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TaxCloud handles communication and correspondence between your company and Streamlined’s 24 SSUTA states+ PA when you use TaxCloud’s Automated Compliance service option.
TaxCloud handles communication and correspondence between your company and Streamlined’s 24 SSUTA states+ PA when you use TaxCloud’s Automated Compliance service option.
Merchants who are registered with Streamline and have chosen TaxCloud as their CSP (Certified Service Provider) receive a multi-state ID or SSTPID that populates in the Profile of their TaxCloud account 3-4 business days after they go Live.
This one ID is used by TaxCloud to file for all member states.* Any sales tax licenses obtained in SSUTA states would be subsequently “filed under” your multi-state ID as the state will recognize TaxCloud as your CSP.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants who are registered with Streamline and have chosen TaxCloud as their CSP (Certified Service Provider) receive a multi-state ID or SSTPID that populates in the Profile of their TaxCloud account 3-4 business days after they go Live.
This one ID is used by TaxCloud to file for all member states.* Any sales tax licenses obtained in SSUTA states would be subsequently “filed under” your multi-state ID as the state will recognize TaxCloud as your CSP.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants who are registered with Streamline and have chosen TaxCloud as their CSP (Certified Service Provider) receive a multi-state ID or SSTPID that populates in the Profile of their TaxCloud account 3-4 business days after they go Live.
This one ID is used by TaxCloud to file for all member states.* Any sales tax licenses obtained in SSUTA states would be subsequently “filed under” your multi-state ID as the state will recognize TaxCloud as your CSP.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants who are registered with Streamline and have chosen TaxCloud as their CSP (Certified Service Provider) receive a multi-state ID or SSTPID that populates in the Profile of their TaxCloud account 3-4 business days after they go Live.
This one ID is used by TaxCloud to file for all member states.* Any sales tax licenses obtained in SSUTA states would be subsequently “filed under” your multi-state ID as the state will recognize TaxCloud as your CSP.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
TaxCloud automatically registers merchants that have gone Live (or enabled) the Automated Compliance service plan with the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board.
After a successful registration, an SSTPID or multi-state ID populates in the Profile section of your account (within Settings). This process may take 3-4 business days. Afterwards, you may receive welcome letters from some of the member states with important licensing information that should be stored.
If your registration is unsuccessful, you will receive an email informing you of the reason your Streamline registration failed. Often it is the lack of essential information that causes the failure, such as a missing payment instrument, a missing location or a missing FEIN etc.
If you receive an email informing you of a failed registration with Streamline, please add the missing information in your account and then contact Support to let them know, so that TaxCloud can redo your registration.
TaxCloud automatically registers merchants that have gone Live (or enabled) the Automated Compliance service plan with the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board.
After a successful registration, an SSTPID or multi-state ID populates in the Profile section of your account (within Settings). This process may take 3-4 business days. Afterwards, you may receive welcome letters from some of the member states with important licensing information that should be stored.
If your registration is unsuccessful, you will receive an email informing you of the reason your Streamline registration failed. Often it is the lack of essential information that causes the failure, such as a missing payment instrument, a missing location or a missing FEIN etc.
If you receive an email informing you of a failed registration with Streamline, please add the missing information in your account and then contact Support to let them know, so that TaxCloud can redo your registration.
Non member state services, for which TaxCloud charges a Percent of Sales fee, are:
–Accurate Tax Calculation: TaxCloud sports the most extensive tax engines in the industry. We provide the most accurate tax amount for your tax inquiries.*
–Nexus tracking: TaxCloud tracks your transactions in each non-member state, notifies you when you’ve met the threshold and we automatically begin collecting sales tax in that state.
–API usage/tracking: The percent of sales fee covers all normal API usage for the month for ALL non member states where a transaction has occurred. TaxCloud also features a Dashboard where you can track your APIs to ensure proper integration.
–Monthly Jurisdiction and Transaction reporting: TaxCloud provides a monthly return-ready report that you can use to file on the state Department of Revenue website.
-Support Assistance: This fee is also inclusive of access to Support assistance. Call us at 877-TAXCLOUD, email us at Service@TaxCloud.com, or chat us online at TaxCloud.com.
Since TaxCloud’s tax engine performs all of the computations and reporting functions automatically,** all of the above-mentioned services are fixed for merchants using our Automated Compliance service and TaxCloud cannot customize your account (i.e, add or remove any service feature(s) to the chosen service).
*Accuracy is highly dependent on correct API configuration as well as the correct TIC (taxability information code) in use for the product or service. The TIC (for categorical/exemption purposes) works in tandem with the destination address (for jurisdiction purposes) to provide the most accurate rate.
**Please note this feature is referring to TaxCloud’s monthly jurisdiction report. We do not automatically report to the state for non-SSUTA states.
Non member state services, for which TaxCloud charges a Percent of Sales fee, are:
–Accurate Tax Calculation: TaxCloud sports the most extensive tax engines in the industry. We provide the most accurate tax amount for your tax inquiries.*
–Nexus tracking: TaxCloud tracks your transactions in each non-member state, notifies you when you’ve met the threshold and we automatically begin collecting sales tax in that state.
–API usage/tracking: The percent of sales fee covers all normal API usage for the month for ALL non member states where a transaction has occurred. TaxCloud also features a Dashboard where you can track your APIs to ensure proper integration.
–Monthly Jurisdiction and Transaction reporting: TaxCloud provides a monthly return-ready report that you can use to file on the state Department of Revenue website.
-Support Assistance: This fee is also inclusive of access to Support assistance. Call us at 877-TAXCLOUD, email us at Service@TaxCloud.com, or chat us online at TaxCloud.com.
Since TaxCloud’s tax engine performs all of the computations and reporting functions automatically,** all of the above-mentioned services are fixed for merchants using our Automated Compliance service and TaxCloud cannot customize your account (i.e, add or remove any service feature(s) to the chosen service).
*Accuracy is highly dependent on correct API configuration as well as the correct TIC (taxability information code) in use for the product or service. The TIC (for categorical/exemption purposes) works in tandem with the destination address (for jurisdiction purposes) to provide the most accurate rate.
**Please note this feature is referring to TaxCloud’s monthly jurisdiction report. We do not automatically report to the state for non-SSUTA states.
Non member state services, for which TaxCloud charges a Percent of Sales fee, are:
–Accurate Tax Calculation: TaxCloud sports the most extensive tax engines in the industry. We provide the most accurate tax amount for your tax inquiries.*
–Nexus tracking: TaxCloud tracks your transactions in each non-member state, notifies you when you’ve met the threshold and we automatically begin collecting sales tax in that state.
–API usage/tracking: The percent of sales fee covers all normal API usage for the month for ALL non member states where a transaction has occurred. TaxCloud also features a Dashboard where you can track your APIs to ensure proper integration.
–Monthly Jurisdiction and Transaction reporting: TaxCloud provides a monthly return-ready report that you can use to file on the state Department of Revenue website.
-Support Assistance: This fee is also inclusive of access to Support assistance. Call us at 877-TAXCLOUD, email us at Service@TaxCloud.com, or chat us online at TaxCloud.com.
Since TaxCloud’s tax engine performs all of the computations and reporting functions automatically,** all of the above-mentioned services are fixed for merchants using our Automated Compliance service and TaxCloud cannot customize your account (i.e, add or remove any service feature(s) to the chosen service).
*Accuracy is highly dependent on correct API configuration as well as the correct TIC (taxability information code) in use for the product or service. The TIC (for categorical/exemption purposes) works in tandem with the destination address (for jurisdiction purposes) to provide the most accurate rate.
**Please note this feature is referring to TaxCloud’s monthly jurisdiction report. We do not automatically report to the state for non-SSUTA states.
Caution: Turning off automated filing in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) states will transition all sales tax compliance responsibilities in those states back to you. If you are certain you would like to proceed, please follow the below steps.
Steps to Opt-Out of automated filing in the SSUTA states:
- Login to your TaxCloud account
- Navigate to Settings then, “Service Plan”.
- Click the “NEW Selective Compliance” tab.
- If your accepted terms of service are out of date you will first be prompted to accept the new terms.
- The system will then allow you to switch to Selective Compliance. You can pay month-to-month or save 25% by prepaying for API usage.
The Streamlined Sales and Use tax Agreement (SSUTA) is an agreement among 24 states to simplify and standardize sales tax calculation, collection, and remittance. As stated on the website of the governing board that oversees the program SSUTA Governing Board Website:
The purpose of the Agreement is to simplify and modernize sales and use tax administration in order to substantially reduce the burden of tax compliance. The Agreement focuses on improving sales and use tax administration systems for all sellers and for all types of commerce through all of the following:
- State level administration of sales and use tax collections.
- Uniformity in the state and local tax bases.
- Uniformity of major tax base definitions.
- Central, electronic registration system for all member states.
- Simplification of state and local tax rates.
- Uniform sourcing rules for all taxable transactions.
- Simplified administration of exemptions.
- Simplified tax returns.
- Simplification of tax remittances.
