US Home-Rule State Tax Compliance (again)

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


    • Recent Topics

    • Extensions 101 webinar series: Build, integrate, and monetize with extensions

      Attention developers! Are you ready to take your extension development skills to the next level? We're excited to bring back the Extensions 101 webinar series with an expanded lineup of Zoho products and an introduction to more platform features. Last

    • When using "locations" in zoho books, can you keep the two locations totally separate from each other?

      I am looking to add a location but I don't want to intermingle the banking or other accounts. I want that to be like two separate independent branches that use different banking accounts, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. The people who are in

    • [Free Webinar] User Management in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect

      Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep into

    • A couple of minor enhancements to Workflows

      Last updated on September 17, 2024: These enhancements were initially available for early access, and we've now enabled them for all users. We are elated to announce a couple of enhancements to custom functions in our Workflows! Say hello to: "Source"

    • Business Continuity - Disaster Recovery

      I know about the Zoho CRM backup .zip files, however, this doesn't include any of the infrastructure with like custom fields or custom modules. I am curious on what everyone has in place for a true backup or what your plan is if your Zoho instance were

    • Free webinar alert on October 16 - Less Complexity, More Security: Workplace + Directory

      Hello Zoho Workplace Community! Security and productivity shouldn't be at odds—and with Zoho, they're not. Discover how Zoho Workplace + Directory delivers seamless collaboration with enterprise-grade security, all in one integrated ecosystem. Join our

    • Narrative 11: Are your customers happy?

      Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 11: Are your customers happy? Happiness isn't just something you experience; it's something you remember. Hear your customers' voices by enabling customer happiness ratings in Zoho

    • Don't understand INVALID_REQUEST_METHOD when I try to post up an attachment

      When I make the POST request (using python requests.post() for files): https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Calls/***************01/Attachments I get this response: r:{ "code": "INVALID_REQUEST_METHOD", "details": {}, "message": "The http request method type

    • Organization Emails in Email History

      How can I make received Org Emails to show up here?

    • Signature field is showing black

      Hello, When customer signed the service form, it is showing as below picture Phone model: iPhone 16 Pro We tried delete and install application, but it not solved. This has on phone of a few person. There is any advice to solve this?

    • Zoho CRM Android app updates: record sharing, user image upload, Zoho Survey integration, and more

      Hello everyone, We've made some important improvements to Zoho CRM's Android app, and we'd like to walk you through the latest updates. Here's what's new: Record sharing with org users User image upload Zoho Survey integration support Venue preference

    • How to Delete/hide Google adwords section from Layout?

      Hi people, maybe someone can tell me how to remove or hide the Google adwords section from my layout? Im not using it and it takes too much space.

    • WIDGET in related record list ZOHO CRM; how to get and put data to subform custom fields?

      he need: Read and write two custom subform line-item fields on Quotes: Segment_wyceny (picklist/text) and W_pakiecie (number). Write works; read does not return these fields via SDK. Environment Zoho CRM Widget Zoho Embedded App SDK v1.2 Module: Quotes

    • Introducing Assemblies and Kits in Zoho Inventory

      Hello customers, We’re excited to share a major revamp to Zoho Inventory that brings both clarity and flexibility to your inventory management experience! Presenting Assemblies and Kits We’re thrilled to introduce Assemblies and Kits, which replaces the

    • Way to update CRM records in quik view

      I have custom module in zoho crm and that module have 500 records. I want a quick way or UI so that user can easily update the record information in quick view without going to record detail view or edit view. I tried zoho sheet option but in zoho sheet

    • Writer sing up problom

      Zoho writer sing up prolom face

    • Where to integrate Price Book and Product List Price

      Hello, We sync zoho crm all modules with all data to zoho analytics. In zoho crm, we have "Price Books" and "Products" modules, where each product is assigned to a few price books with different list prices. From zoho crm, I am able to export a dataset

    • Form / CRM Integration Not entering into workflow

      I have a simple form setup with company name, first name, last name and lead source. Each of the fields are mapped to CRM Leads module. When the form is submitted, the lead is populated properly. I also have a workflow created that when the lead source

    • Automating CRM backup storage?

      Hi there, We've recently set up automatic backups for our Zoho CRM account. We were hoping that the backup functionality would not require any manual work on our end, but it seems that we are always required to download the backups ourselves, store them,

    • Zoho Slowness - Workarounds

      Hi all, We've been having intermittent slowness and Zoho just asks for same stuff each time but never fix it. It usually just goes away on it's own after a couple weeks. Given that speed is a very important thing for companies to be able to keep up with

    • First day of trying FSM in the field.

