Local Sales Tax Mod - Support Thread

I do have the configuration set to Shipping...

I hope I understand this module correctly, I set the local tax rates so that I have the ability to charge additional tax based on City, Zip or suburb.
The state of KS I can get an excel sheet of all the cities and the tax rate (this includes the state sales tax too). So I just want to be able to dump the City and Tax value into the database so that when a person orders something, it pulls their local tax rate and charges them that tax.

If this is how this works, I wonder if I have a bad file? It's as if the script continues to loop through the database and is pulling and displaying every tax in the local tax database. KS has 798 cities, so I'm getting a list of 798 cities and a tax value at checkout. Once you reach the city that the person is shipping to, from that city on the same value is displayed and totaled for the total tax which ends up being astronomical.

I DL the script from the zencart website and didn't alter it in any way but that's how it's reacting.

any addiitonal help would be great

thanks!

CMJohn

I cant say for sure what would be causing the results you are seeing without knowing exactly how the file was set up, can you send me or show me where you got the file?

LadyHLG

Thanks so much for this Mod--I can't wait to use it!

I have just downloaded & installed it but the link to add the taxes isn't under Locations/Taxes --> Local Sales Taxes.

Any tips? I tried searching the forums but couldn't find anything that specifically addressed this.

I have Zen Cart 1.3.9d (from v1.3.8 install).

KathyM,
Generally speaking, if the link isn't showing then some of the files are not in the right place.
Have you renamed your admin folder? If so did you remember to account for that when you were uploading the files? The mod admin folder would still be called admin so you would need to either manually move those files over or rename the admin folder in the mod to match whatever you renamed your admin to.

Hope that make sense
LadyHLG

supersnow,
If the tax has suddenly stopped showing up I guess the obvious first question is have you made any recent changes that might be causing problems?

As a test I rolled back to the version when local taxes was working and now it isn't working again. So I can't figure it out. With the version of the store when I had just installed the files that you sent me now is not showing the local taxes. I just can't figure it out!

It just doesn't show at all no matter if the person is exempt or not.

LadyHLG--D'oh... thank you for your fast & accurate reply! Fixed and now it shows up. :)

Clearly it's been too long since I last tried to get my cart up and running...

supersnow:

As a test I rolled back to the version when local taxes was working and now it isn't working again. So I can't figure it out. With the version of the store when I had just installed the files that you sent me now is not showing the local taxes. I just can't figure it out!

It just doesn't show at all no matter if the person is exempt or not.

supersnow,
If nothing is still showing up even after the roll back, then I am at a loss. I guess my suggestion would be to re-upload all the tax mod files and start fresh. As I haven't heard of any similar issues from anyone else, I have to assume there is something in your set up that is causing things.

LadyHLG

hi,

does this mod also generate a sales tax report that separates taxed sales from non taxed sales?

thanks.

gsdcypher:

hi,

does this mod also generate a sales tax report that separates taxed sales from non taxed sales?

thanks.

Sorry, no it does not. I did have another mod to summarize some of this but I have not updated it recently so I have no idea if it works with the newer version of zen. If you want to try it out its in the downloads section, you can search for sales tax report. There may also be other addon that will do what you want.

LadyHLG

thanks for the quick reply! i will give this a try and look for the others.

Lady HLG,
Thank you for your work on this mod.

I just installed it but the taxes aren't showing up in checkout, all that is there is a : (as in Tax : %).

I have verified that I have my zone and zone definition correctly set for US, CA.

The tax class is correctly set for Taxable Goods (which all of my products are).

There are no problems entering data into the mod; all of the files were correctly uploaded.

When I turn on debugging, nothing different happens. It seems as though the db table just isn't being read. I installed the SQL patch directly via phpmyadmin and have double-checked that all the data I'm entering via ZenCart is being inputted correctly.

It's just not getting back to ZC. I even tested adding it to a tax rate entered into ZC tax; that rate showed and was added correctly into the checkout total, but not the mod rate.

I've also verified that, in my test sales, I typed each city (which I'm doing my taxes by) exactly how I entered it in.

I'm running ZC 1.3.9h.

If you could offer some help, I would appreciate it. I looked through this thread and didn't seem to find this problem (but I might have overlooked it through bleary eyes :\

Thanks!!

wendyandmilo,
There are a few other setting that can effect how the mod behaves. Check you settings for how taxes are displayed (There is a new setting for combining or splitting taxes) I believe these are under Configuration -> My Store.
Also, have you checked your sort order for the mod?