- Protection of consumer privacy.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
TaxCloud knows where you’re required to file and remit sales tax based on three things:
1. The business locations you entered into your account (and the states you selected to collect use tax, if any);
2. Your transaction volume in each state, and;
3. Your sales revenue in each state.
TaxCloud uses your locations to determine physical nexus and points 2 and 3 above to track your business’ economic nexus. We will notify you via email if/ when your business approaches a state’s threshold for economic nexus so you have time to obtain a state tax ID.
- Definition of drop-shipper
Drop-shipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer.The biggest difference between drop-shipping and standard retail is that with drop-shipping the selling merchant doesn’t stock or own inventory. Instead, the merchant purchases inventory as needed from a third party (usually a wholesaler or manufacturer) to fulfill orders.
- Nexus considerations in the state(s) where the drop-shipper is located
A retailer that uses a drop shipper may be deemed to have nexus in the state where the drop shipper is located. This nexus determination is complex and depends on many variables, including the retailer’s home state, the drop-shipper’s home state, location of the retailer’s employees, the dollar-value of sales in a given state and the number of transactions in a state. If your business is dependent on drop-shippers or you have employees or inventory in multiple states, you may want to consult a tax attorney or accountant to determine where you have nexus, and whether you have to collect sales tax in a given state. - TaxCloud’s automated compliance service in the SSUTA states will ensure you remain compliant with all 24 SSUTA states’ nexus rules, even if using drop-shippers in those states.
TaxCloud will file returns and remit your sales tax in all 24 SSUTA states (including the ones where your drop-shippers are located) as part of our Automated Compliance program. This is an exceptional value as the filing service is free and TaxCloud will indemnify you against audit liability (minor fees, unrelated to filing service, may apply).You can also select non-SSUTA states where you need to collect sales tax and TaxCloud will properly calculate the tax, provide return ready tax reports that make self-filing easy or file and remit for you. Cost is typically $50 for every $10,000 of sales (i.e., 0.5%) and this service also includes economic nexus monitoring, where TaxCloud tracks your businesses progress against economic nexus thresholds and alerts you if a legal obligation to collect and file is triggered.
The cost of using TaxCloud depends on the TaxCloud service option you select:
Core Services (Manual) (Formerly Selective Compliance) – If a merchant wants to select specific states where they would like TaxCloud to calculate sales tax, Selective Compliance is the option for them. In this case, the merchant only pays based on API usage, and percentage of sales. TaxCloud will generate file-ready reports for the enabled states each month. Merchants would be responsible for filing themselves in those states.
Enhanced Services (Formerly Automated Compliance) – Merchants, with a Live account, voluntarily collect sales tax in the 25 member states to Streamline. TaxCloud will register, calculate tax amounts for transactions, automatically file a monthly return, and remit taxes to those states for free*. Why? Because the states pay us to provide our merchants with a cost-effective tax solution. We also offer the option to Direct File in the nonmember states where you have nexus ($30 per state, per filing)
Member States
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Non-Member States
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Armed Forces, Armed Forces Americas, Armed Forces Pacific, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Marshall Islands, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and Washington DC
The API Usage Fees apply to both services
1. Having an account with no API activity
$10 per month
2. API Fees – Monthly – These fees are cumulative, in addition to the $10 base cost.
Add $20 per thousand requests, between 1 and 1k requests ($10 base cost + $20 = $30 for up to 1K requests)
Add $10 per thousand requests, between 1k to 15k requests ($30 + $10 = $40 for 1001 – 2000 requests)
Add $7.5 per thousand requests, between 15k to 200k requests
Add $5 per thousand requests, between 200k 1 million requests
Add $2.50 per thousand requests, between 1 million and 2.5 million requests
More than 1 million requests than call us
*Merchants can save 25% on the API pricing by prepaying (minimum $500).
3. Percent of Sales Fee – Monthly
Applies to both services, but waived for member states where you don’t have physical nexus under Enhanced Services.
Covers – Calculating sales tax rates for transactions in states that are enabled, nexus tracking (Our system tracks our merchant’s sales volume in the states and notifies them when they are close to or have met the economic threshold in that state)., and our monthly return-ready reports.
Only in states where you
-Have Physical Presence (50% reduction for headquarters)
-Have a State TaxID entered (waived for Member States)
-Pass transaction/sales thresholds (waived for Member States)
-Have voluntarily turned on collection (waived for Member States)
-Does not apply to nonmember states, that aren’t enabled for tax collection in the TaxCloud system.
Percent of Sales Monthly Fee Schedule based on Trailing 12 Month Sales
0.5% on the first $2 million
0.4% on the first from $2 million to $10 million
0.3% on sales from $10 million to $25 million
0.2% on sales from $25 million to $50 million
0.1% on sales from $50 million to $100 million
More than $100 million in sales then call us
There is a $250 cap per state, for the Percent of Sales Fees.
(Charged on up to: $100,000 revenue in Physical Nexus states, $50,000 revenue in Economic Nexus States)
4. Direct Filing Fees – Monthly
$30 per state (waived for Member States)
We can register you in the nonmember states at $100 per state.
Additional Services
5. Special Case Fees – Monthly
0.5% of Sales fees applied to all transactions processed with TIC 99999 (if not in-store sales). There is no charge for physical presence states. This is due to audit costs.
Exemption Certificates
$5 for 1 Single Use Certificate
$15 for 1 Multiple Use Certificate
5 or more of each type of certificate discounted 20%
25 or more of each type of certificate discounted 40%
125 or more of each type of certificate discounted 60%
If there is 30% or more exempt Sales in a state, then a Percent of Sales Fee applies.
6. Registration Services
$100 per state (Does not include member states under Enhanced Services)
Penalties
7. Penalties – Monthly
Returned Fee for Tax Remittance – $100
Returned Fee for Service Fee – $50
Late Fee – $50 per filing state
Uncaptured Lookup API Fees: If less than five percent (5%) of Merchant’s TaxCloud Lookups result in completed (captured) TaxCloud Transactions, then ALL TaxCloud API Transaction activity (i.e., both Live and Test) will be charged to Merchant at the rate of $0.02 per TaxCloud API Transaction call.
The cost of using TaxCloud depends on the TaxCloud service option you select:
Core Services (Manual) (Formerly Selective Compliance) – If a merchant wants to select specific states where they would like TaxCloud to calculate sales tax, Selective Compliance is the option for them. In this case, the merchant only pays based on API usage, and percentage of sales. TaxCloud will generate file-ready reports for the enabled states each month. Merchants would be responsible for filing themselves in those states.
Enhanced Services (Formerly Automated Compliance) – Merchants, with a Live account, voluntarily collect sales tax in the 25 member states to Streamline. TaxCloud will register, calculate tax amounts for transactions, automatically file a monthly return, and remit taxes to those states for free*. Why? Because the states pay us to provide our merchants with a cost-effective tax solution. We also offer the option to Direct File in the nonmember states where you have nexus ($30 per state, per filing)
Member States
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Non-Member States
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Armed Forces, Armed Forces Americas, Armed Forces Pacific, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Marshall Islands, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and Washington DC
The API Usage Fees apply to both services
1. Having an account with no API activity
$10 per month
2. API Fees – Monthly – These fees are cumulative, in addition to the $10 base cost.
Add $20 per thousand requests, between 1 and 1k requests ($10 base cost + $20 = $30 for up to 1K requests)
Add $10 per thousand requests, between 1k to 15k requests ($30 + $10 = $40 for 1001 – 2000 requests)
Add $7.5 per thousand requests, between 15k to 200k requests
Add $5 per thousand requests, between 200k 1 million requests
Add $2.50 per thousand requests, between 1 million and 2.5 million requests
More than 1 million requests than call us
*Merchants can save 25% on the API pricing by prepaying (minimum $500).
3. Percent of Sales Fee – Monthly
Applies to both services, but waived for member states where you don’t have physical nexus under Enhanced Services.
Covers – Calculating sales tax rates for transactions in states that are enabled, nexus tracking (Our system tracks our merchant’s sales volume in the states and notifies them when they are close to or have met the economic threshold in that state)., and our monthly return-ready reports.
Only in states where you
-Have Physical Presence (50% reduction for headquarters)
-Have a State TaxID entered (waived for Member States)
-Pass transaction/sales thresholds (waived for Member States)
-Have voluntarily turned on collection (waived for Member States)
-Does not apply to nonmember states, that aren’t enabled for tax collection in the TaxCloud system.
Percent of Sales Monthly Fee Schedule based on Trailing 12 Month Sales
0.5% on the first $2 million
0.4% on the first from $2 million to $10 million
0.3% on sales from $10 million to $25 million
0.2% on sales from $25 million to $50 million
0.1% on sales from $50 million to $100 million
More than $100 million in sales then call us
There is a $250 cap per state, for the Percent of Sales Fees.
(Charged on up to: $100,000 revenue in Physical Nexus states, $50,000 revenue in Economic Nexus States)
4. Direct Filing Fees – Monthly
$30 per state (waived for Member States)
We can register you in the nonmember states at $100 per state.
Additional Services
5. Special Case Fees – Monthly
0.5% of Sales fees applied to all transactions processed with TIC 99999 (if not in-store sales). There is no charge for physical presence states. This is due to audit costs.
