Tax Logic - who gets taxed?

[vicatcu]

v1.3.9h

I'm looking for an explanation of how Zen Cart determines whether or not Sales Tax should be applied to an order.

I've read lots of information about "how to set up sales tax" and did a test checkout for myself and saw tax got applied, but I've seen a number of orders come through with no tax applied, so I'd like to understand how that can happen.

Do I need to set up a Tax Zone for every state in the US and every country we could conceivably ship to (sounds daunting to me)? Can I just configure Zen Cart to apply my state's sales tax to all orders independent of where we are shipping to? Right now I'm thinking that the reason it "worked" for my test is because my address is in my store's Zone... maybe it's doing the right thing and I just don't recognize it.

Forgive my ignorance, but if anyone can shed some light on this murky topic, I'd really appreciate it!

[kobra]

Do I need to set up a Tax Zone for every state in the US

No, at this time you only need to tax for those that live in the same state you are located in
You also need a tax license from your state

[DrByte]

Do I need to set up a Tax Zone for every state in the US and every country we could conceivably ship to (sounds daunting to me)? Can I just configure Zen Cart to apply my state's sales tax to all orders independent of where we are shipping to?

Those are questions which you should be asking your *Accountant* about. Any advice you find here about who gets charged tax is general, and not specific to your state, your store, your business, or your legal requirements.