Have a look and let us know if any of these setting resolve your issue.

Good Luck

LadyHLG

I'm trying to get this to work correctly, but having some trouble. I've got it set to apply taxes based upon zip codes. There are 12 different tax rates. Under Locations/Taxes>Local Sales Taxes I've got all 12 set-up. Tax Zone is California, Apply to is postcode, Look for is the zip codes, Tax Rate is set (each is different), Tax Description is Local Tax, Tax Shipping is false and Tax Class is Taxable Goods.

The problem is that it's charging all 12 taxes to the item, not just the one based upon the shipping zip code.

Thanks!

Lady HLG,
Nothing is working.
Like you asked, I verified that the taxes are set to show up. I couldn't find where there was the option of splitting or combined so I'm not sure about that.

I've also changed the mod order several time, and nothing works.

I'm really at a loss.

wendyandmilo,
Look under Configuration -> My Store and tell me what you have for the following:
Tax Decimal Places
Basis of Product Tax Shipping
Basis of Shipping Tax Shipping
Sales Tax Display Status
Show Split Tax Lines

jeking,
Need more information, what version of the cart are you on, what version of the mod do you have? Have you tried turning on debugging? What does it show you?

LadyHLG

Thanks LadyHLG,

Zen is v1.3.9h and the mod is 2.5

I have turned on debugging and it shows all the tax rates being applied. :-)

It's a test site but the url is zenbug.blissfulwebdesigns DOT com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=71 Maybe seeing is better than me explaining.

Thanks!

Lady HLG,
Here is My Store -> Config. I do not have an option for split tax lines. Is that another mod that I need?

Perhaps I just need to revert to a non-sales tax mod version, and re-install?

LadyHLG,

Ok so finally had some time to work this issue regarding the local taxes and the customer tax exempt and why it was working and now no local taxes show for any customer.

So on my test site I reinstalled the local taxes module without any local tax modified files for the tax exempt files. And the local taxes appear again and worked for all customers. The tax exempt customers shows the local taxes but not the normal states taxes as I thought would happen. And the normal customers showed the correct local and correct state tax.

So now the problem is to get the local taxes not to show with the tax exempt set to ALL.

Then I uploaded the two files you gave me to work with the tax exempt from the extra functions folder and the order total folder. Then the local taxes disappear from all customers again.

So I think something is not working with the check_exempt_mod() in functions_local_taxes.php:

 //check for exempt mod
  
 function check_exempt_mod(){
 // get customer exempt status 
  global $db; 
 
   if ($_SESSION['customer_id']) {
        $customers_id = $_SESSION['customer_id'];
        $customer_check = $db->Execute("select * from " . TABLE_CUSTOMERS . " where customers_id = '$customers_id'");
    }
    if ($customer_check->fields['customers_tax_exempt'] = "ALL") {
        return false;
        }else{
        return true;
    }
     
 
 }
 

I really would love for this to work. Thanks again for such a great mod!

Also noticed something else. If a customer is in the state but NOT in the local tax zip code, the local zipcode shows up but with a $0 in the order total.

But if the customer is out of the state then no stat tax shows and no local sales tax shows.

Not sure why that is showing for the in state customer even though they are not in the county /zipcode that I need collect the extra tax for? I know that is not charging them as it is a $0 amount but it shouldn't even be showing that line - should it?

LadyHLG:

Hi Debra,
I only recently found out about the Tax Cloud myself. I haven't had the time to investigate it much, but it looks very promising. I too had looked at Avalara quite some time ago, but the cost was ridiculous for a small business. I can only hope that Tax Cloud remains free or low cost otherwise it will be just like Avalara.
Ultimately, it would be nice if my mod became obsolete and everyone could move over to the Tax Cloud method.
My suggestion is to really take a look through their site and maybe set up a test site and try out the mod and see how it works.

If you do, drop us a note and let us know how it goes.

Good Luck,

LadyHLG

Hi, Lady HLG,

I've been talking to TaxCloud. They will figure the sales tax for any of the 13,000 taxing jurisdictions. They will collect and remit to the states only in the 24 streamlined states for free. Those states are set up to foot the remittance fee.They say that there are 4 more states with bills in legislature at this time. Since we are in one of the 24 states that they remit to we might just go that direction. But I sure have learned a lot from this thread. Thank you.

I'll keep in touch.

DebraM.