California Sales Tax Module

I've implemented a tax module for California. According to the BOE, you're supposed to charge CA local tax based on where the items are going to be shipped. However, any tax that you don't collect is the responsibility of the buyer ... they're the ones who are supposed to submit the tax that they didn't pay. So, I decided to implement something simpler such as what newegg.com does.. basically, you charge your local tax if the order is shipped to your local county, and 7.25% to other destinations in CA. Out of state is not charged tax.

My module contains all of the zip codes in Los Angeles County, and charges 8.25% if the item will be shipped to a zip code withing LA County.

You can easily modify the module to work w/ other states and zip codes.

This is a quick and dirty hack.. the data are all hard coded into the PHP, rather than using SQL ... perhaps I will go back and make it fancier if I have time in the future.

I decided that my quick and dirty implementation was too ugly, so I implemented a database version today. You put all your local zip codes into a table called local_zips, and then the php does a query to decide whether or not the zip code is local.

The non-database version is also included in the new zip archive.

Thanks for this ! Saves a LOT of set up time for us Californians :D

Oops! Sorry I left some debug messages in scl-zip-tax-v2.zip... but for some strange reason I can't edit my previous posts. So here is it again, w/o the debugs.

Hi there,

It sounds like this might be what I am looking for...

The store is located in Ontario, Canada...and I need to be able to separate out the local and federal taxes in the sales report so the client can remit the appropriate amounts to the government at tax time.

Is there a quick way to change this module to allow this, or is there another solution more suitable...

I had tried the sales report with local filter, but it filters for California and I am not sure how to change that - I get an error message when I change it to Ontario in the stats_sales_report.php file.

Please help! :)

I found the answer.

I just changed shipping_state':'billing_state to delivery_state':'delivery_state in classes/sales_report.php (line 105)

and

California to Ontario (line 65) in stats_sales_report.php.

:)

I'm assuming I could use this module for NY and just change the ZIP codes?

Thanks, this is very nice. I'll check it out right away.

Just one thing, you mention "any tax that you don't collect is the responsibility of the buyer ... ", I think that's wrong, it's the other way around. You (the seller) are resposible for paying sales tax to the BOE, you are allowed, but not required, to pass this cost on to the customer, but you are the one ultimately responsible for making sales tax payments.

I just charge 8.25% for all of California. The BOE does allow this and doesn't mind, it just says if you over-collected just send it all to them. I think most companies do it this way, it's just too much of a hassle figuring it out for all counties/districts unless you only deal withing your local zone.

Does this module work with: Zen Cart 1.3.0.2

I have Zen cart 1.3.6 (the latest version) and I want to know the advantages and disadvantages of doing it via PHP file or the database.