[Done v1.3.9b] Tax name wont show up on order if tax is 0.00

[RodG]

Sad you could not find it, I will just have to write GST with a pen until someone's found the problem. Must be a tricky one to find I guess, heaps of code to go trough!

I've done a upgrade and not a fresh install.

Try this:
Set your GST tax rate to 0% (zero)

Go to the admin section of whatever shipping module you are using, and set the the shipping to be a taxable item (@ zero percent).

If the tax description still doesn't show, go to /admin/configure/mystore and ensure that
Sales Tax Display Status = 1
Show Split Tax Lines = true

That should give the desired results.

An alternative would be to make all of your products taxable at 0%.

Simply put, for zencart to output a tax description it requires *something* in the cart to be taxable (tax on shipping is acceptable), otherwise it is 'correctly' outputting a zero value with an undefined description.

I'm figuring that it was the old version that technically had the bug in that it could/would output a tax description even though no taxable items were in the cart. The change of code that allows different taxes to be itemised
(the "Show Split Tax Lines"setting ) has eliminated the 'bug' that you have been lucky enough to have taken advantage of in the past (without realising it).

In summary, I probably wouldn't be expecting the devs to 'fix' the code to revert back to the old incorrect behaviour, especially since your case is almost certainly the exception to the normal rules (However, I could be wrong on both counts).

Personally I see no need to investigate this matter further, especially if you can verify/confirm that the suggestions I've made will solve the problem described, which, incidently is probably the best way to include/add a tax charge of 0% anyway (as opposed to adding no tax and then hoping the code can figure out what the zero charge is actually for).

Hopefully this makes sense (I often tend to over explain things)

Cheers
Rod

[Argyle]

cheers will test it!

[Decostyle]

Hi,

Yesterday I made an attempt at upgrading from 1.3.8a to 1.3.9a on localhost.

I noticed the same bug yesterday when I was testing all of it and thought that it was because of the customer tax exempt module that was installed.

Reading this now, I have the same problem on my cart. If the tax is 0% or if customer is exempt from it, the description "sales tax" is gone and all they will see is "0.0%". However if tax is levied on the product, the description correctly appears with the tax rate.

[DrByte]

Did you try the suggestion above? ie: set your shipping module to be taxable at 0%

[Decostyle]

I maybe doing something wrong. Here is how I have tested it and results:

Original setting
Tax Class - Taxable Goods
Tax Rate - Texas Sales Tax 8% (Defined as shipping to zone TX)
Shipping Module - UPS Tax Class = Taxable Goods
Sales Tax display status - 1 (display even when 0)
Split Tax - off

When above is used, if tax is levied, it correctly shows Texas Sales Tax $xx.xx. If the customer is tax exempt or shipping outside of Texas the description disappears and it only shows 0.00.

New setting
Tax Class-Taxable Goods
Tax Rate- Texas Sales Tax 8 %
New Tax Rate - Sales Tax 0%
Shipping Module - UPS Tax Class = Taxable Goods
Sales Tax display status - 1 (display even when 0)
Split Tax - off

When customer is tax exempt it now has the description but it shows "Sales Tax + Texas Sales Tax = 0.00" which I think is confusing.

Please advise if I have the settings wrong somehow?

[RodG]

New setting
Tax Class-Taxable Goods
Tax Rate- Texas Sales Tax 8 %
New Tax Rate - Sales Tax 0%
Shipping Module - UPS Tax Class = Taxable Goods
Sales Tax display status - 1 (display even when 0)
Split Tax - off

When customer is tax exempt it now has the description but it shows "Sales Tax + Texas Sales Tax = 0.00" which I think is confusing.

Please advise if I have the settings wrong somehow?

Your situation is a liitle different than the original OP's on account of the fact that all tax needed to be zero, and the zero tax was alsways going to be "GST". The following approach may be more suitable in your situation:

Tax Class-Taxable Goods
Tax Rate- Texas Sales Tax 8 %
New Tax Rate - Shipping Tax 0% (or valid %)
Shipping Module - UPS Tax Class = Taxable Goods (shipping tax)
Sales Tax display status - 1 (display even when 0)
Split Tax - on

If I'm not mistaken, this should output something like

Texas Sales Tax = $xx.xx (may be zero, if exempt)
Shipping Tax = $xx.xx or $0.00 depending on rate)

Also, do keep in mind that most of the time there is no need to output a zero tax amount anyway, and in my opinion this is the 'best and cleanest' solution to the problem, and if an output of zero is needed, does it really matter what type of tax it is that doesn't attract a fee?

