eCommerce Sales Tax Management

In business, proper tax management is crucial. Neglecting to charge sales tax where appropriate, or charging the wrong amount, can lead to your financials taking a severe hit at tax time. Tax percentages vary from state to state, and to make it even more complex, they often vary among ZIP codes as well. And proper handling of sales tax can be quite a chore, since some eCommerce platforms don’t give you an easy way to manage your sales tax, forcing you to rely on third-party apps or even resort to marking up your prices.

Shift4Shop, however, makes tax management a breeze with a built-in Tax Management module. Simply select a country and state (or province) and apply the proper tax percentage. Where tax varies by ZIP code, enter a range of ZIP codes for a certain percentage to apply. No need to mess with your prices or worry about tax rates not applying when they should — if your business needs to collect sales tax on orders in a particular state or country, you can add it seamlessly within minutes.

Top Features

  • Quickly add tax rates by country, state, and Postal Code/Zip
  • Optionally include or exclude shipping and discounts in tax calculation
  • Configure up to 3 taxes per location, great for Canadian stores (GST, HST and PST)
  • Set up Tax-exempt customers or different rates per customer group
  • Use Product Tax Codes (PTC) to apply different rates to different types of products

Shift4Shop’s Tax Management Feature in Action

Tax Management Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where do I find the Shift4Shop tax manager?

In your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager, click Settings and then Payment in the left-hand navigation pane and then click the Set Up Tax button about halfway down the page.

  • How do I manage VAT tax? I don’t see any settings for it in the Tax Manager.

To activate VAT tax settings on your Shift4Shop store, install the free VAT Tax app and activate it in your list of modules. Once the app is active, you’ll see a new section in your Tax Manager for handling VAT tax. Learn more about the VAT Tax module

  • Can I still use my own tax software with Shift4Shop?

Yes! Shift4Shop is fully integrated with a variety of popular tax software such as Avalara. If you’re using tax software, simply delete any tax ranges from the Shift4Shop module.

 

Successful stores using Shift4Shop’s Tax Management

“”I always dreaded having to charge sales tax because it was so confusing when you sell online, involving the state your business is in, your customer’s state of residence, the state where your items ship from… it was just overwhelming and I was so worried I’d make a mistake and get penalized. But when I set it up in 3dcart I almost couldn’t believe it was so easy. I pretty much only needed zip codes and the percentages to charge”

June 25, 2018