Exemption Certificates
$5 for 1 Single Use Certificate
$15 for 1 Multiple Use Certificate
5 or more of each type of certificate discounted 20%
25 or more of each type of certificate discounted 40%
125 or more of each type of certificate discounted 60%
If there is 30% or more exempt Sales in a state, then a Percent of Sales Fee applies.
6. Registration Services
$100 per state (Does not include member states under Enhanced Services)
Penalties
7. Penalties – Monthly
Returned Fee for Tax Remittance – $100
Returned Fee for Service Fee – $50
Late Fee – $50 per filing state
Uncaptured Lookup API Fees: If less than five percent (5%) of Merchant’s TaxCloud Lookups result in completed (captured) TaxCloud Transactions, then ALL TaxCloud API Transaction activity (i.e., both Live and Test) will be charged to Merchant at the rate of $0.02 per TaxCloud API Transaction call.
The cost of using TaxCloud depends on the TaxCloud service option you select:
Core Services (Manual) (Formerly Selective Compliance) – If a merchant wants to select specific states where they would like TaxCloud to calculate sales tax, Selective Compliance is the option for them. In this case, the merchant only pays based on API usage, and percentage of sales. TaxCloud will generate file-ready reports for the enabled states each month. Merchants would be responsible for filing themselves in those states.
Enhanced Services (Formerly Automated Compliance) – Merchants, with a Live account, voluntarily collect sales tax in the 25 member states to Streamline. TaxCloud will register, calculate tax amounts for transactions, automatically file a monthly return, and remit taxes to those states for free*. Why? Because the states pay us to provide our merchants with a cost-effective tax solution. We also offer the option to Direct File in the nonmember states where you have nexus ($30 per state, per filing)
Member States
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Non-Member States
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Armed Forces, Armed Forces Americas, Armed Forces Pacific, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Marshall Islands, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and Washington DC
The API Usage Fees apply to both services
1. Having an account with no API activity
$10 per month
2. API Fees – Monthly – These fees are cumulative, in addition to the $10 base cost.
Add $20 per thousand requests, between 1 and 1k requests ($10 base cost + $20 = $30 for up to 1K requests)
Add $10 per thousand requests, between 1k to 15k requests ($30 + $10 = $40 for 1001 – 2000 requests)
Add $7.5 per thousand requests, between 15k to 200k requests
Add $5 per thousand requests, between 200k 1 million requests
Add $2.50 per thousand requests, between 1 million and 2.5 million requests
More than 1 million requests than call us
*Merchants can save 25% on the API pricing by prepaying (minimum $500).
3. Percent of Sales Fee – Monthly
Applies to both services, but waived for member states where you don’t have physical nexus under Enhanced Services.
Covers – Calculating sales tax rates for transactions in states that are enabled, nexus tracking (Our system tracks our merchant’s sales volume in the states and notifies them when they are close to or have met the economic threshold in that state)., and our monthly return-ready reports.
Only in states where you
-Have Physical Presence (50% reduction for headquarters)
-Have a State TaxID entered (waived for Member States)
-Pass transaction/sales thresholds (waived for Member States)
-Have voluntarily turned on collection (waived for Member States)
-Does not apply to nonmember states, that aren’t enabled for tax collection in the TaxCloud system.
Percent of Sales Monthly Fee Schedule based on Trailing 12 Month Sales
0.5% on the first $2 million
0.4% on the first from $2 million to $10 million
0.3% on sales from $10 million to $25 million
0.2% on sales from $25 million to $50 million
0.1% on sales from $50 million to $100 million
More than $100 million in sales then call us
There is a $250 cap per state, for the Percent of Sales Fees.
(Charged on up to: $100,000 revenue in Physical Nexus states, $50,000 revenue in Economic Nexus States)
4. Direct Filing Fees – Monthly
$30 per state (waived for Member States)
We can register you in the nonmember states at $100 per state.
Additional Services
5. Special Case Fees – Monthly
0.5% of Sales fees applied to all transactions processed with TIC 99999 (if not in-store sales). There is no charge for physical presence states. This is due to audit costs.
Exemption Certificates
$5 for 1 Single Use Certificate
$15 for 1 Multiple Use Certificate
5 or more of each type of certificate discounted 20%
25 or more of each type of certificate discounted 40%
125 or more of each type of certificate discounted 60%
If there is 30% or more exempt Sales in a state, then a Percent of Sales Fee applies.
6. Registration Services
$100 per state (Does not include member states under Enhanced Services)
Penalties
7. Penalties – Monthly
Returned Fee for Tax Remittance – $100
Returned Fee for Service Fee – $50
Late Fee – $50 per filing state
Uncaptured Lookup API Fees: If less than five percent (5%) of Merchant’s TaxCloud Lookups result in completed (captured) TaxCloud Transactions, then ALL TaxCloud API Transaction activity (i.e., both Live and Test) will be charged to Merchant at the rate of $0.02 per TaxCloud API Transaction call.
The cost of using TaxCloud depends on the TaxCloud service option you select:
Core Services (Manual) (Formerly Selective Compliance) – If a merchant wants to select specific states where they would like TaxCloud to calculate sales tax, Selective Compliance is the option for them. In this case, the merchant only pays based on API usage, and percentage of sales. TaxCloud will generate file-ready reports for the enabled states each month. Merchants would be responsible for filing themselves in those states.
Enhanced Services (Formerly Automated Compliance) – Merchants, with a Live account, voluntarily collect sales tax in the 25 member states to Streamline. TaxCloud will register, calculate tax amounts for transactions, automatically file a monthly return, and remit taxes to those states for free*. Why? Because the states pay us to provide our merchants with a cost-effective tax solution. We also offer the option to Direct File in the nonmember states where you have nexus ($30 per state, per filing)
Member States
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Non-Member States
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Armed Forces, Armed Forces Americas, Armed Forces Pacific, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Marshall Islands, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and Washington DC
The API Usage Fees apply to both services
1. Having an account with no API activity
$10 per month
2. API Fees – Monthly – These fees are cumulative, in addition to the $10 base cost.
Add $20 per thousand requests, between 1 and 1k requests ($10 base cost + $20 = $30 for up to 1K requests)
Add $10 per thousand requests, between 1k to 15k requests ($30 + $10 = $40 for 1001 – 2000 requests)
Add $7.5 per thousand requests, between 15k to 200k requests
Add $5 per thousand requests, between 200k 1 million requests
Add $2.50 per thousand requests, between 1 million and 2.5 million requests
More than 1 million requests than call us
*Merchants can save 25% on the API pricing by prepaying (minimum $500).
3. Percent of Sales Fee – Monthly
Applies to both services, but waived for member states where you don’t have physical nexus under Enhanced Services.
Covers – Calculating sales tax rates for transactions in states that are enabled, nexus tracking (Our system tracks our merchant’s sales volume in the states and notifies them when they are close to or have met the economic threshold in that state)., and our monthly return-ready reports.
Only in states where you
-Have Physical Presence (50% reduction for headquarters)
-Have a State TaxID entered (waived for Member States)
-Pass transaction/sales thresholds (waived for Member States)
-Have voluntarily turned on collection (waived for Member States)
-Does not apply to nonmember states, that aren’t enabled for tax collection in the TaxCloud system.
Percent of Sales Monthly Fee Schedule based on Trailing 12 Month Sales
0.5% on the first $2 million
0.4% on the first from $2 million to $10 million
0.3% on sales from $10 million to $25 million
0.2% on sales from $25 million to $50 million
0.1% on sales from $50 million to $100 million
More than $100 million in sales then call us
There is a $250 cap per state, for the Percent of Sales Fees.
(Charged on up to: $100,000 revenue in Physical Nexus states, $50,000 revenue in Economic Nexus States)
4. Direct Filing Fees – Monthly
$30 per state (waived for Member States)
We can register you in the nonmember states at $100 per state.
Additional Services
5. Special Case Fees – Monthly
0.5% of Sales fees applied to all transactions processed with TIC 99999 (if not in-store sales). There is no charge for physical presence states. This is due to audit costs.
Exemption Certificates
$5 for 1 Single Use Certificate
$15 for 1 Multiple Use Certificate
5 or more of each type of certificate discounted 20%
25 or more of each type of certificate discounted 40%
125 or more of each type of certificate discounted 60%
If there is 30% or more exempt Sales in a state, then a Percent of Sales Fee applies.
6. Registration Services
$100 per state (Does not include member states under Enhanced Services)
Penalties
7. Penalties – Monthly
Returned Fee for Tax Remittance – $100
Returned Fee for Service Fee – $50
Late Fee – $50 per filing state
Uncaptured Lookup API Fees: If less than five percent (5%) of Merchant’s TaxCloud Lookups result in completed (captured) TaxCloud Transactions, then ALL TaxCloud API Transaction activity (i.e., both Live and Test) will be charged to Merchant at the rate of $0.02 per TaxCloud API Transaction call.
A Voluntary Seller is any seller who registers with Streamline by going Live with TaxCloud’s Automated Compliance service, though they may not have reached the sales tax threshold in all member states.*
This means that sellers will collect sales tax in all 25 member states and TaxCloud will file and remit in all member states each month.
