US Home-Rule State Tax Compliance (again)
Ow... I think my eyes just rolled into the back of my head.
If we were to read the above text word-for-word when the above text states, "Zoho Commerce is compliant with all state taxes in the USA.", and ran it through the truth-o-meter... well... then yes, I must concede... that is *technically* accurate, I guess.
But...
C'mon. Anyone reading that, including myself, would just say, "Great... compliant on all US Sales tax law", and check off that mental check box and move on. The carefully workded question, however, if more generally worded wouldn't pass. So, for example, something like, "Will you be able to correctly collect for and maintain proper compliance US sales tax liability using Commerce? Mmmm... certainly not if you live in a home rule state. Not by a long shot.
First of all, sales tax in the United States is calculated at the state and city and sometimes county level, and sometimes has additional "special" taxes applied as well. For example, my state's sales tax is 2.9%. However... when you add all of the other taxes on top of the state tax, the total taxes end up being 8.81%.
If you're fortunate to be located in a non-homerule state, then you're probably just going to stack your local taxes on top of the percentage for the state tax for sales made within the state in which you're located, which still doesn't provide any sort of a breakdown for reporting purposes... But at least it's manageable, because it keeps it simple. This is because your taxes are determined by the tax rates at your location, and not the location you're shipping to... at least within your state, and therefore a single rate for your state inclusive of state + local taxes is both manageable and adequate, and Commerce can correctly collect this amount for the transactions within your state when it sees that destination for your customers shipping address.
However...
If you live in a "home rule" state, then there is currently no way to make Zoho Commerce compliant without the cost of an additional integration, as you need to use collect tax based on tax percentage that's been assigned to the address of the shipped destination, and that can vary widely across the state. There is simply nothing in Commerce that supports this functionality. So, I can certainly configure the 2.9% state tax rate for Colorado. Does that make me compliant? Not at all.
Furthermore, these same rules may also be applicable for any business that sells over a certain dollar amount to any other state where they have a threshold dollar amount that exceeds a certain level (e.g. $100,000). If so, you may have tax liability in those states as well, and also need to be configured to collect taxes for those locations in the same way.
I again reiterate that there is a ridiculously simple method that Zoho could implement into Commerce that can addresses this one issue for most ecommerce businesses to maintain reasonable compliance. And while not perfect, it would be at least be adequate for most small businesses to demonsterate that they've taken practical measures to comply with all the relevent sales tax laws that apply to their home state. The straight forward solution is to simply perform the tax rate lookup at the zipcode level instead of at the state level. That's all. It's so simple that my dog could code it while locked in a sausage factory (if he were provided the API, that is). The following thread elaborates on this subject in further detail:
So the correct statement with full disclosure is: Zoho Commerce is indeed absolutely, 100%, completely, undoubtedly compliant with all, yes *ALL* US State taxes, but... has no mechanism to allow you to comply with city, county, juristictional, or special taxes in home-rule states in order to conform with the required state tax liability law, nor does it provide any publically available API to make the propor modifications to do so.
Now, to cover all bases.... Yes... There is another option... I can pony up $50 a month for Alavera + extras, which is the base price. The cost can actually be much higher depending on a range of other factors. This integration is said to include live tax lookup by the address. But... why should I have to do that when the fix I've proposed is so simple to implement. Why not simply make the extraordinarily simple changes that are being requested to allow a home-rule-state US businesses to maintain proper compliance without Alavera. Just provide the option to permit tax lookups at the zipcode level.
-Bryan
Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Bryan Pape - bryan@infraredsaunarepair.com
theirgreatestfan
Vasudevan M
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Zoho Campaigns: An Outstanding Email Marketing Tool
Introducing Zoho Campaigns! A product designed by Zoho, the Zoho Campaigns is made to create, deliver, and manage integrated email campaigns that can help in boosting the sales of a company and its customer base. Zoho Campaigns is actually an email marketingZoho Creator Developer Console | Improved Distribution and Lifecycle Management for apps
Hello everyone, We're excited to introduce new enhancements now in the Zoho Creator Developer Console. These updates strengthen private app distribution through licensing controls and extend environment support across all installed apps, helping teamsZoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?
Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). ImpactedSync images with Shopify/Cart
Hello, sync images with shopify or other cart, it cuts out the double work of having to upload to shopify/cart and zoho. ThanksExternal User onboarding for zoho connect is not really intuitive.
So the external user is sent an invite, which has a button that directs them to login to zoho to view the invite, but if they don't have a zoho account, they cannot access that invite, which seems kinda silly, as there is not real way on for them to createHaving trouble fetching contents of Zoho Connect Feeds using the API, requesting alternative API documentation.
I'm trying to retrieve feed/post data from Zoho Connect using the API but facing challenges with the current documentation. What I've tried: OAuth authentication is working correctly (getting 200 OK responses) Tested multiple endpoints: /pulse/nativeapi/v2/feeds,How to upload file to Connect using API?
Hi there. I looked at the API documentation and nowhere did it mention how to use the API method to upload a file even though it is mentioned that it is possible to be done so. Please help.Select the task view on the board in the Zoho Connect iPhone app
Hello. How do I select the task view on the board in the Zoho Connect iPhone app? The Android app has this functionality.Auto tagging
Some of the articles I enter into Notebook get there when I enter them in Raindrop.io and IFTTT copies the articles in Notebook. When this happens the notes are tagged but instead of useful one word tags with topic the tag pertains to the specific articleWebDAV support
I need WebDAV support so that I can upload/download (and modify) documents from my local file system. Is anything planned in his direction?Constant refresh required in lots of Zoho tabs
"Hey Zoho, if you can sync my notification bell across 15 tabs using a BroadcastChannel, why can't you send a 'Data Refresh' signal the same way? We don't need a browser reload—we just need the data to sync without us clicking F5 like it's 1999." "PS:What's New in Zoho Billing | January 2026
Excited about the latest enhancements in Zoho Billing? Our January updates bring an intelligent AI assistant, smarter subscription management, and improved tax compliance, saving you time and reducing manual work. Dive into the details below to see howInserting images into Articles or Knowledgebase
Hi, Are there any plans in improving the Knowledgebase text editor so it would allow inserting images through Windows clipboard via copy-paste? Say for example I took a screenshot using the snipping tool in Windows and I'd like to insert that image toLinks not functioning in Zoho mail
Links that are included in emails I receive are not activating. Nothing at all happens when I click on them. I have researched FAQs and this forum to no avail. Any suggestions?Zoho Mail iOS app update: Manage folders and tags
Hello everyone! In the most recent version of the Zoho Mail iOS app, we have brought in support to manage(create, edit and delete) the folders and tags. Create folders Create Tags Edit/ Delete folder In addition to this, we have also brought in support[Important announcement] Zoho Writer will mandate DKIM configuration for automation users
Hi all, Effective Dec. 31, 2024, configuring DKIM for From addresses will be mandatory to send emails via Zoho Writer. DKIM configuration allows recipient email servers to identify your emails as valid and not spam. Emails sent from domains without DKIMOur Review Of Zoho CRM after 60 Days
The purpose of this is to just share with Zoho why I love their product, but ultimately why I could not choose Zoho CRM for our next CRM. About two months ago we begun a CRM exploration process for our financial planning firm, based in Texas. We alreadyLink Purchase Order to Deal
Zoho Books directly syncs with contacts, vendors and products in Zoho CRM including field mapping. Is there any way to associate vendor purchase orders with deals, so that we can calculate our profit margin for each deal with connected sales invoicesExtend the Image Choice Field
Hi, The New Yes/No field is great for what it does, and the Image Choice Field is good but could be better with some functions from the Yes/No field. Take an example, rather than just Yes/No you want Yes/No/Maybe (Or more than 3 choices), but unlike theZoho Desk: Macro to assign Ticket to self
Hello, We are using macros in Zoho Desk to set some fields and send a response. I would also like to assign the ticket to myself (or whoever applies the macro). I can only set a fixed agent in the macro, so I would have to create one for every agent.Turn off Knowlege Base Follow options and Follower lists
Is there a way to hide or turn off the option in the Knowledge Base for users to follow specific departments/categories/sections/articles? If not, is there a way to turn off the public list of followers for each of those things? Otherwise, customer namesNew Feature: Audit Log in Zoho Bookings
Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re excited to introduce Audit Log, a new feature designed to help you track all key actions related to your appointments. With Audit Log, you can maintain transparency, strengthen security, and ensure accountability.Automated Task reminder
First question: If a task does not have a reminder set, will it still send an email notification that the task is due today? If not, how can I set up an automated reminder to send the task owner an email that it is due on a certain date?Zoho Support - contract notifications
Hi, I have a few questions about using Zoho support. Is there a way to add custom contract notifications like (90 days before expiry send notification e-mail to agent and customer, then another 60 days before expiry and another 30 days.). And is it possibleKaizen #230 - Smart Discount-Based Quote Approvals Using CRM Functions and Approval Process
Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Kaizen series! Discount approvals are a standard part of sales governance. Most organizations need something like this: Discount % Required Action < 10% Auto-approve 10–19.99% Sales Manager approval ≥ 20% VP Sales approvalHow to create a new Batch and update Stock via Inventory?