I mean, seriously, it could be possible for you to introduce tax rates such as a "Friday Delivery Tax" - and it would make perfect sense to output something like " Friday Delivery Tax = $5.00", when applicable, but you certainly wouldn't want to output " Friday Delivery Tax = $0.00" for purchases made on any other day of the week.

I really don't think your customers are going to complain about a zero charge regardless of whether it has a 'label' or not. The IMPORTANT thing is that when there IS a tax fee then zencart WILL output the description that it relates too.

Anyway, hopefully this suggestion helps solve you problem - if not, the devs may need to go back to the drawing board and possibly output a simple "TAX = $0.00" for those times where the description of a zero value is either indeterminate or consists of multple tax classes each with a zero value (leading to the sample output that you provided).

Good luck,

Rod

[Decostyle]

Hi Rod,

Appreciate your time looking into this. I thought about this yesterday and came to the same conclusion you did that it would be better off just disabling display of tax if value is 0% to avoid confusion. This works if the website is just for retail business.

However we do have another one which does business for retail and wholesale. Resellers are tax exempt if they show us their resale certificate. So for purposes of record we need to show an invoice that says Texas Sales Tax= 0% even if ship address is within Texas.

Having said that. These are the results of the settings as you outlined:

SETTING
Tax Class-Taxable Goods
Tax Rate- Texas Sales Tax 8 %
New Tax Rate - Shipping Tax 0% (or valid %)
Shipping Module - UPS Tax Class = Taxable Goods (shipping tax)
Sales Tax display status - 1 (display even when 0)
Split Tax - on

RESULT CUSTOMER IS TAX EXEMPT:
Sales Tax = 0.00% (Texas Sales Tax =0.00% does not appear)

RESULT CUSTOMER IS TAXED:
United Parcel Service (1 x 1.25lbs) (Ground): $12.81
Sales Tax: 0.00% <--this is the 0.00% tax
Texas Sales Tax (8%): $1.38 <--tax for the item
Sales Tax + Texas Sales Tax (8%): $1.02 <--tax on shipping

This may not work as it would cause some confusion I think.

I will check to see if this occurs on a fresh install of zencart with the tax exempt module installed.

[Decostyle]

Fresh install of zencart 1.3.9a, with tax exempt module has the same problem. When tax is exempt or 0 and tax status is set to display even if 0 the description disappears and ":$0.00" is what shows up.

Let's say we take out the tax exempt module and run the store normally even if it is a wholesale site and therefore will have customers who are tax exempt.

If customers are not immediately charged, we can just leave the tax info there and edit it out upon shipment. However, if payment is processed through a gateway and it is immediately charged, we will have to end up refunding the customer every time.

Is this something that can be fixed rather easily or is this a major fix that needs to wait until the next zencart version?

Just wondering because 2 of our sites are wholesale sites.

[RodG]

Having said that. These are the results of the settings as you outlined:
<snip>
This may not work as it would cause some confusion I think.

I'm inclined to agree. I'm sure these results may give the devs a better idea how to tackle the problem though. As for me, I'm currenlty a bit 'brain dead' (having spent the last 4 days in bed with a fever)... Scary thing is, I don't even remember posting that message with my suggestions to you.

I will check to see if this occurs on a fresh install of zencart with the tax exempt module installed.

My initial checks into this problem did suggest that it only occurred with a 1.3.9 upgrade rather than a fresh install, but subsequent testing and checking indicated that this wasn't the case, It had more to do with the tax status of the items in the carts I was testing with.

Cheers
Rod

[RodG]

Fresh install of zencart 1.3.9a, with tax exempt module has the same problem.

Hey, I just finished typing pretty much the same thing to you. (Our postings must've crossed paths in the ether).

Is this something that can be fixed rather easily or is this a major fix that needs to wait until the next zencart version?

This is something for the Devs to look into and respond.

Although it may seem like I have some idea what's going on, the truth is, this is an area of code that I'm really not familiar with, and if the person that originally reported this problem had anything more complex than they described I probably wouldn't have even gotten myself this far involved.

So, sorry *I* can't be more helpful, but I reckon that between us we have given the Devs a *lot* of good/useful information that will help them produce a solution without having to do a lot of this 'preliminary' fault finding groundwork.

Cheers
Rod