Sales tax collection for member states cannot be customized, you must collect in all 25 member states to partake in our Automated Compliance service with Streamline.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (not a part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
A Voluntary Seller is any seller who registers with Streamline by going Live with TaxCloud’s Automated Compliance service, though they may not have reached the sales tax threshold in all member states.*
This means that sellers will collect sales tax in all 25 member states and TaxCloud will file and remit in all member states each month.
Sales tax collection for member states cannot be customized, you must collect in all 25 member states to partake in our Automated Compliance service with Streamline.
*Pennsylvania is not a SSUTA state (not a part of Streamline). Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
When you send transaction information to TaxCloud using TaxCloud’s APIs, or upload transaction data to TaxCloud via the transaction uploader UI, TaxCloud relies upon international standards to correctly stamp the date and time of each transaction. As a sales tax calculation and remittance engine, date information describing when a transaction has been captured or shipped is necessary to properly calculate and remit tax amount due. This document will explain how TaxCloud treats your transaction data as it relates to our date and time recognition policy and provide examples of how this impacts you.
1. TaxCloud Uses UTC time
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a global standard for recording time. The key component of this standard is global agreement on which timezone represents a zero offset and coordination with every timezone for their particular offset from UTC. For instance, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 4 hours behind UTC time, which can be noted as UTC -4. Accordingly, 1 June 2019 00:00 at UTC 0 is equivalent to 31 May 2019 20:00 at UTC -4.
2. How does this affect transactions via the API?
When TaxCloud receives a call to its API, any date information is adjusted to UTC time. For example, a call to authorize a transaction on June 5th, 2019 at 11:19 AM EDT would be saved as 2019-06-05 15:19 UTC 0 in the TaxCloud database. More importantly, a call to authorize a transaction on June 30, 2019, at 8:00 PM EDT will be saved as 2019-07-01 UTC 0. Please note the change in month.
3. How does that affect a transaction via CSV upload or Marketplace Sync?
CSV uploads have relevant transaction dates comprised of a year, month and day that are concatenated together to form a single integer value. For example, June 30, 2019 would be represented as 20190630. The first four digits represent the year (2019), the second two digits represent the month (06), and the last two digits represent the day (30). When uploaded, the implied UTC offset will be zero. This means it will be recorded as already being in UTC format and saved as 2019-06-30 00:00 in our database. Note that there isn’t a time component for the TransactionDate column.
Authorized, Captured and ShippingDate information, on the other hand, do have a time component. As such, these date/time fields will go through UTC resolution during data ingesting in order to be recorded in TaxCloud as UTC 0. Using our previous date of June 30th, 2019, if the ShippingDate is at 7PM EDT, then the taxable date will be 2019-06-30 23:00 in our database. Still in June.
However, if the ShippingDate is at 9PM EDT, then the taxable date for the transaction will be 2019-07-01 01:00. Now in July. This is important as state tax rates for July will also be applied. So, even though the transaction may have shipped on June 30th at 9PM in New York, for the purposes of recognizing the tax event, it will be recorded as July 1.
NOTE — the time resolution is to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds less then 30, then the time will round down to the nearest minute. If the time value has seconds equal to or greater than 30, then the time will round up to the nearest minute.
4. Why should I care about any of this?
The states expect us to store dates as UTC dates and apply the transition between months as described above. As a result, API based transactions with timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will be stored as the first day of the following month by TaxCloud. Similarly, CSV Upload based transactions with any timestamps on or after 8:00 PM (EDT) on the final day of the month will also be recognized as taking place on the first day of the following month and stored as such as a UTC date. Though this can be surprising, the logic is consistent, agreed upon globally and expected so merchants should plan on it.
5. A note for Amazon Sellers
Amazon reports favor a reconciliation event that can place multiple transactions as having occurred at precisely midnight at UTC 0. However unlikely it may be that tens, hundreds, or even thousands of transactions happened at this very pivotal moment, we have decided to use that datetime as the record date for taxation purposes. For example, Amazon may have 10 transactions in a sales report stating a Shipment_Date of 2019-07-01+00:00. Previously, our uploader had interpreted these transactions as having been in the month prior based on realistic likelihood. Moving forward we will accept the literal UTC 0 declaration and recognize the event in the declared month—July 1st, 2019 at precisely midnight UTC 0. Accordingly, clients who incurred late fees for March 2019 or April 2019 periods based solely on this scenario will be issued refunds by TaxCloud as we adjust to Amazon’s reporting idiosyncrasy.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at service@taxcloud.com.
Offline transactions can be uploaded to your TaxCloud account.
Transactions must be uploaded between the first and tenth of the month, for the previous month’s business.* The information you upload will be included in your transactions history and monthly reports. Please note that offline transactions will be included in your returns if TaxCloud creates and files them for you.
A CSV (comma-separated value) file allows you to upload transactions to your TaxCloud account. It is a spreadsheet of information and a useful tool since merchants can upload many transactions at once rather than perform a manual upload one-by-one. On this file you must add the transaction details such as the origin address, the destination address, price per item, TIC (taxability information code) etc.
The csv file needs to include the following pieces of information. Each should appear in a separate column in the following order
- Order ID Number
- Customer ID Number (Provided By Your Shopping Cart)
- Date the transaction Began (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was authorized (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was captured (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was captured (yyyymmdd) (You can use the same date for all three fields-began, authorized, and captured)
- Code that indicates how the product was delivered by seller: 1 = seller’s vehicle, 0 = other method such as UPS or FedEx
- First Line of the “ship from” address (for instance, 123 Main Street)
- Second Line of the “ship from” address (for instance, Suite 10)
- “ship from” city (for instance, Springfield)
- “ship from” 2 letter state abbreviation (for instance, MO)
For more information including a CSV example and guide, please contact Support.
*Failure to upload within TaxCloud’s assigned term may result in late data/amendment fees (Exhibit A of the Terms of Service).
Offline transactions can be uploaded to your TaxCloud account.
Transactions must be uploaded between the first and tenth of the month, for the previous month’s business.* The information you upload will be included in your transactions history and monthly reports. Please note that offline transactions will be included in your returns if TaxCloud creates and files them for you.
A CSV (comma-separated value) file allows you to upload transactions to your TaxCloud account. It is a spreadsheet of information and a useful tool since merchants can upload many transactions at once rather than perform a manual upload one-by-one. On this file you must add the transaction details such as the origin address, the destination address, price per item, TIC (taxability information code) etc.
The csv file needs to include the following pieces of information. Each should appear in a separate column in the following order
- Order ID Number
- Customer ID Number (Provided By Your Shopping Cart)
- Date the transaction Began (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was authorized (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was captured (yyyymmdd)
- Date the transaction was captured (yyyymmdd) (You can use the same date for all three fields-began, authorized, and captured)
- Code that indicates how the product was delivered by seller: 1 = seller’s vehicle, 0 = other method such as UPS or FedEx
- First Line of the “ship from” address (for instance, 123 Main Street)
- Second Line of the “ship from” address (for instance, Suite 10)
- “ship from” city (for instance, Springfield)
- “ship from” 2 letter state abbreviation (for instance, MO)
For more information including a CSV example and guide, please contact Support.
*Failure to upload within TaxCloud’s assigned term may result in late data/amendment fees (Exhibit A of the Terms of Service).
To add a payment instrument, click Settings within your TaxCloud account, and select Payment Methods.
Here you can select +Add a bank account or +Add a credit card at the top of the page, add the details of your payment method, and save.
Please note, merchants cannot remove the only payment method on file. To change your payment method, you must add the new payment instrument and then delete the original payment instrument on file.
To add a payment instrument, click Settings within your TaxCloud account, and select Payment Methods.
Here you can select +Add a bank account or +Add a credit card at the top of the page, add the details of your payment method, and save.
Please note, merchants cannot remove the only payment method on file. To change your payment method, you must add the new payment instrument and then delete the original payment instrument on file.
Customers can save 25% on the Selective Compliance plan by prepaying (minimum $500).
When the monthly cost is higher than the prepaid balance, the bill is calculated at the full rate (no 25% discount). After the prepaid balance is applied, the remainder due will be billed to the account’s default payment method (typically a credit card).
Customers can save 25% on the Selective Compliance plan by prepaying (minimum $500).
When the monthly cost is higher than the prepaid balance, the bill is calculated at the full rate (no 25% discount). After the prepaid balance is applied, the remainder due will be billed to the account’s default payment method (typically a credit card).
Customers can save 25% on the Selective Compliance plan by prepaying (minimum $500).
When the monthly cost is higher than the prepaid balance, the bill is calculated at the full rate (no 25% discount). After the prepaid balance is applied, the remainder due will be billed to the account’s default payment method (typically a credit card).
The number of API calls per transaction is generally four with some variation as described below:
- Address Verification API– We highly recommend that you use our Address Verification API to ensure your customers enter a valid destination address. This enables TaxCloud to provide the most accurate sales tax calculation. Note: Without a valid shipping address, you may inadvertently under-collect sales tax and be liable to pay the difference.
