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Configure Your Taxes

You can get to this part of the system by clicking on the Admin Button in the upper right, click Settings, then click Taxes.

Setting Up Tax Jurisdictions

Tax Jurisdictions - Each row on the Taxes screen is a separate Tax Jurisdiction, or type of tax that might apply. You will first want to set up the Jurisdictions you will need, then you will set Tax Profiles that will determine the tax rate that will apply to a situation. You can see the different types of defaults that can be applied (Product, Service, or Class).

Adding and Editing Your Tax Jurisdictions - You can add tax jurisdictions as needed, but please read this section in its entirety before your start! Click the +Add New Jurisdiction button, and in the side panel, enter the Name (e.g. your Service taxes), don't check the box for Tiered Tax Jurisdiction unless you are setting up Tiered Taxes (for more information on how to set up Tiered Taxes, click here: How to Enter Tiered Taxes). Set the Default for the tax from the drop-list.

• Product - Your Product default tax will automatically apply to every product in your Products module, and every new product you create in the system. If you don't want the Product default rate to apply to a certain group of products, for instance as with our earlier example of books, you can go into each of those products individually to the Advanced tab and check only the boxes for the tax rate(s) you want to apply.
• Service - You can set your Service default tax rate so that all labor-based work, such as Work Orders, has the correct tax rate applied in the Register.
• Class - This default rate will apply to the instruction portion of the classes you teach as you default Class rate. It will not apply to materials you sell for the class; those will use your default Product tax in the normal way.

Click the Save button to finish adding your new Tax Jurisdiction.

Important Info About Tax Jurisdictions - You will want to make as few tax jurisdictions as possible. For example, it might seem logical to set up a separate jurisdiction for State, County, and Municipal or City tax rates and just allow them to combine in the Register. If you do this, your taxes will be off. The reason it is best not to do this is that in each tax calculation on each product in a transaction, each tax rate you have has the possibility of ending up with fractional cents, and those can add up over a month to throw your taxes off and have you paying too much. With only a single default tax rate for your products, the fractional cents will end up averaging out and being accurate overall, so it is best to combine your tax rates into a unified rate. At the end of your tax reporting period, break out the total amount of taxes collected by formula to pay each of your separate jurisdictions.

Tax Profiles

Our Tax Profiles feature gives you excellent flexibility in how you use your taxes in the system. If you have a special tax rate that occasionally needs to be applied, such as a Native American tax rate, you are able to set up profiles that can be changed on the fly in the system Register and you can set defaults for your Website taxes.

You can create as many Tax Profiles as you might need. You will already have defaults created for your main Tills, but if you need additional ones they are easy to create and use. You can view existing Tax Profiles by clicking on the profile title on the left and then you can see the different Tax Percentages set in that profile for each Tax Jurisdiction.

You can Edit or Delete a Tax Profile by clicking the Ellipsis Button on the far right (the three-dot stack). You can click +Add New Tax Profile to create a new one, and you'll see a blank version of this:

Set the appropriate Tax Rates for each Jurisdiction after you give it a Profile Name, and that profile can be used in your Register at any time. Common examples of profiles you might need would include special tax rates for groups of customers, such as Native Americans, or regular trade show destinations such as Atlanta or Las Vegas. You can enter the tax rates that should apply to each and then change the profile with a click in the Register as needed.

Setting Tax Profile Defaults for Your Tills

You can click the Admin Button > Settings > POS Settings > Tills, click the Ellipsis button (three-dot stack) button on the far right to Edit, and then set or change the Default Profile the Till will use. Whenever you open the Register and choose that Till, your Default Profile will load. You will still be able to change the profile on the fly as needed while you use your Register.

Setting Your Tax Profile for the Website

You are able to set the Default Tax Profile for each of your Locations for the profile they will use for transactions that go through your website. To set the website defaults, click the Admin Button in the upper right and go to Settings. In the General tab that opens, you'll see a drop-list that will let you set your default. When you are done setting the default, remember to click Save at the bottom of the page.

Please Note: If you use special tax functionality for Washington State tax, Canadian tax, or a tax service such as Avalara or Tax Jar, you will not be able to select website profiles because those services will already be managing your taxes.

Using Tax Profiles in the Register

You will have a drop-list in the right-side column of your Register once Tax Profiles have become active for you. At any time during a transaction you can click the list to choose the appropriate Tax Profile, and this can be done independently of your Location and Till. Please note that if a Customer is set to be Tax Exempt, the Tax Profile will automatically adjust to No Tax when you load the customer. Also, if you set Shipping from the Register and if you use Washington State or Canadian tax settings, or if you use a tax service like Avalara or Tax Jar, those services will manage the tax on the transaction and you will not be able to apply a specific profile.