Hi everyone, We are building an automation where a user enters batch details (Batch Number, Mfg Date, Expiry, and Quantity) into a Custom Module. I need this to trigger an API call to Zoho Inventory to: Create the new batch for the item. Increase theOAuth2 Scope Error - Incorrectly defaulting to CRM instead of Analytics.
Hello Zoho Team, I am trying to connect n8n to Zoho Analytics API V2 for a simple automation project. Despite using the correct Analytics-specific scopes, my OAuth handshake is failing with a CRM-related error. The Problem: The authorization screen shows:Archive Option in Conversation View
Hello, I have a suggestion\request to add an "Archive Thread" button in conversation view of Zoho Mail. The best suggestion I have is to put an "Archive Thread" button next to the "Label Entire Thread" button in conversation view. Most users don't justIs it possible to create a meeting in Zoho Crm which automatically creates a Google Meet link?
We are using Google's own "Zoho CRM for Google" integration and also Zoho's "Google Apps Sync" tools, but none of them provide us with the ability to create a meeting in Zoho CRM that then adds a Google Meet link into the meeting. Is this something thatTrigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added
Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no triggerHow can I link Products in a Deal Subform to the Products Module
Hello, I have a pricing subform on our Deals page and use a lookup field to associate a product with each line. I want to be able to look at a product page within the Products module and see a list of the deals connected to that product. I have this workingEmail Field Validation Incorrectly Rejects RFC-Compliant Addresses (Forward Slashes)
I've encountered a validation issue with Zoho Creator's Email field that rejects RFC-compliant email addresses containing forward slashes, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue When entering an email address containingCall result pop up on call when call ends
I’d like to be able to create a pop up that appears after a call has finished that allows me to select the Call Result. I'm using RingCentral. I have seen from a previous, now locked, thread on Zoho Cares that this capability has been implemented, butZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly
I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",Payment system for donations management
I manage an organization where we receive donations from payers. Hence, there is no need to first create invoices and then create payments received against the invoices. What are the recommended best practices to do this in ZohoBooks?Recording the deducted TDS on advance received from Customer (Zoho Books India)
Hi, How can we record the tds that has been deducted by my customer for the advance that he has paid to me. 1) My customer has paid Rs 10000 to me as advance (Rs 9800 as cash and deducted Rs 200 as TDS). I am not able to record the tds that has been deductedChanging Account Type in Chart of Accounts
Does anyone know how to change/edit the account type for an Account name in Chart of Accounts. Zoho will not let me do this for some reasonBulk bank rule creatioin
Hi team, I am exploring Option to create a multiple bank rule. Could please suggest the option to implement this?Zoho books aide
Bonjour, je rencontre un problème avec Zoho Books. J’ai effectué une demande de support via l’interface prévue à cet effet, mais je n’ai jamais de retour. Je ne reçois ni email de confirmation, ni information concernant la prise en charge de ma demande,Smart Data, Smarter Contracts — Ensuring Consistency Between Metadata and Documents
In contract management, data accuracy is not just a nice-to-have—it is essential. A single mismatch between what your system shows and what is written in the contract can ripple into approval delays, compliance risks, and broken trust in your data. ImagineNext Page