- Lookup API– TaxCloud receives a Lookup call when a buyer presses the checkout button in the store they are shopping in. This call tells TaxCloud to lookup the tax amount of each item in the cart based on the destination address primarily (in certain states intra-state sales use shipping address), how much it costs and any special taxability rules that may apply.
- Authorized API– This call tells TaxCloud that the transaction has been completed.
- Captured API– This call tells TaxCloud that the product has shipped, which is legally the time when sales tax gets collected – the moment the product changes hands from seller to buyer. This call can happen on the same day of the sale if it ships on that day or some time in the future if there is a lag between order completion and shipping. If your products regularly ship the same day of sale, an AuthorizedWithCapture call can be used to combine those two calls for efficiency.
- Exemptions API – If you use our Exemptions API for sales to exempt entities this would add an additional API call. If you do significant sales to exempt entities, we strongly encourage you to use this API.
The number of API calls per transaction is generally four with some variation as described below:
- Address Verification API– We highly recommend that you use our Address Verification API to ensure your customers enter a valid destination address. This enables TaxCloud to provide the most accurate sales tax calculation. Note: Without a valid shipping address, you may inadvertently under-collect sales tax and be liable to pay the difference.
- Lookup API– TaxCloud receives a Lookup call when a buyer presses the checkout button in the store they are shopping in. This call tells TaxCloud to lookup the tax amount of each item in the cart based on the destination address primarily (in certain states intra-state sales use shipping address), how much it costs and any special taxability rules that may apply.
- Authorized API– This call tells TaxCloud that the transaction has been completed.
- Captured API– This call tells TaxCloud that the product has shipped, which is legally the time when sales tax gets collected – the moment the product changes hands from seller to buyer. This call can happen on the same day of the sale if it ships on that day or some time in the future if there is a lag between order completion and shipping. If your products regularly ship the same day of sale, an AuthorizedWithCapture call can be used to combine those two calls for efficiency.
- Exemptions API – If you use our Exemptions API for sales to exempt entities this would add an additional API call. If you do significant sales to exempt entities, we strongly encourage you to use this API.
The number of API calls per transaction is generally four with some variation as described below:
- Address Verification API– We highly recommend that you use our Address Verification API to ensure your customers enter a valid destination address. This enables TaxCloud to provide the most accurate sales tax calculation. Note: Without a valid shipping address, you may inadvertently under-collect sales tax and be liable to pay the difference.
- Lookup API– TaxCloud receives a Lookup call when a buyer presses the checkout button in the store they are shopping in. This call tells TaxCloud to lookup the tax amount of each item in the cart based on the destination address primarily (in certain states intra-state sales use shipping address), how much it costs and any special taxability rules that may apply.
- Authorized API– This call tells TaxCloud that the transaction has been completed.
- Captured API– This call tells TaxCloud that the product has shipped, which is legally the time when sales tax gets collected – the moment the product changes hands from seller to buyer. This call can happen on the same day of the sale if it ships on that day or some time in the future if there is a lag between order completion and shipping. If your products regularly ship the same day of sale, an AuthorizedWithCapture call can be used to combine those two calls for efficiency.
- Exemptions API – If you use our Exemptions API for sales to exempt entities this would add an additional API call. If you do significant sales to exempt entities, we strongly encourage you to use this API.
The number of API calls per transaction is generally four with some variation as described below:
- Address Verification API– We highly recommend that you use our Address Verification API to ensure your customers enter a valid destination address. This enables TaxCloud to provide the most accurate sales tax calculation. Note: Without a valid shipping address, you may inadvertently under-collect sales tax and be liable to pay the difference.
- Lookup API– TaxCloud receives a Lookup call when a buyer presses the checkout button in the store they are shopping in. This call tells TaxCloud to lookup the tax amount of each item in the cart based on the destination address primarily (in certain states intra-state sales use shipping address), how much it costs and any special taxability rules that may apply.
- Authorized API– This call tells TaxCloud that the transaction has been completed.
- Captured API– This call tells TaxCloud that the product has shipped, which is legally the time when sales tax gets collected – the moment the product changes hands from seller to buyer. This call can happen on the same day of the sale if it ships on that day or some time in the future if there is a lag between order completion and shipping. If your products regularly ship the same day of sale, an AuthorizedWithCapture call can be used to combine those two calls for efficiency.
- Exemptions API – If you use our Exemptions API for sales to exempt entities this would add an additional API call. If you do significant sales to exempt entities, we strongly encourage you to use this API.
The number of API calls per transaction is generally four with some variation as described below:
- Address Verification API– We highly recommend that you use our Address Verification API to ensure your customers enter a valid destination address. This enables TaxCloud to provide the most accurate sales tax calculation. Note: Without a valid shipping address, you may inadvertently under-collect sales tax and be liable to pay the difference.
- Lookup API– TaxCloud receives a Lookup call when a buyer presses the checkout button in the store they are shopping in. This call tells TaxCloud to lookup the tax amount of each item in the cart based on the destination address primarily (in certain states intra-state sales use shipping address), how much it costs and any special taxability rules that may apply.
- Authorized API– This call tells TaxCloud that the transaction has been completed.
- Captured API– This call tells TaxCloud that the product has shipped, which is legally the time when sales tax gets collected – the moment the product changes hands from seller to buyer. This call can happen on the same day of the sale if it ships on that day or some time in the future if there is a lag between order completion and shipping. If your products regularly ship the same day of sale, an AuthorizedWithCapture call can be used to combine those two calls for efficiency.
- Exemptions API – If you use our Exemptions API for sales to exempt entities this would add an additional API call. If you do significant sales to exempt entities, we strongly encourage you to use this API.
Login to your TaxCloud account.
Navigate to Settings (on the left) and then select Stores & Websites.
Your API ID and API Key will be displayed in the body of your store.
Login to your TaxCloud account.
Navigate to Settings (on the left) and then select Stores & Websites.
Your API ID and API Key will be displayed in the body of your store.
Login to your TaxCloud account.
Navigate to Settings (on the left) and then select Stores & Websites.
Your API ID and API Key will be displayed in the body of your store.
If your TaxCloud setup is incomplete, it could result in a lower than expected sales tax rate is being applied to a transaction. If a rate seems lower than expected, confirm the following account settings:
- All of your physical locations are entered in TaxCloud (See the Locations tab in your TaxCloud Settings)
- Every state where you expect to collect sales tax is properly set up in your Settings/Manage Tax States. States where you collect tax appear in blue or orange.
- A verified address is being used. Some states require more than just a 5-digit zip code for sales tax rates; a Plus-4 zip code (XXXXX-XXXX) or even a complete address may be necessary to get the correct rate. Please use Address Verification to ensure the most complete address possible.
If any of the above items are not properly set up, correct the setting and then re-check the rate. If all of the above items are properly set up and the rate is still appears too low, please email us at service@taxcloud.com.
If your TaxCloud setup is incomplete, it could result in a lower than expected sales tax rate is being applied to a transaction. If a rate seems lower than expected, confirm the following account settings:
- All of your physical locations are entered in TaxCloud (See the Locations tab in your TaxCloud Settings)
- Every state where you expect to collect sales tax is properly set up in your Settings/Manage Tax States. States where you collect tax appear in blue or orange.
- A verified address is being used. Some states require more than just a 5-digit zip code for sales tax rates; a Plus-4 zip code (XXXXX-XXXX) or even a complete address may be necessary to get the correct rate. Please use Address Verification to ensure the most complete address possible.
If any of the above items are not properly set up, correct the setting and then re-check the rate. If all of the above items are properly set up and the rate is still appears too low, please email us at service@taxcloud.com.
TaxCloud rounds at the 5th decimal, based upon Item and Quantity. Having said that, the states permit item-level rounding regardless of quantity, though TaxCloud does not do this (because we have quantity data).
For example:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 1
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $0.73
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.46
However, with item rounding (ignoring quantity) the transaction with quantity 2 yields a slightly different result:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Total Price: $20.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.45
The states will accept either calculation methodology as valid, though they prefer item and quantity based calculations even if they use a different methodology.
TaxCloud rounds at the 5th decimal, based upon Item and Quantity. Having said that, the states permit item-level rounding regardless of quantity, though TaxCloud does not do this (because we have quantity data).
For example:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 1
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $0.73
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.46
However, with item rounding (ignoring quantity) the transaction with quantity 2 yields a slightly different result:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Total Price: $20.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.45
The states will accept either calculation methodology as valid, though they prefer item and quantity based calculations even if they use a different methodology.
TaxCloud rounds at the 5th decimal, based upon Item and Quantity. Having said that, the states permit item-level rounding regardless of quantity, though TaxCloud does not do this (because we have quantity data).
For example:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 1
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $0.73
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.46
However, with item rounding (ignoring quantity) the transaction with quantity 2 yields a slightly different result:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Total Price: $20.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.45
The states will accept either calculation methodology as valid, though they prefer item and quantity based calculations even if they use a different methodology.
TaxCloud rounds at the 5th decimal, based upon Item and Quantity. Having said that, the states permit item-level rounding regardless of quantity, though TaxCloud does not do this (because we have quantity data).
