everything is correct and easy to understand. Other "how to posts" seem to leave out steps:

 

=========================================

 

Assuming you have not set up any tax info, these steps will be accurate:

 

Step 1:

 

Log into the OSCommerce Admin Panel.

Go to “Locations / Taxes” ---> “Tax Zones” ---> “Insert” button

“Zone Name” box = type in “United States”. Then in the “Description” box type whatever you like such as “USA”. Click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 2:

Now you will see “United States” in the “Tax Zones” column. Click on the yellow folder graphic beside the words “United States”. You should see “displaying 0 to 0". Click the “Insert” button. In the “Country Code” pull down menu choose “United States”. In the “Zone” drop down menu choose “California”. Next click the “insert” button.

 

Step 3:

Click the “Tax Classes”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click the “New Tax Class” button. In the “Tax Class Title” box type something that would properly represent the state/country you are applying tax to. This is important because this is what will be displayed live during the check out process so if you type “cat fazzy” it will say “cat frizzy tax” followed by the percentage rate (to be determined in the next step). So for California you should type “CA” or “California”. Next the “description” box you can type whatever. Next click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 4:

Click the “Tax Rates”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click “New Tax Rate” button. IN the “Tax Class Title” pull down menu choose your names title, ie “CA” or “California”. In the “Zone” pull down choose “United States”. Next in the “Tax Rate” box type the rate, ie 7.75 (you must check your county/city to find out what this number should be). Next in the “description” box type anything that would help you identify this. Next in the “Priority” box type in the number “0”.

[Stargrrl]

Thanks a million! You just saved me a few hours of research :lol:

[suman07]

Thanx a lot, getitdone99.

One thing I want to know that how oscommerce knows when to add tax?

I mean to say 'which field that the user inputs during registration determines the tax-zone?'

I am new to os-commerce.

I guessed that the 'state' field would determine this tax rate.

But people may enter wrong state during registration.

[kirkdickinson]

Clear directions. Much better than the junk in the FAQ file. Unfortunately, I still don't get it. My cart is still charging tax on every order, from every state.

[kirkdickinson]

OK,

 

I think it is working now.

 

I had to clear out old Tax zones and rates and start over. Then go back and assign all my items to the new tax.

 

I think from my first tests that it is working now.

 

Kirk

[IcedDante]

If what Kirk says is right, then you have to go into EVERY product in your catalog and assign it to the new Tax class... is that right? If so- that really blows! Does anyone know a quicker way? I am guessing it would probably entail changing it in the database directly.

 

BTW- Thanks for this topic. I couldn't figure out how to get the Tax for California and I think this is one area of OSCommerce that could do with more simplification.

[kirkdickinson]

If what Kirk says is right, then you have to go into EVERY product in your catalog and assign it to the new Tax class... is that right? If so- that really blows! Does anyone know a quicker way? I am guessing it would probably entail changing it in the database directly.

 

I have phyMyAdmin loaded and used an sql query to change them all.

 

Worked well.

 

I didn't know the exact syntax, so I changed one record from phpMyAdmin and it showed me what the code was, I used their code and changed the statement just a little so that it would change all of them.

 

If you have myPhpAdmin installed, I can give you the table and syntax for the query.

 

Kirk

[IcedDante]

I have phyMyAdmin loaded and used an sql query to change them all.

 

Worked well.

 

I didn't know the exact syntax, so I changed one record from phpMyAdmin and it showed me what the code was, I used their code and changed the statement just a little so that it would change all of them.

 

If you have myPhpAdmin installed, I can give you the table and syntax for the query.

 

Kirk

 

Thanks Kirk,

 

I am trying to get better at SQL so I will see if I can figure it out myself. Of course it doesn't help that I have to learn a slightly different SQL standard for MySQL than for Firebird, Oracle, etc... but hey- that's life!

 

If I get it going I will put a step-by-step guide up for the transformation.

[IcedDante]

Okay- so here is what you do.

 

Step 1

First you need to get the Tax Class ID from the tax_class table. Your first SQL Query should be this:

 

select * from tax_class

 

Look for the name and description of the Tax Class you created and check the column tax_class_id to get the ID for this class. If this is the first class you have created then it will probably be 1, but run this query to double check.

 

Step 2

You will now need to update your products to use this id so do the following:

 

update products set products_tax_class_id = ###;

 

where ### should be replaced with the Tax Class ID you got from Step 1. That oughta do it.

[WebDev22]

I have carefully followed these instructions but cannot figure out how to prevent charging tax to states other than Georgia. In the last step, for "Tax Rates", should there be only one entry for Georgia?

 

Also, I noticed when I refresh the cart, after making changes in the admin, it still show GA 7%. I've removed everything from the cart, closed the browser, and started over again with my test Florida account, but it keeps giving me the same GA 7% tax rate. Any ideas?

 

Brett

[WebDev22]

I have carefully followed these instructions but cannot figure out how to prevent charging tax to states other than Georgia. In the last step, for "Tax Rates", should there be only one entry for Georgia?

 

Also, I noticed when I refresh the cart, after making changes in the admin, it still show GA 7%. I've removed everything from the cart, closed the browser, and started over again with my test Florida account, but it keeps giving me the same GA 7% tax rate. Any ideas?

 

Brett

 

More on this... Just to test it, since it didn't seem that anything I did in Admin was affecting the live site, I changed the GA tax from 7% to 6%, logged back in with my test Florida account, placed an order, and still got GA 7% tax. It's almost as if the GA 7% has been hard-coded in. Is there perhaps another place where tax is configured?

[meierli]

i followed all the steps on how to setup sales tax in CA, but when i run a test order and come to the order form sales tax isnt diplayed and charged. any ideas, why?

