TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

29 Mar 2011, 21:31

#1

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TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

I am using Cherry Zen, V1.3.9h and just installed TaxCloud. How do I fill in Admin/Locations/Taxes/Tax Rates? Since Washington has many tax rates and taxes are based on where the product is shipping to (not from my store location), do I leave everything blank and TaxCloud becomes the default?

Thank you,
Lynn
machineembroideryandmore.com/zen

30 Mar 2011, 18:05

#2

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Hi Lynn,

Thanks for the question. TaxCloud needs a tax identification code (TIC) assigned to each product. To do this we use the Tax Class functionality of Zen Cart.

For example if you were selling clothing you would create a tax class with the title of "20010" with the description of "clothing". You would then assign this tax class to your products.

TaxCloud then computes the correct tax rate based on the product selected and the delivery address.

Please let me know if you have any more questions about this.

30 Mar 2011, 21:13

#3

sewingzfun

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Thank you for the response. I am selling two types of products - downloadable machine embroidery designs and various craft items that could be just about anything that I sew. Do I use TIC 000000? I did try inserting "000000" as the Tax Class title with a description of "Craft items" and it did not work.

31 Mar 2011, 01:09

#4

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

We don't have specific TIC codes for the items you mentioned so "00000" would work. The only exception would be clothing for sale which would have a TIC ID of 20010.

If you intend to use the generic code "00000" you don't really have to do anything. That value will be assigned by default if you don't assign something different.

I'm not sure what is happening that is causing you to not be able to create a tax class. I would recommend trying it first with a non-zero value to see if that is the problem. It may be easier to just not create a tax class for "00000".

01 Jul 2011, 00:09

#5

zoftheashes

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Hi I recently installed TaxCloud in my store using the latest version of zen cart and apparently I made a major goof. While uploading TaxCloud files to my admin folder I also mistakenly uploaded the rest of the TaxCloud files (in the includes folder) to admin/includes and now I am unable to enter the admin section of the website:frusty: Is there anything I can do?

01 Jul 2011, 00:27

#6

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Hello,

The best thing to do would be to pull out the files you added to the admin/includes directory one by one. You should be able to figure out which files to delete based on the modified date of the files and by looking at the TaxCloud files from the module. There aren't that many files but you will have to take your time and be careful.

You may also have to reinstall some Zen Cart files that may have been overwritten. After you pull out the TaxCloud files you can re-upload the admin/includes files from the Zen Cart installation and you should be good to go.

01 Jul 2011, 00:31

#7

zoftheashes

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

ZoftheAshes:
Hi I recently installed TaxCloud in my store using the latest version of zen cart and apparently I made a major goof. While uploading TaxCloud files to my admin folder I also mistakenly uploaded the rest of the TaxCloud files (in the includes folder) to admin/includes and now I am unable to enter the admin section of the website:frusty: Is there anything I can do?

Just re-installed admin folder and renamed to match the name I had before, now I get a "System Setup Required" message when attempting to log in. Message reads as follows:

You are seeing this page for one or more reasons:

1. This is your first time using Zen Cart™ and you haven't yet completed the normal Installation procedure.
If this is the case for you, you will need to upload the "zc_install" folder using your FTP program, and then run zc_install/index.php via your browser (or reload this page to see a link to it).

2. Your /includes/configure.php and/or /admin/includes/configure.php file contains invalid path information and/or invalid database-connection information.
If you recently edited your configure.php files for any reason, or maybe moved your site to a different folder or different server, then you'll need to review and update all your settings to the correct values for your server.
See the Online FAQ and Tutorials area on the Zen Cart™ website for assistance.
Please anyone, any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm just getting into zencart and the site I'm about to offer should be going live any day now. www.jcstar.com/catalog

01 Jul 2011, 18:35

#8

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

You can re-configure you admin site by modifying the config.php file at admin/includes/configure.php. Otherwise you may need to run the installer again.

01 Jul 2011, 20:26

#9

zoftheashes

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Figured it out!!! Whew now I am able to access Admin and am trying to configure Tax Cloud. I've registered at the website and am now at admin/ location/taxes /TaxCloud Tax Lookups (I hope this is the same as "TaxCloud Settings" as the readme.txt suggests for this is the only option I have). Now what? Sorry, I just really need someone to hold my hand through this configuring part.

01 Jul 2011, 20:42

#10

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

I'm glad you got it figured out! All you really need to do now is to set up your merchant account settings under "TaxCloud Tax Lookups".

You will need your API login ID and key from TaxCloud, your USPS ID and your store address. You just need to enter the first line of the address for your store and the 5 digit zip code.

After that you will just need to create tax classes for each category of products in your store. A complete list of tax class IDs can be found at: http://taxcloud.net/tic/

Once you have the appropriate tax classes set up you can assign them to your products in the product maintenance section. You should then be all set up to calculate tax rates.

01 Jul 2011, 21:18

#11

zoftheashes

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Thanks for getting back to me so soon. Ok so I did like you said only I don't know my USPS ID would I call the United States Postal Service to get this ID #? Also after info was inputted I clicked SAVE and the screen goes blank. If I go back I'm back in the admin section and can see that the admin did save my changes it just doesn't redirect you back to the admin/ locations/taxes /TaxCloud....

Not sure if this is due to my previous problems or what but it seems to work otherwise.

Also this problem occurs when I click the "Download now" button to download the TICs and I can't really tell if it is actually downloading/downloaded.