For example:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 1
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $0.73
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Item Price: $10.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.46
However, with item rounding (ignoring quantity) the transaction with quantity 2 yields a slightly different result:
Line item 1: Hat
Quantity: 2
Total Price: $20.00
Applicable rate: 0.07253333
TaxCloud rounded rate: 0.07253
TaxCloud resulting tax amount due: $1.45
The states will accept either calculation methodology as valid, though they prefer item and quantity based calculations even if they use a different methodology.
What’s an API?
TaxCloud has several Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) to calculate the sales tax when a shopper buys something – but first, let’s answer a common question: What’s an API?
In computer programming, an API is a set of clearly defined methods of communication between various software components. A good API facilitates computer programming by providing the building blocks necessary for an application to work properly. The programmers’ job is to put these building blocks together in an efficient manner that provides end-users with a positive experience.
A common analogy to explain how API’s work is that of a waiter at a restaurant. For example, you tell the waiter what you want to eat and he/she writes it down (just like you complete the data fields in an API so it can get the information you want), the waiter then gives your order to a chef (like an API delivers your request to a database), the chef prepares your food (the database computes the data you requested) and then the waiter returns with your food (the API returns with the answer/ information you requested).
Below is a list of TaxCloud’s most used API’s (please visit TaxCloud’s developer site https://dev.taxcloud.com for more information):
- Address Verification API – A valid shipping address must be provided at checkout to determine the most accurate sales tax. TaxCloud’s Address Verification API works with your shopping cart to ensure customers enter addresses correctly and asks customers to confirm an address if it’s unrecognized by our database. Note, however, that TaxCloud never stops a transaction from proceeding. It merely asks customers to confirm an address and then provides the most accurate sales tax amount possible with the information provided.
- Lookup API Call – A “TaxCloud Lookup” is an API call sent to TaxCloud from a merchant to determine the sales tax amount of at least one product or service. A Lookup API call considers all relevant information provided by the merchant to determine the tax amount due: e.g. origin address, shipping address, item quantity, item taxability, and item dollar amount.
- Duplicate Lookup Calls – A “Duplicate Lookup” is an original Lookup sent to TaxCloud multiple times. There is no reason to send duplicate API calls, so please talk to your developers if TaxCloud notifies you of duplicate Lookup calls. There are various reasons why a Lookup call might be sent erroneously, but they’re almost always tied to shopping cart settings/ configuration. For example, duplicate API calls sometimes occur after a customer places an item in his/her shopping cart but then continues shopping, and the merchant’s website (shopping cart) is designed to send a new Lookup request each time the customer loads a new page as he/she browses the website’s products.
- APIs for Order Completion – (Authorized and Captured; or AuthorizedWithCapture). These APIs let TaxCloud know when a customer has completed his/ her purchase and your store has collected the appropriate amount of sales tax. (Important: The Captured API call is required to prepare your sales tax reports and returns, regardless of who actually files your sales tax returns.) The “Authorized” API call is sent to TaxCloud when a customer’s payment instrument has been successfully processed. The “Captured” API call is sent to TaxCloud when a customer’s order has been shipped. However, many merchants consider an item to be ‘shipped’ as soon as the customer’s payment instrument is processed, so they combined the Authorized call and the Captured call into AuthorizedWithCapture.
- Returns – This step occurs when an order is canceled or modified after it was completed (after the Captured call). Once a return is initiated through the store’s cart admin panel, the store alerts TaxCloud and we modify our transaction records accordingly.
What’s an API?
TaxCloud has several Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) to calculate the sales tax when a shopper buys something – but first, let’s answer a common question: What’s an API?
In computer programming, an API is a set of clearly defined methods of communication between various software components. A good API facilitates computer programming by providing the building blocks necessary for an application to work properly. The programmers’ job is to put these building blocks together in an efficient manner that provides end-users with a positive experience.
A common analogy to explain how API’s work is that of a waiter at a restaurant. For example, you tell the waiter what you want to eat and he/she writes it down (just like you complete the data fields in an API so it can get the information you want), the waiter then gives your order to a chef (like an API delivers your request to a database), the chef prepares your food (the database computes the data you requested) and then the waiter returns with your food (the API returns with the answer/ information you requested).
Below is a list of TaxCloud’s most used API’s (please visit TaxCloud’s developer site https://dev.taxcloud.com for more information):
- Address Verification API – A valid shipping address must be provided at checkout to determine the most accurate sales tax. TaxCloud’s Address Verification API works with your shopping cart to ensure customers enter addresses correctly and asks customers to confirm an address if it’s unrecognized by our database. Note, however, that TaxCloud never stops a transaction from proceeding. It merely asks customers to confirm an address and then provides the most accurate sales tax amount possible with the information provided.
- Lookup API Call – A “TaxCloud Lookup” is an API call sent to TaxCloud from a merchant to determine the sales tax amount of at least one product or service. A Lookup API call considers all relevant information provided by the merchant to determine the tax amount due: e.g. origin address, shipping address, item quantity, item taxability, and item dollar amount.
- Duplicate Lookup Calls – A “Duplicate Lookup” is an original Lookup sent to TaxCloud multiple times. There is no reason to send duplicate API calls, so please talk to your developers if TaxCloud notifies you of duplicate Lookup calls. There are various reasons why a Lookup call might be sent erroneously, but they’re almost always tied to shopping cart settings/ configuration. For example, duplicate API calls sometimes occur after a customer places an item in his/her shopping cart but then continues shopping, and the merchant’s website (shopping cart) is designed to send a new Lookup request each time the customer loads a new page as he/she browses the website’s products.
- APIs for Order Completion – (Authorized and Captured; or AuthorizedWithCapture). These APIs let TaxCloud know when a customer has completed his/ her purchase and your store has collected the appropriate amount of sales tax. (Important: The Captured API call is required to prepare your sales tax reports and returns, regardless of who actually files your sales tax returns.) The “Authorized” API call is sent to TaxCloud when a customer’s payment instrument has been successfully processed. The “Captured” API call is sent to TaxCloud when a customer’s order has been shipped. However, many merchants consider an item to be ‘shipped’ as soon as the customer’s payment instrument is processed, so they combined the Authorized call and the Captured call into AuthorizedWithCapture.
- Returns – This step occurs when an order is canceled or modified after it was completed (after the Captured call). Once a return is initiated through the store’s cart admin panel, the store alerts TaxCloud and we modify our transaction records accordingly.
Before you begin using TaxCloud, please make sure:
- You have a valid Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate
- Your website is capable of initiating both client and server-side SSL connections
- Your website has server-side scripting or CGI capabilities, such as ASP Classic, ASP.NET, C#, Cold Fusion, Java, Perl, PHP, or VB.Net
- You are able to save/retain TaxCloud API credentials (TaxCloud API ID and API Key)
Before you begin using TaxCloud, please make sure:
- You have a valid Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate
- Your website is capable of initiating both client and server-side SSL connections
- Your website has server-side scripting or CGI capabilities, such as ASP Classic, ASP.NET, C#, Cold Fusion, Java, Perl, PHP, or VB.Net
- You are able to save/retain TaxCloud API credentials (TaxCloud API ID and API Key)
TaxCloud only includes Captured transactions in your monthly reporting. The “Capture” API call lets us know which items in the shopping cart have been purchased.
When items are placed in a shopping cart, TaxCloud receives a Lookup API call to determine the amount of sales tax to include with the order. Then, when the customer is ready to buy the items you must send TaxCloud an Authorize API call and a Capture API call.
The Authorize API call confirms that the customer has paid for the item(s). The Capture API call confirms that the item(s) have been shipped and that the transaction is complete. Please be aware that you can combine these two API calls into one API call using our “AuthorizeWithCapture” API.
Note: If you permit customers to apply coupons or discounts to their order once items have been placed in the shopping cart, be sure to send TaxCloud another Lookup API call after the discount has been applied.
TaxCloud only includes Captured transactions in your monthly reporting. The “Capture” API call lets us know which items in the shopping cart have been purchased.
When items are placed in a shopping cart, TaxCloud receives a Lookup API call to determine the amount of sales tax to include with the order. Then, when the customer is ready to buy the items you must send TaxCloud an Authorize API call and a Capture API call.
The Authorize API call confirms that the customer has paid for the item(s). The Capture API call confirms that the item(s) have been shipped and that the transaction is complete. Please be aware that you can combine these two API calls into one API call using our “AuthorizeWithCapture” API.
Note: If you permit customers to apply coupons or discounts to their order once items have been placed in the shopping cart, be sure to send TaxCloud another Lookup API call after the discount has been applied.
TaxCloud only includes Captured transactions in your monthly reporting. The “Capture” API call lets us know which items in the shopping cart have been purchased.
When items are placed in a shopping cart, TaxCloud receives a Lookup API call to determine the amount of sales tax to include with the order. Then, when the customer is ready to buy the items you must send TaxCloud an Authorize API call and a Capture API call.
The Authorize API call confirms that the customer has paid for the item(s). The Capture API call confirms that the item(s) have been shipped and that the transaction is complete. Please be aware that you can combine these two API calls into one API call using our “AuthorizeWithCapture” API.
