Tax Rates & Zones for USA

[u4ea]

Hello, I have a store setup but I need to setup all the zones and tax rates for the usa. Is there an easy to use plugin/module out there that can do this for me?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Cheers-

 

u4ea :huh:

[glusniffer1]

Its all in your admin..you configure it in there

[bloodshoteyes]

The Zones Are there for you in admin/configuration/locations/zones. You will need to setup a Tax Zone for each state and a Tax Rate for each state. No easy module that I am aware of. Sounds Like 50 entries to me... Oh don't forget to click on the folder at the left edge of each state Tax Zone you set up, click insert, edit, click insert.

[isojourn]

In the US to US sales of course...

 

Tax rates are a little more complicated than just the known 50 states. Firstly, you have to determine county and city jurisdiction to correctly apply all relevant taxation potential. You could simply tax those people in the same city/county/state as your business nexus and choose to not remit sales tax to those outside the jurisdiction of your distribution point (or retail establishment). But, technically that only puts off the tax issue to the buyer who must then submit use tax to their state, county and city (should one have jurisdiction to lay and collect taxes).

 

I have no knowledge of even a spreadsheet that has all this information, and doubt there is one up to date. If there is a commercial source of such information (authoritative) I am not aware of it. But, it is an issue that deserves attention. Let me be clear - there is NO TAX FREE INTERNET SALES IN THE US. It doesn't exist. If you sell something online, someone has to pay tax somewhere. The US government has seen fit to put off collecting a federal tax on Internet sales above and beyond that which is already collected by states and other incorporated governing bodies.

 

If an OS Commerce user/developer wanted to help put this information together, it may have vast application. I can assure you it is a complicated matter to attend.

[bloodshoteyes]

I personally think that this tax issue is way over blown to the point of impossibility. It seems to me that one should argue that ownership transfers to customer at point of payment. That posting or shipping to any location is at the expressed desire of the owner. If true then taxes should be paid at the point or site of the site owner and business.. Although many states will argue that they are losing retail sales because of the internet. Well, that may be true but if I travel to another state and purchase an item I pay the tax in that state. I am not exempt because I do not have a residence there. And when I bring it back to my own resident state do I have to pay tax on it again. Well in some cases that might be true like with automobiles. But the difference is that to licence it I have to register it. The state does take advantage of that.... No. I think if we are going to have to pay tax on sales on the internet it should be in that state that we have our business. Not the other 49. Who by the way are going to oh so happy to give our state part of their tax revenue right. I am sure some states are going to be or at least feel disadvantaged based on populations and estimated e-commerce participants there. But isn't that what free enterprise is about. Or maybe that is just for the big guys in every major city in every state using one website to sell their wares.....Remember KISS that is the way it should be.

[Harold]

In the USA there is NO fedral sales tax levied on internet purchases. State taxes (not city , county or ?) are collectable ONLY when the seller and buyer reside in the same state. Sale to buyers outside the sellers state are NOT taxed, unless the seller has a business entity in the buyers state. As far as I know from my own internet purchases, no internet seller collects city or county sales taxes. It is not legal for a seller to collect sales taxes on out of state sales. The seller is only obligated by a state, to collect and remit sales taxes collected on same-state sales. There have been several attempts by states to collect sales taxes on all internet sales - but the courts have struck those attempts down as unconstitutional (U.S.Constitution: Article 1, Section 9, "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.")

Cheers

[isojourn]

This is an intriguing topic for me. I used to sell items directly to buyers in their residential city/county/state. It was a nightmare. The county I live in alone has 7 different jurisdictions, with only a little more than 80,000 people. We have incorporated cities and towns that have the power to lay and collect taxes on commerce that don't even have police departments. But, you can bet they have a tax collector. Governments are expansion monsters by design. Power hungry people yield power hungry enterprises. And, government is all about collecting and enforcing powers over people and commerce. Especially on the small town, local level this is their primary focus since it is their only revenue source. One small town I drove through had a full time tax collector for a town with approximately 10 retail businesses. Tax discussions are very fun and get very political very quickly. But, I am WAY off topic.

