Tax Calculator - CUS 25

This utility, accessed via option CUS 25, is designed to enable you to:

quote tax rates without having to enter an order
test that your tax tables and tax parameters are set up correctly.

It is advised that Canadian systems set their System Wide Settings for Tax to "Y" to "Consider Billto Non-Taxable If No Tax Codes", and that the system will ignore the GST entry in "Other Tax" field. For Canadian systems, a Billto is considered "non-taxable" if the State Tax field is blank. In the US both fields must be blank.

Calculating the Tax for an Order

Access the Tax Calculator via option 25 on the Customer Service menu (CUS).
Enter the necessary information and press Enter to calculate the tax.

The last two fields Enter Final Destination State and Enter Final Destination Zip are necessary if the ship via code represents a shipment (not a will call). If these fields are blank, the Billto address is used.

The order amount can be left blank. In that case, the tax rates will show, but not the tax amount.
If a customer is tax exempt that information is also displayed.

How the System Assigns Sales Tax Codes

For Will-Calls:

The system finds the tax codes to assign to a Will-Call order in the following sequence:

Find customer tax codes in the Billto File.
If there are no tax codes in the Billto File, the customer is considered non-taxable (tax exempt), and the system will not normally check any other files. However, if an order is forced to be taxable (by selecting the "make taxable" option, or by ordering a "must tax" item), the system will look for tax codes in the County File, based on the state and county# in the customer's Billto File.
Find tax codes in the Warehouse File (using the header warehouse code).
If tax codes are found in the Warehouse File, they override Billto & County File tax codes
Finally, the Warehouse Will-Call Tax Table is checked. If an applicable entry is found, then the tax codes in the Warehouse Will-Call Tax Table override all other tax codes for a will-call order.
The Tax Exemptions by State/Province file is checked. If an exemption is found for the customer and warehouse state, then the tax codes are removed from the order, and the order is considered non-taxable (tax exempt).

For Shipments/Deliveries:

The system finds the tax codes to assign to a shipment/delivery order in the following sequence:

Find customer tax codes in the Billto File
If there are no tax codes in the Billto File, the customer is considered non-taxable (tax exempt), and the system will not normally check any other files. However, if an order is forced to be taxable (by selecting the "make taxable" option, or by ordering a "must tax" item), the system will look for tax codes in the County File, based on the state and county# in the customer's Billto File.
If no shipto#, no shipto override, and no "final destination state & zip" are included on the order, then the address of the shipment is considered to be the Billto address. In this case, the order is taxed using the tax codes found in the Billto File or County File. If no tax codes are found in either file, the order is not taxed.
If a shipto#, a shipto override, or a final destination zip code is entered on the order, the Tax by Zip Table is searched. The final destination zip code overrides the shipto zip code.
If a Tax by Zip record that is applicable to the zip code is found, then the tax codes for that zip code override all other tax codes found above.
The Tax Exemptions by State/Province file is checked. If an exemption is found for the customer and destination state, then the tax codes are removed from the order, and the order is considered non-taxable (tax exempt).

Associated Files

Billto File (FIL 1)

Use the Tax Codes / State Other Tax fields in the Billto File to insert the standard or most common tax code(s) for each taxable customer. Also enter a County# in each Billto File record. The County# identifies the county of the customer for sales analysis purposes, and if the Billto File does NOT contain tax codes, the system can also find a customer's tax rates, by checking the County File. If the Billto File does NOT contain any tax codes, the customer is considered "non-taxable (tax exempt)". The system attempts to tax a non-taxable (tax exempt) customer if:

In Order Entry the "make order taxable" key is pressed, or
in Order Entry, a "must tax" item is ordered (such as samples or displays), or
your tax settings instruct the system to find tax rates based on zip codes regardless of whether or not there are tax codes in the Billto File.

Warehouse File (FIL 8)

The settings for Tax Codes For Will Call/Pick-Up should be completed for warehouses that require a certain tax rate for will call (pick up) orders which overrides the tax codes in the Billto File for the taxable sales. Insert the tax code(s) that should be used on taxable orders that are "will calls" (customer pick-ups as opposed to shipments) from each warehouse. These tax codes represent the tax for the state/province/county/city in which the warehouse is located. If a customer is taxable, and the order is a "will call", the Order Entry program will automatically use the tax codes in the Warehouse File instead of the tax codes in the Billto File.

Classification Code File (FIL 19)

Ship Via codes are created and maintained in the Classification Codes File. Each Ship Via is defined as either a "Will Call" or not through the setting Does this Ship Via Code Represent a Pick up or Will Call. This is an extremely important setting for determining the correct sales tax. All orders with Ship Via codes that are defined as "Will Call/Pick Up" are taxed based on the tax codes in the Warehouse File (where the goods are picked up) or tax codes in the Warehouse Will Call Tax Table. All other Ship Via codes are considered to be "shipments" or "deliveries", which are taxed based upon the tax codes in the files - such as Billto, County, and Tax By Zip, based on the address of the customer or shipto.

Warehouse Will Call Tax Table (FIL 42)

In some states, the "will call" tax rates are dependant on the business address of the customer as well as on the business address of the warehouse servicing the customer. This means that different customers who "will call" (pick up goods) at the same warehouse may be charged different tax rates. It also means that the same customer can be charged different tax rates if that customer "will calls" from different warehouses of the same business and those warehouses are in different areas in terms of taxation.

This option creates a table that automates the taxation of "will calls" in such states. The Warehouse Will Call Tax Table automatically adjusts the tax codes on an order, based upon the business address of the customer as well as the business address of the will call warehouse.

Tax by Zip Codes Table (FIL 43)

This file/table enables you to assign your tax codes to each span of zip codes that you ship product into. This table is used when the system needs to tax an order that is being shipped to an address other than the address in the customer's Billto File. This table is crucial for determining the correct tax codes to apply to orders that are shipped to job sites or any address other than the customer's regular Billto File address.

Tax File (FIL 16)

Create codes representing sales tax rates for each state/province, and each county/city/etc. These codes may be divided into two levels - State/Province Tax Codes, and Other Tax Codes. In countries that have a national goods & services tax (such as Canadian GST), define an "Other Tax" code for the GST. A "tax code" represents a geographic area, such as a state, province, county, city, or a generic tax rate. A "tax rate" is assigned to a tax code, using the Tax File. The rate may be changed in the Tax File, without assigning a new tax code. The recommended setup of the tax file as follows:

Establish a State Tax Code for each state or province, with the respective state/province tax rates.
Establish Other Tax Codes for each county/city/local tax jurisdiction, with their respective tax rates.
Assign only a State Tax Code when only a state tax applies.
Assign both a State Tax Code and an Other Tax Code, when both state and local taxes apply. The system will charge sales tax using both rates.
In Canada, the Other Tax Code is used for GST, and the State Tax Code is used for PST.