Note: If you permit customers to apply coupons or discounts to their order once items have been placed in the shopping cart, be sure to send TaxCloud another Lookup API call after the discount has been applied.
Please click this link to access documentation on implementing TaxCloud’s API for exemption certificates. The information is located in TaxCloud’s Developer portal, which includes several resources for developers creating an API connection with TaxCloud.
Please click this link to access documentation on implementing TaxCloud’s API for exemption certificates. The information is located in TaxCloud’s Developer portal, which includes several resources for developers creating an API connection with TaxCloud.
Please click this link to access documentation on implementing TaxCloud’s API for exemption certificates. The information is located in TaxCloud’s Developer portal, which includes several resources for developers creating an API connection with TaxCloud.
Physical nexus constitutes a responsibility to collect and pay sales tax to states in which you have a physical presence. Economic nexus constitutes a responsibility to collect and pay sales tax to states in which you have reached the transaction or monetary threshold.
Merchants must review their sales data or speak with your tax/accounting professional to find out where you’re required by law to collect sales tax. You can refer to our State Guide to see the state guided thresholds by clicking on each state.
Physical nexus constitutes a responsibility to collect and pay sales tax to states in which you have a physical presence. Economic nexus constitutes a responsibility to collect and pay sales tax to states in which you have reached the transaction or monetary threshold.
Merchants must review their sales data or speak with your tax/accounting professional to find out where you’re required by law to collect sales tax. You can refer to our State Guide to see the state guided thresholds by clicking on each state.
TaxCloud offers a variety of services to facilitate sales tax calculation, filing and remittance. Our API’s consider all aspects of tax calculation, including origin location, nexus footprint, destination address, taxability rules and exemptions.
With a TaxCloud Account, You Can…
- Determine, in real-time, the applicable sales tax amount for all your transactions.
- Determine if items are tax-exempt (including sales tax holidays).
- Automatically integrate changes to tax codes and rates.
- Track your monthly gross sales, exempt sales and taxable sales in every state.
- Get a detailed breakdown by jurisdiction within each state.
- Generate and automatically file your monthly sales tax returns.
- Remit sales tax proceeds to the appropriate state and local jurisdictions.
- Bypass state-issued correspondence, including notices and audit inquiries, because we handle those for you.
- Be indemnified for any data or filing errors.
TaxCloud does not provide a list of state and local sales tax rates. Instead, TaxCloud integrates with your shopping cart or order management system to calculate sales tax on individual items within a shopping cart at the time a buyer completes checkout.
However, rate checks may be performed on our Find A Rate tool.
TaxCloud does not provide a list of state and local sales tax rates. Instead, TaxCloud integrates with your shopping cart or order management system to calculate sales tax on individual items within a shopping cart at the time a buyer completes checkout.
However, rate checks may be performed on our Find A Rate tool.
TaxCloud is easy to install. However, the steps involved depend somewhat on the shopping cart or order management system you use.
For example, with some shopping carts all you have to do is click a checkbox to activate TaxCloud. Other carts require a little cutting and pasting to give us the information we need to connect. For many platforms we have step by step instructions available on our website at the bottom of the page in the Integrations section. When integrating with TaxCloud by creating a custom API connection, you will find instruction and example in TaxCloud’s Developer’s Documentation site.
If you can manage an online store, you certainly have the ability to install TaxCloud.
The process to obtain a sales tax license is straightforward.
- The first thing you’ll need to do is collect basic information for your business, such as its EIN Number, type of ownership, the date the business was founded, legal name, etc.
- Use this link to look up your business’ North American Industry Classification System number. Most states ask for this number as part of their application process.
- Once you have your paperwork together, ask your accountant or tax attorney for a list of states where you’ll need to file and remit sales tax.
- Go to each state’s Department of Revenue website and select the section for “Sales and Use Tax”. The state’s website will walk you through the registration process.
Tip: Have a credit card handy. The state may charge a processing fee.
When no shipping address is supplied — for instance, when a digital product is purchased for download — TaxCloud checks for other available information. The exact information we seek and the order in which we look for it is different for different states, but the tax rate is usually based on the customer’s billing address if there’s no shipping address as well as the TIC (taxability Information Code) used for the digital goods.
All this happens behind the scenes and automatically, so you don’t need to do anything differently if you’re selling digital goods.
When no shipping address is supplied — for instance, when a digital product is purchased for download — TaxCloud checks for other available information. The exact information we seek and the order in which we look for it is different for different states, but the tax rate is usually based on the customer’s billing address if there’s no shipping address as well as the TIC (taxability Information Code) used for the digital goods.
All this happens behind the scenes and automatically, so you don’t need to do anything differently if you’re selling digital goods.
Yes, TaxCloud will calculate sales tax based on a shipping address with a P.O. box. As always, please use a ‘verified’ U.S. shipping address to include the full 9-digit zip code.
Yes, TaxCloud will calculate sales tax based on a shipping address with a P.O. box. As always, please use a ‘verified’ U.S. shipping address to include the full 9-digit zip code.
Your shopping cart application or e-commerce platform will ask TaxCloud for the correct sales tax amount when your customers check out. As part of this request, your system sends TaxCloud what’s known as a Taxability Information Code (TIC) for each item in the shopping cart in addition to the the destination address. TaxCloud checks the TIC against the buyer’s location to determine if the item is subject to sales tax at that location. If so, TaxCloud’s API returns the correct tax amount.
Please be sure to assign a TIC to each product in your store so TaxCloud can apply the appropriate taxability information. If you’re not sure how to do this, please see your shopping cart or order management website. More information is also available here: https://app.taxcloud.com/tic/
Your shopping cart application or e-commerce platform will ask TaxCloud for the correct sales tax amount when your customers check out. As part of this request, your system sends TaxCloud what’s known as a Taxability Information Code (TIC) for each item in the shopping cart in addition to the the destination address. TaxCloud checks the TIC against the buyer’s location to determine if the item is subject to sales tax at that location. If so, TaxCloud’s API returns the correct tax amount.
Please be sure to assign a TIC to each product in your store so TaxCloud can apply the appropriate taxability information. If you’re not sure how to do this, please see your shopping cart or order management website. More information is also available here: https://app.taxcloud.com/tic/
On the 11th or 12th of each month, TaxCloud creates a final report for the previous month’s transactions. This report details the sales tax collected in each jurisdiction for each state where sales has occurred the previous month.
Our standard report display the total sales, taxable sales and exempt sales and tax by state, county, city and special jurisdiction (such as the Police Dept. or Fire Dept.).
If you have any questions, please email us here,TaxCloud’s Success Agents can assist you.
Sorry, right now TaxCloud calculates sales tax for only US locations. However, we plan to expand internationally in the coming year.
Sorry, right now TaxCloud calculates sales tax for only US locations. However, we plan to expand internationally in the coming year.
TaxCloud instantly calculates all applicable state and local Sales Tax (or Use Tax) and provides the exact amount of tax proceeds due, in dollars and cents (e.g, $2.36), for each line item.
Frequently Asked Question: Why doesn’t TaxCloud provide tax rates?
TaxCloud does not provide tax rates because responding with a Sales or Use Tax Rate would require developers to do very intricate math. We know developers can write software to do math—but when we say very intricate, we are leaping from basic math to legislatively influenced math. Legislatively influenced math involves determining the applicable tax proceeds at the moment of checkout, which depends on the following factors (for each line-item and tax category):
- Proper identification of applicable tax jurisdictions (up to 20 possible)
- Assigning the applicable Sales Tax (or Use Tax) rate for each possible jurisdiction
- Determining the exact amount of tax proceeds due (in dollars and cents), involving multiple factors which vary by jurisdiction, including:
- Rounding rules (some jurisdictions round at 9, rather than 5)
- Application of thresholds and caps, based upon the tax category of the goods or services being sold
- Respecting occasional sales tax holidays, usually limited to specific tax categories.
We don’t believe any tax compliance API should expect clients or consumers of the API to have to learn and operationalize all of these intricacies, which is why TaxCloud responds with the tax proceeds due, in dollars and cents.
TaxCloud instantly calculates all applicable state and local Sales Tax (or Use Tax) and provides the exact amount of tax proceeds due, in dollars and cents (e.g, $2.36), for each line item.
Frequently Asked Question: Why doesn’t TaxCloud provide tax rates?
TaxCloud does not provide tax rates because responding with a Sales or Use Tax Rate would require developers to do very intricate math. We know developers can write software to do math—but when we say very intricate, we are leaping from basic math to legislatively influenced math. Legislatively influenced math involves determining the applicable tax proceeds at the moment of checkout, which depends on the following factors (for each line-item and tax category):
- Proper identification of applicable tax jurisdictions (up to 20 possible)
- Assigning the applicable Sales Tax (or Use Tax) rate for each possible jurisdiction
- Determining the exact amount of tax proceeds due (in dollars and cents), involving multiple factors which vary by jurisdiction, including:
- Rounding rules (some jurisdictions round at 9, rather than 5)
- Application of thresholds and caps, based upon the tax category of the goods or services being sold
- Respecting occasional sales tax holidays, usually limited to specific tax categories.