These little quirks aside I decided to test and see if its working and well not entirely. On step 3 "Order Confirmation" I receive this error message:
Error encountered while verifying address 1932 Jalisco Rd. 92019 Authorization failure. Perhaps username and/or password is incorrect.
-wonder if this has anything to do with the USPS ID?

01 Jul 2011, 21:32

#12

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

OK, now it looks like you are just missing the USPS ID. This is why you are receiving that error.

You can get a USPS ID by installing the Shipping Assistant software, which can be found at: http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/

Once that is installed and verified the ID can be found in the "About" box, in parentheses to the right of the name of the registered user.

Sometimes the configuration page doesn't refresh properly but it usually stores the settings.

01 Jul 2011, 21:49

#13

zoftheashes

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Ok cool. Just tried and the Desktop Shipping Assistant is for PCs, unfortunately I'm on a MAC. Further more I don't think we plan on using USPS to ship so why does TaxCloud require it or is there a work around? Please see my store at www.jcstar.com/catalog and try to buy something and you'll see what I'm talking about.

01 Jul 2011, 22:44

#14

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

The USPS ID is used for address verification. We verify the customer's shipping address to get the 9 digit zip code. This is necessary to determine the accurate tax rate.

There really isn't a way to work around the way it is designed. It would be possible to modify the code to skip this step, but you may run into more issues not not finding rates for addresses that are entered incorrectly.

25 Aug 2011, 14:13

#15

jacob_v4ll

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Hi Taxcloud,

I have installed the taxcloud v1.4 module on zencart v1.3.9h and it is calculating tax correctly and adding it during the checkout process (great mod). Server is running PHP 5.2.17 and I double checked the SoapClient is installed (and tested it's working).

The problem I'm having is when you click "confirm order" on the "main_page=checkout_confirmation" page, it loads the "main_page=checkout_process" page and it only says "Setting order totals for taxcloud" at top left. That page doesn't redirect to the confirmation page or anything. If I refresh on that page it loads the "main_page=shopping_cart" and the cart is empty.

Also, the confirmation email that gets sent for the order doesn't show any tax line items in the order sub-totals, and the actual order total doesn't include the tax amount that was calculated on the checkout pages (checkout total doesn't match email confirmation total). I have tested many times with different payment/shipping methods and the result is always the same.

If more details are needed to help troubleshoot this problem please let me know. I can even set up a test account on my test site to see exactly what's happening if needed.

25 Aug 2011, 16:56

#16

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Hello Jacob,

I have some updated files I can send you which will take care of the problem. I will send you a private message. Thanks.

04 Oct 2011, 20:39

#17

zskiman

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

I have installed this module on a fresh install of version 1.3.9h and it works great, actually one of the cooler and well thought out mods out there. The problem im having is trying to get this mod to work with the fast and easy ajaxcheckout module written by Numinix?

Im able to get it to load and call to the wsdl file with fec, but it looks like all the variables have changed in FEC compared to the normal zen checkout and i get nasty api errors

Error encountered looking up tax amount System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to read request. ---> System.InvalidOperationException: There is an error in XML document (2, 579). ---> System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format. at System.Number.StringToNumber(String str, NumberStyles options, NumberBuffer& number, NumberFormatInfo info, Boolean parseDecimal) at System.Number.ParseDouble(String value, NumberStyles options, NumberFormatInfo numfmt) at System.Double.Parse(String s, NumberStyles style, NumberFormatInfo info) at System.Xml.XmlConvert.ToDouble(String s) at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationReader1.Read4_CartItem(Boolean isNullable, Boolean checkType) at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationReader1.Read32_Lookup() at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.ArrayOfObjectSerializer8.Deserialize(XmlSerializationReader reader) at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(XmlReader xmlReader, String encodingStyle, XmlDeserializationEvents events) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(XmlReader xmlReader, String encodingStyle, XmlDeserializationEvents events) at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(XmlReader xmlReader, String encodingStyle) at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapServerProtocol.ReadParameters() --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapServerProtocol.ReadParameters() at System.Web.Services.Protocols.WebServiceHandler.CoreProcessRequest()

before anyone starts with the "check with Numinex" i am posting to see if anyone else may have had the same problem and overcame it?

I will post the same on numinix's forum as well

Thanks
zskiman

05 Oct 2011, 02:07

#18

taxcloud

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

It looks like the Numinex module is interfering with TaxCloud's ability to get all the parameters it needs to look up the tax rates. From the error I can tell that some data is missing from a CartItem, which is part of the lookup request.

One way to determine what may be missing it to print out the parameters being sent in the lookup request. The other thing we can do is to compare the changes makd to the order.php file for the other module with the changes for TaxCloud. I will send you a private message so you can contact me directly.

05 Oct 2011, 03:35

#19

zskiman

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

I will definatly take a look at this in the am, thanks for looking at it

21 Oct 2011, 06:43

#20

kathym

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Re: TaxCloud vs Tax Rates?

Taxcloud:
The USPS ID is used for address verification. We verify the customer's shipping address to get the 9 digit zip code. This is necessary to determine the accurate tax rate.

This was one of the questions I had about the add on. NY sales tax goes by 9 digits to determine which county an address is in, but when I asked NY if there was something I could set up a cart to interface with a year or so ago they told me there was not. Is this linked to something that is maintained by NYS?

I have the Local Sales Tax Mod currently installed but would like to make checkout easier and assume the Taxcloud would do that by just setting the tax rate rather than having folks use the drop-down to select state & county. Is there anything I need to do before adding Taxcloud because the Local Sales Tax Mod is already there?

Thanks!