Create or select from your list of Sales Tax Groups.
Sales Tax data may also be imported: see Start Sales Tax Update (Avalara).
Create a group with City and County Sales Tax Authorities.
If a Tax Authority record is changed, each Sales Tax Group record associated with the changed Tax Authority will be updated when the Tax Authority record is changed. If a Tax Group record is open when the Tax Authority is updated, click Refresh to see the changes.
Referenced By: Job, Client Site, Vendor.
Required for invoicing / recording sales and use tax. Since each group may include multiple tax authorities (e.g., city, state), GL Entries are made to the GL Account specified in the Tax Authority records.
Tax Group Id:
Uniquely identifies the Tax Group; this field is required.
If this Tax Group was generated from Alavara Sales Tax data, the Id will be based on the Zip Code. However, since a single zip code may encompass more than one Sales Tax Group (which specifies the State, County and Municipal / Other Authorities), the Sales Tax Group Id of records generated by running the Start Sales Tax Update will be composed of the Zip Code optionally followed by a .### extension. For example, the Sales Tax Authority with the name "ARVADA JEFFERSON CO COLORADO 80002" is assigned the Id 80002.002 to distinguish it from "DENVER JEFFERSON CO COLORADO 80002" with Id 80002.004. In addition, Use Tax and non Use Tax groups are created via the Avalara update.
If your company serves customers in more than one state, including a state designation within this field is recommended (e.g., OH-Middleton). This field is required.
Tax Group Name:
This optional field briefly describes the Tax Group (e.g., Middleton County, Ohio) and provides another look-up field.
Group Tax Rate:
The default Tax Rate that will appear on the invoice if a specific category rate is not defined. The Sales Tax Authority Rate Viewer associates billing categories (e.g., part, labor) with specific tax rates. The system automatically rolls up the individual rates in the Tax Authority tab into the total Group Tax Rate field for this record.
In most cases, the system will calculate this field for you based on the Authorities and rates entered on the Tax Authorities tab. However, this field will be forced to zero if a graduated tax rate is specified in one or more of the Sales Tax Authorities listed on the Tax Authorities tab.
Cumulative?
This option may be also be set by the Tax Authority. The order of the lines on the Tax Authorities tab is important because it determines the order in which the individual taxes are computed and accumulated.
Upgrading from SAM Pro 6.1 or Earlier:
The Sales Tax Group Cumulative flag will be cleared during the conversion from any revision level less than 367 to any revision level >= 367. If this flag should be set in your data (e.g., for Canadian GTS), you must do so manually for each applicable Sales Tax Group record.
Tax Labor: Tax Materials: Tax Other: Tax Subcontract:
These fields define the rules that determine which Cost Categories will be taxed. Note: Exceptions to these rules may be entered by clicking the Exceptions tab.
Alternately, these sales tax rules may be set by the Tax Authority.
State:
This field is used for reporting purposes. Enter the appropriate 2-character state/provincial postal code.
Obsolete?
If this field is checked, the record is considered Obsolete, and it may not be directly specified during data-entry (either by entering the Id or selecting it from a list). Obsoleted records can be edited and the Obsolete option can be un-done when necessary. When you check the Obsolete field, the following message box will be displayed:
“You have elected to obsolete this record. Would you like to see existing references to this record?”
If you click Yes, the system will display a viewer that provides click-through access to all tables referencing this record.
Rate Basis: Extended Cost - Unit Cost
The field is display-only until such time as the tax calculation code supports unit cost based calculations (needed for Tennessee Sales Tax).
Tax Authority Id:
A sales tax authority belonging to this Group. Enter a valid Tax Authority Id or double-click on this field to select from a list. At least one Sales Tax Authority per group is required.
However, validation ensures that a specific Sales Tax Authority can appear no more that once in the same Sales Tax Group. The system will display a 'Child Row Update Failed' error if a user attempts of add the same Sales Tax Authority more than once in the Group.
Note: If the Cumulative box is checked, the order of the lines on the Tax Authorities tab is important because it determines the order in which the individual taxes are computed and written to history. The tax on the first line is computed first. The tax on the second line includes the accumulated tax from the first line, and so on. If the order is not correct, the tax will not be allocated correctly among the authorities.
Example:
Tax Authority Tax Rate Cumulative Rate
A 5.00 5.0000
B 1.00 1.0500
C 7.00 7.4235
Group Tax Rate: 13.4735 if Cumulative is checked
13.0000 if Cumulative is not checked
Use Authority Rules: Cumulative:
These display fields default from the Tax Authority record. If the Use Authority Rules field is checked, the taxation rules and exceptions will come from the individual authority rather than from this Sales Tax Group.
Job Cost?
If this field is checked and a Job is marked as Use Tax, taxes for this Authority will be treated as use tax and applied as a cost to the Job. Important note: if the Job Cost box is flagged, taxes for this authority will be included in the inventoried cost of items purchased to stock if the registry entry described in the sys-ffv-global-settings registry option Include Prepaid Tax in Inventoried Cost is implemented.
If this field is checked and the Job is marked as Sales Tax, taxes for this Authority will be treated as use tax and applied as a cost to the Job, and will NOT be included on the customer’s Invoice.
Appropriate entries will be written to Job History from the Purchase Order, Inventory Receipts, and AP Journals General Tab. Note that Vendor tax recorded on the AP Journal taxes tab will not be Job Costed: see AP Journal Taxes Tab for details using this tab.
Example: Ontario Tax Group for Fixed Fee Jobs
Typically, sales-taxable, Fixed Fee jobs do not invoice PST. The following example illustrates how to set up this Tax Group so that the OPST will be treated as Use Tax but the customer will only be invoiced for the GST.
Tax Group Id: OPST-FF
Authority Id: Job Cost Tax Authority Name
GST Gov. Sales Tax
OPST X Ontario Provincial Sales Tax
Note that only the OPST has its Job Cost box checked.
Example: Ontario Tax Group for T&M Jobs
Typically, sales-taxable T&M jobs invoice PST and GST. The following example illustrates how to set up this Tax Group so that the customer will be invoiced for both the OPST and the GST.
Tax Group Id: OPST-TM
Authority Id: Job Cost Tax Authority Name
GST Gov. Sales Tax
OPST Ontario Provincial Sales Tax
Note the Job Cost box is blank for both the GST and the OPST.
Cost Category:
A Cost Category that is an exception to the taxing rules in the upper section of this viewer. For example, suppose that most Cost Categories with a Cost Type of Other are taxed by this Tax Group. However, your Cost Category "Fees and Permits" (with a Cost Category Type of Other) is not taxed. In this case, the Tax Other field in the upper section would be checked, and Fee-Permits entered as Cost Category Id in the Exceptions tab of the lower section.