We don’t believe any tax compliance API should expect clients or consumers of the API to have to learn and operationalize all of these intricacies, which is why TaxCloud responds with the tax proceeds due, in dollars and cents.
Merchants using Automated Compliance are registered for the Streamline program once they go Live to receive reporting and filing services in all 25 member states* at little to no cost. This is because TaxCloud receives a small commission for merchants who are voluntary sellers in Streamline’s SSUTA states + PA for those services.
TaxCloud does not receive a commission for member states in which a merchant holds physical nexus (or a physical presence). As a result, if a merchant with Automated Compliance has sales in their physical nexus state, they will not receive a credit for their percent of sales fee in that month. TaxCloud will bill the merchant a percent of sales fee of .5% of that state’s gross sales for that month.
*Pennsylvania is not SSUTA state. Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants using Automated Compliance are registered for the Streamline program once they go Live to receive reporting and filing services in all 25 member states* at little to no cost. This is because TaxCloud receives a small commission for merchants who are voluntary sellers in Streamline’s SSUTA states + PA for those services.
TaxCloud does not receive a commission for member states in which a merchant holds physical nexus (or a physical presence). As a result, if a merchant with Automated Compliance has sales in their physical nexus state, they will not receive a credit for their percent of sales fee in that month. TaxCloud will bill the merchant a percent of sales fee of .5% of that state’s gross sales for that month.
*Pennsylvania is not SSUTA state. Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants using Automated Compliance are registered for the Streamline program once they go Live to receive reporting and filing services in all 25 member states* at little to no cost. This is because TaxCloud receives a small commission for merchants who are voluntary sellers in Streamline’s SSUTA states + PA for those services.
TaxCloud does not receive a commission for member states in which a merchant holds physical nexus (or a physical presence). As a result, if a merchant with Automated Compliance has sales in their physical nexus state, they will not receive a credit for their percent of sales fee in that month. TaxCloud will bill the merchant a percent of sales fee of .5% of that state’s gross sales for that month.
*Pennsylvania is not SSUTA state. Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants using Automated Compliance are registered for the Streamline program once they go Live to receive reporting and filing services in all 25 member states* at little to no cost. This is because TaxCloud receives a small commission for merchants who are voluntary sellers in Streamline’s SSUTA states + PA for those services.
TaxCloud does not receive a commission for member states in which a merchant holds physical nexus (or a physical presence). As a result, if a merchant with Automated Compliance has sales in their physical nexus state, they will not receive a credit for their percent of sales fee in that month. TaxCloud will bill the merchant a percent of sales fee of .5% of that state’s gross sales for that month.
*Pennsylvania is not SSUTA state. Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Merchants using Automated Compliance are registered for the Streamline program once they go Live to receive reporting and filing services in all 25 member states* at little to no cost. This is because TaxCloud receives a small commission for merchants who are voluntary sellers in Streamline’s SSUTA states + PA for those services.
TaxCloud does not receive a commission for member states in which a merchant holds physical nexus (or a physical presence). As a result, if a merchant with Automated Compliance has sales in their physical nexus state, they will not receive a credit for their percent of sales fee in that month. TaxCloud will bill the merchant a percent of sales fee of .5% of that state’s gross sales for that month.
*Pennsylvania is not SSUTA state. Since PA has adopted Streamline-like policy, they are considered a member state for sales tax purposes.
Simple Sales Tax requires PHP 5.5+, WordPress 4.5+, and WooCommerce 2.6+.
Simple Sales Tax has been thoroughly tested with the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin by Brent Shepard.
Yes. If you are obligated to collect city and county sales taxes, Simple Sales Tax will automatically include them.
Please contact us if you’re interested in becoming a TaxCloud partner by sending an email to inquiry@taxcloud.net or call us at 203-803-2048.
There isn’t a need to create a separate test account with TaxCloud. Every account is in test mode until the API credentials associated with it are set to “Live” (by clicking the “Go Live” button in your TaxCloud store).
You can add as many websites to your TaxCloud account as you’d like, and each will be given a unique set of API credentials. All transactions from a ‘Not Live’ website’s API credentials are test transactions until you click the Go Live button for that particular store. Once a website is marked as Live in TaxCloud, all transactions from that point forward will be included in our automatically generated (and optionally filed) sales tax returns.
Development and staging websites marked as ‘Not Live‘ will behave exactly like Live sites, but staging transactions will never be included in sales tax returns or reports.
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TaxCloud is already integrated with many popular shopping carts. Please see a list of shopping carts and order management systems in the section, “Integrations.”
The term “Sales Price” is defined by statute in every state as essentially (paraphrasing because each state has its own unique version):
The important point is that Sales Price is set by the Seller, not the tax processor. Once the Sales Price is set by the seller, the amount of tax due can be calculated. For absolute clarity: any and all seller-provided discounts must be applied to the Sales Price before calculating sales tax.
Because each item may be taxable or exempt, when a discount is applied, the methodology of exactly how that discount is applied is a relevant business decision for the Seller.
For example, does the Seller apply the discount:
- Evenly (DiscountDollars divided by AllItemsCount) [easiest] or
- Proportionally (LineItemSalesPrice divided by AllItemsSalesPrice multiplied DiscountDollars), or
- Sequentially (reducing the LineItemSalesPrice of an item down to zero, if additional DiscountDollarsremain, continue through each additional line item until DiscountDollars is exhausted), or
- Preferentially (exempt items before the taxable items, or vice-versa) [NOT TAX ADVICE, BUT: DO NOT DO THIS, EVER]
Sellers should choose their preferred methodology and enure their developer or e-commerce platform incorporates it accurately (developers should be instructed to include detailed comments in their source code about their implementation of your Discount Application Policy). Additionally, Sellers should disclose their methodology to customers in a Discount Application Policy.
Finally, after any and all discounts have been applied and the revised Sales Price has been determined, the tax Lookup API call should be sent to TaxCloud so we can calculate the amount of sales tax due.
The tax treatment for returned items depends on the return date and the purchase date.
If an item is purchased and then returned within the same month, the transaction offsets itself. However, if an item is purchased and then returned in a future month, the value of the items sold (along with any shipping charges) is applied to the month in which the original sale occurred – while the returned sales tax is applied in the current month, thereby creating a tax credit in the same jurisdictions in which the tax had been paid.
Your shopping cart or order management system should allow you to handle merchandise returns and other adjustments to existing orders through your cart admin panel. Once you create a return or partial return, your cart communicates with TaxCloud and TaxCloud credits your account for the sales tax originally paid on the returned or refunded amount.
You can view the details of a return on your “Transactions” page, where it will appear within the original order.
Shipping charges are subject to sales tax in many states. If the order is being shipped to a state that taxes shipping, TaxCloud calculates and applies the appropriate sales tax.
Please be aware that TaxCloud provides two Taxability Information Codes (TIC’s) related to transportation, shipping, postage, and similar charges.
Please select Postage/Shipping TIC 11010 if you are charging your customer your actual shipping cost as can be demonstrated by your invoice from your shipping provider.
If you offer “Flat Rate Shipping” (regardless of your actual shipping costs), or if you markup your shipping charges (charging your customers more than your actual shipping cost), you should use Shipping & Handling TIC 11000, available in the Administrative TIC category.
For a complete list of TaxCloud’s taxability codes, please visit our TIC page, select Explore and then click on the drop down arrow tot he right to access the parent and sub-categories available.
Taxability Information Codes (TIC’s) are 5-digit codes you assign to your products that may receive special tax treatment. For example, many states apply special sales tax rates or exemptions to ‘essential goods’ such as food, clothing and medicine.
The general default TIC for items that do not get special treatment is “00000”.
Please click the following link to explore TaxCloud’s taxability codes: https://app.taxcloud.com/tic
Taxability Information Codes (TICs) are 5-digit codes you assign to products that may receive special tax treatment. For example, many states apply special sales tax rates or exemptions to ‘essential goods’ such as food, clothing and medicine.
The general default TIC for items that do not get special treatment is “00000”. If you know that your products receive special tax treatment, please click the following link to explore our tax categories and taxability codes: https://app.taxcloud.com/tic
If you do not see a code that fits your product, TaxCloud can make one for you. However, we would need supporting documentation such as a state citation.
TaxCloud uses what we refer to as Taxability Information Codes (TICs) to keep track of items (or categories of items) that are tax-exempt in certain states. When your shopping cart requests a sales tax rate from TaxCloud, the order information should automatically include a TIC with the request. TaxCloud will respond with the correct sales tax amount based upon the provided TIC.
TaxCloud’s TIC merchandise classification hierarchy is based upon the standard definitions established by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.
For a complete description of available TICs, please review our TIC documentation at https://app.taxcloud.com/tic
Important note for developers: TICs and their associated definitions are updated regularly by the states. Do not download and retain these codes as static resources in your local, test, or deploy environment. The complete TIC current list is always available for automated inclusion through various real-time feed formats, including JQuery, JSONP, JSON, TEXT, XML, and CSV.
For additional developer resources, please visit TaxCloud’s developer portal at https://app.taxcloud.com/developer.