      What we found. 1. with out a network connection we were unable to start a service call? 2. if you go to an appointment and then want to add an asset it does not seem possible. 3. disappointed not to be able to actually take a payment from within the app

    • Don't understand why Forms Mobile Scan and Fill not working

      I have configure enabled mobile scan and fill, I have enabled QR and Bar code on two fields name and position, I have mapped seq 1 to Name and seq 2 to position, I have created a 2d QR code with the person names and position, seperated by a comma. When

    • Recurring Supervisor Rule Reminders for Open/In-Progress Tickets

      Hello Zoho Support Team, I would like to suggest a potential improvement regarding reminders for tickets and activities in Zoho Desk. Currently, it is possible to set reminders only once. In the Supervisor Rules section, it is possible to configure reminders

    • Template usage

      Hi, We are using some templates as a response to customer questions. Is it possible to analyze the usage of these templates? We want to know if the use of our templates has increased over time

    • Round robin

      Hi, I'm trying to set up a round robin to automatically distribute tickets between agents in my team but only those tickets that are not otherwise distributed by other workflows or direct assignments. Is that possible and if so which criteria should I

    • How to mute chat notification sound by default in Zoho SalesIQ?

      We’ve recently embedded the Zoho SalesIQ chatbot on our website, and we’ve noticed that notification sounds sometimes play even when the visitor hasn’t interacted with the chat widget yet. We’re trying to understand two things: Why do these sounds occur

    • Ticket Status Colors

      Can i change the colors of Ticket Status in the admin panel? Or even change the background of the entire cell of a Critical ticket? This way its easy for my agents to see a urgent ticket when it comes in. Right now everything is black text. Here Right

    • Sync Lookup Fields from Zoho CRM

      HI Team, I have synced a lookup field from my CRM data to Campaigns. When I view the synced data the field appears to display a Zoho CRM record ID rather than the text value. Is it possible to get the sync to import the text value rather than the CRM

    • New From Address cannot verify

      I have created a new From Address, which is the support@ address for my domain, that forwards to the default support mailbox. Presumably then, the verification email that is sent, should turn up as a ticket, but it does not. How can I verify my from address so that I can use my own domain?

    • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

      Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting

    • How to update/remove file in zoho creator widgets using javascript API

      Hi Team, I have developed a widget which allows inserting and updating records I have file upload field with multiple file upload. Now while doing insert form record, I am using uploadFile API to upload files for that record. I am using updateRecord API

    • issue with image thumbnails not showing in Image Selector

      We have been using Zoho Campaigns for over a year, maybe close to two years, and this issue just started happening in the last month. I wanted to wait to see if it would resolve on it's own, and it doesn't seem to be. The thumbnail images for all new

    • Deluge Script for adding tag

      Trying to create a custom function where a tag is added to a record - but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how. Help please! Moderation Update: Adding the help doc and sample to add Tags to records via deluge here for everyone's benefit. tag1 =

    • Unlock your Zoho Vault with OneAuth, Windows Hello, TouchID, YubiKey, and many more!

      Hello everyone, We are thrilled to introduce one of the most highly requested features – the ability to unlock your Zoho Vault using various authenticators. The primary purpose of a password manager is to remember just one master password and securely

    • Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books

      Can I implement Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books? Example, use case could be, Agent confirms from client that payment is done, but bank only syncs transactions tomorrow. in this case, Agent can update invoice status to done, and

    • Creator roadmap for the rest of 2022

      Hi everyone, Hope you're all good! Thanks for continuing to make this community engaging and informative. Today we'd like to share with you our plans for the near future of Creator. We always strive to strike a good balance of features and enhancements

    • How can I get base64 string from filecontent in widget

      Hi, I have a react js widget which has the signature pad. Now, I am saving the signature in signature field in zoho creator form. If I open the edit report record in widget then I want to display the Signature back in signature field. I am using readFile

    • Add Setting Values to the Rules

      Hi, It would be great to use the rules to set values in fields for submission, such as if a Type is X then set the Field Y to 10. Thanks Dan

    • So we ran with it for the week

      In our company i bit the bullet and ran with FSM for a whole week. Service calls, deliveries and surveys. Covering about 30-120 miles a day to domestic properties. Loved the appointment list and satnav integration. Loved the timer to measure the appointments.

    • Is there a way to set Document Owner/Sender via the API

      When sending requests for zoho sign, it would seem zoho uses the id of the person that created the zoho api cred to determine the owner_id, is there a way to set a default for this?

    • Next Page