 

There have been a rash of suits every since the mail-order business started direct selling taxable goods and circumventing local sales taxes. The determination (by court decisions) was that in most cases the nexus of the business (the point of origin for the purchse) was at the point of distribution or the location where the business claimed residence. The taxes were collected based on that business' location, submission to local authority (or lack thereof) and state and municipal willingness to enforce taxation. Remember that every government has a right to make and enforce any law they want. The constitution of the USA notwithstanding, a local government can regulate commerce. And, provisioning acceptable importation policies may very well carry certain guidelines that violate US constitutional precidence. Besides, the US constition has been violated before. It will be violated again. It's the nature of government to violate it's own rules, especially where taxes are concerned. Again, we are really off topic.

 

Back on topic:

 

The fact is there are some circumstances where a business' nexus may be considered to be located at the buyer's location. For example, in my state I understand that delivering a catalog directly to a buyer constitutes a location of business transaction. Sure, it makes no sense to me. But, neither do a lot of things my state does or says. I live in an agressive state when it comes to sales taxes. My Internet business was audited by the state and I was required to pay use tax on items purchased in another state. Let me tell you the specifics: I bought an item from Florida (which I bought via an Internet/Phone order), we received the item FedEX and the State of Alabama billed me for the transaction after our audit. As a matter of fact, I was required to remit sales tax on any item I bought outside the state. Now, they did not require me to remit sales tax on selling said items outside the state. But, on buying (use tax), they were happy to collect taxes.

 

All that said, I think it is both illegal (by precidence) and illogical to charge sales taxes on purchases where items or goods are shipped via common carrier. But, some jurisdictions and some business practices will require people to distribute and collect local taxes, then remit - like MLM for example (home parties, home demonstrations).

[u4ea]

Thanks for the info thus far...

 

Let me give you a little more info about my business module. I work for the corporate offices of a large franchise company. We have about 700 locations in the USA (We are also located in 23 or so other countries).

 

I will be selling marketing materials to all of our franchise owners (that are USA based). Technically we have a location in each state (the franchise owner) but these locations are independantly owned and operated...

 

Maybe I need to chat with our lawyers about this. But if anyone has more info I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Cheers-

 

u4ea

[isojourn]

Matt (or u4ea):

 

First, YOU HAD BETTER BE TALKING TO A CPA AND ATTORNEY, preferably with experience in your particular field: franchises.

 

Let me be VERY clear. I KNOW (this is authoritative) that your relationship with franchise entities (this is 'client' or 'cusotmer' to you) does not constitute corporate local or a nexus for your central business entity. Don't say it. Don't claim it. That's dangerous speak for more reasons than simple taxation. I have worked with an accountant for a while, and we have discussed this issue in real world scenerios not too dissimilar from yours.

 

I can not speak on every state, but I can speak on my own. If you buy a good or service in my state, you had better plan on paying the local taxes - whether you paid them somewhere else or not. You may be able to get a pass on items where you pay taxes in another state and local jurisdiction - technically, my state's laws say you can only pay the state, county and city tax once. But, just because you believe the law says you do not owe local taxes on items where you already paid said taxes in a foreign jurisdiction, doesn't mean your local tax collector will choose to interpret those laws in your favor. Tax collectors are not judges, let alone conservative constructionist appose to double taxatoin. Typically, they are tax collectors and paid to make you pay. So, don't rely on their willingness to leave money on the proverbial table.

 

There is only one bonafied and guaranteed path to legal clarity in taxation on sales. If you collect all the local, state and potential federal tax as it pertains to the puchase of an item in the jurisdiction where that buyer resides or receives that item, then you are pretty much in the clear all the way around. It is always safe to call the delivery point the nexus of business. UNLESS (noose tightening here) you then subject yourself to licensing issues. It is common that purchasing a license to sell a good in a certain location will be much more costly than the total expenses of submitting sales tax. So, you know the damned if you do, damned if you don't story don't you.

 

Bottom line is this - GOVERNMENTS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. So, remember to cover all your bases. If your business is out of reach from a jurisdiction where a customer resides, you can ignore their taxation statutes and likely get away with it. But, probably the slickest way to get around the issue is to allow them to buy it from you while you proclaim the nexus is your physical location (avoiding licensing issues) and let them remit the tax due. For recurring transactions (like franchises) this makes sense. A good lawyer may tell you bluntly that submitting to all potential tax law is an impossible task and you should just view the governments as advasaries.

 

What you can get away with is rather different than what you are required to do by law - and that is rather different than what statutes the government can hold against you should you make the wrong people mad. Like I said at the beginning, YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A GOOD CPA AND ATTORNEY that focus on your particular business process or system.