[WebDev22]

i followed all the steps on how to setup sales tax in CA, but when i run a test order and come to the order form sales tax isnt diplayed and charged. any ideas, why?

 

meierli,

 

Were you able to resolve your tax issue? We are in Georgia so I set up a Tax Rate for Florida set to 0% and managed to prevent Florida sales from being charged tax. However, I don't think this is the way this is really supposed to be set up.

 

Brett

[Guest]

Thank-you so much I spent all day pulling hair till someone pointed me to this thread.

Pat

[danthony2]

Awesome instructions! I tested it with 2 out of state test accounts and it was flawless.

 

Thank you so much!

Danthony2

[Guest]

Thank you ! My client was having a similar problem and this solved it.

I'm pretty sure we just used default settings for tax zones and applied the relevant tax % for their state.

Has a root cause of error for following this path been identified?

 

Best regards,

 

John Goluch

 

I spent hours, even days trying to sift through all the posts on how to set up in-state tax for California. Seems like no one has actaully done a step-by step how to. So I want to give back and give it a try, however I would like for someone experienced to review my step-by-step instructions to ensure they are correct and accurate.

 

This would help sooooooooooooo many people.

 

Here is my instructions I want to reveal, but of course want to make sure that everything is correct and easy to understand. Other "how to posts" seem to leave out steps:

 

=========================================

 

Assuming you have not set up any tax info, these steps will be accurate:

 

Step 1:

 

Log into the OSCommerce Admin Panel.

Go to “Locations / Taxes” ---> “Tax Zones” ---> “Insert” button

“Zone Name” box = type in “United States”. Then in the “Description” box type whatever you like such as “USA”. Click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 2:

Now you will see “United States” in the “Tax Zones” column. Click on the yellow folder graphic beside the words “United States”. You should see “displaying 0 to 0". Click the “Insert” button. In the “Country Code” pull down menu choose “United States”. In the “Zone” drop down menu choose “California”. Next click the “insert” button.

 

Step 3:

Click the “Tax Classes”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click the “New Tax Class” button. In the “Tax Class Title” box type something that would properly represent the state/country you are applying tax to. This is important because this is what will be displayed live during the check out process so if you type “cat fazzy” it will say “cat frizzy tax” followed by the percentage rate (to be determined in the next step). So for California you should type “CA” or “California”. Next the “description” box you can type whatever. Next click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 4:

Click the “Tax Rates”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click “New Tax Rate” button. IN the “Tax Class Title” pull down menu choose your names title, ie “CA” or “California”. In the “Zone” pull down choose “United States”. Next in the “Tax Rate” box type the rate, ie 7.75 (you must check your county/city to find out what this number should be). Next in the “description” box type anything that would help you identify this. Next in the “Priority” box type in the number “0”.

[videod]

That works great. Although, California has a very convoluted sales tax system at best. According to the BOE. If you sell online to another county you use the California sales tax rate (8.25%) if you don't deliver the goods yourself. But, if you sell to someone in the same county and you have a district tax (i.e. 8.25% CA + .50 district tax). There is a difference, and you may wind up charging a client more tax or less tax depending on how you setup your store.

 

Issue: I can't find a way to limit my county tax to just my county. California tax law allows me to sell at the California rate of 8.25% to any other county, but how do I make sure that I am charging the correct rate for my county which is higher? I would need to limit the county tax to just certain zip codes?

 

Anyone have a solution or idea how to implement something like this? I like the OS Commerce solution and have been helped by lots of you that have great ideas.

 

Thanks!

[Worwind]

I spent hours, even days trying to sift through all the posts on how to set up in-state tax for California. Seems like no one has actaully done a step-by step how to. So I want to give back and give it a try, however I would like for someone experienced to review my step-by-step instructions to ensure they are correct and accurate.

 

This would help sooooooooooooo many people.

 

Here is my instructions I want to reveal, but of course want to make sure that everything is correct and easy to understand. Other "how to posts" seem to leave out steps:

 

=========================================

 

Assuming you have not set up any tax info, these steps will be accurate:

 

Step 1:

 

Log into the OSCommerce Admin Panel.

Go to “Locations / Taxes” ---> “Tax Zones” ---> “Insert” button

“Zone Name” box = type in “United States”. Then in the “Description” box type whatever you like such as “USA”. Click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 2:

Now you will see “United States” in the “Tax Zones” column. Click on the yellow folder graphic beside the words “United States”. You should see “displaying 0 to 0". Click the “Insert” button. In the “Country Code” pull down menu choose “United States”. In the “Zone” drop down menu choose “California”. Next click the “insert” button.

 

Step 3:

Click the “Tax Classes”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click the “New Tax Class” button. In the “Tax Class Title” box type something that would properly represent the state/country you are applying tax to. This is important because this is what will be displayed live during the check out process so if you type “cat fazzy” it will say “cat frizzy tax” followed by the percentage rate (to be determined in the next step). So for California you should type “CA” or “California”. Next the “description” box you can type whatever. Next click the “Insert” button.

 

Step 4:

Click the “Tax Rates”. You should see “displaying 0 of 0”. Click “New Tax Rate” button. IN the “Tax Class Title” pull down menu choose your names title, ie “CA” or “California”. In the “Zone” pull down choose “United States”. Next in the “Tax Rate” box type the rate, ie 7.75 (you must check your county/city to find out what this number should be). Next in the “description” box type anything that would help you identify this. Next in the “Priority” box type in the number “0”.

[Worwind]

:) Thank you! I have not tested it so I will be back if it doesn't work for me. However, thanks to the other replies, I believe it works.

[evegowa]

Awsome!