Tax not calculating

I am new to Zen Cart Using the latest version 1.3.9h
Small store, small inventory. Pretty basic.
Using a template from Template Author : Samad S. and IBSolutionsco.com Template Version : 1 Darkness
I got the temple here of course. This is my problem. I cannot get the tax rate to add to the order. I have gone over the setup 5 times. There is only one tax rate so this is pretty simple. I have a green light on Zones and Taxes Defined. I have searched here forever it seems for a clue, pun intended. When I have found a thread close it has been solved by pm which does not really help me a whole bunch.
I am missing something and need some pointers where to look.
Store site: tuff-itout.com/store

I am very frustrated and would appreciate a pointer or two OUTSIDE of the basics in setting up sales tax. I have gone over that way too many times now and it has to be a setting I am missing outside of those basics. Could someone please have kindness on this weary un zen cart savy sole and help. please.:blink:

Check your Zone Definition and see what you have set for the ...
Country:
Zone:

Check the Tax and make sure it is set to ...
Priority: 1

That the setting is for:
Taxable Goods

and that your Product is set to Taxable goods ...

I have checked double checked and rechecked. and you know what I am going to check again Before I say it is still not working..
I did enter products before I configured the tax module, and did go back and indicate each product as taxable. so....just gonna check again.

Ok I have checked and double checked and then checked again. I have everything set up zones, classes, rates and products being indicated as taxable goods. I am including a few screen shots of what I see in the admin and at the same time what is happen in the store live. The tax is showing in the products screen shot 1 at same time as a customer checking out...no tax is calculated. I could use some direction on where to look so these two are "connected" properly and tax is calculated in the check out process. :cry:

Out of the box, this is how Zen Cart works:

• you create products with an assigned Tax Class
• customer has an address, which is connected to a country and state/province
• you create Zone Definitions, which are a combination of countries and states/provinces
• you assign a tax rate to the combination of that Zone Definition and the Tax Class
• when a customer whose address is in that country/state combination defined by your Zone Definition associated with that Tax Class adds that product to their cart, that assigned Tax Rate is used to calculate the applicable tax for the order

Common causes of that not working:

• addons that break or change tax calculations
• ot_tax Order Total module turned off in Admin->Modules->Order Total
• countries deleted from database, ie: Admin->Locations/Taxes->Countries
• states/provinces/zones deleted from Admin->Locations/Taxes->Zones
• customers/addresses imported incorrectly (instead of entered by hand by the customer) and thus have no associations properly connected to the master country/zone records in the database
• fiddling with the Tax Basis settings in Admin->Configuration->My Store. The default of "Shipping" is appropriate for most webstores, and should only be changed after consultation with your tax attorney/professional
• you've changed the store to "Tax Included in Prices" to True instead of False, and thus you're assuming that tax should be added, when you've told it you've already built tax into the prices.

I checked all of the areas that may be a problem. I have no add ons this is straight "out of the box" zen cart.
ot_tax is turned on. no countries deleted no zones deleted - I do not have the tax included in prices.

So what I am understanding at this point is I have to configure a Zone Definition for every state/country the product is available in.
Then apply the tax class that is appropriate for that zone. I do believe I am understanding this now. Give me a thumb up if this is correct.

Once again Dr. Byte I am assuming to much and thought this would work a little different then this. Will I ever learn???

You only need tax rates for the states for which you collect tax.
And thus you only need Zone Definitions for those same states.
Anything else is overkill, at least as far as taxes are concerned.

What zones definitions have you created? What country and states are assigned into that zone's definition (via the pulldowns)?
And then what address were you testing with in your checkout when you said it wasn't calculating?

The zones definitions were for one state only. Then I was told I had to set it up to collect the stores address state taxes on all sales.
I am no tax expert. What do I know. I am no expert at setting up a shopping cart either obviously. I asked the store owner to confirm that the store state sales tax had to be collected on all sales.
If that is the case then I can make one zone for the US. with one class applied.
I have one zone set for the US right now and it is calculating.
I am just not sure the store should be collecting the store's location state sales tax on all sales no matter where the customer is from.
I asked the the store owner to confirm this with their tax expert.

The good news...I figured out how to make this work with your help and understand more of zen cart. thank you agian.:clap:

I am mostly new to Zen Cart Using the latest version 1.3.9g
i have some custom work setup for my templates, and i'm terrified of breaking it so let's not discuss the upgrade to h yet.

I'm having some of the same issues as you Colorowdy.

I need to collect sales tax for Texas (6.25%) for any item i sell anywhere in the US. if i use a Texas shipping address, it adds it in. If I use an address anywhere else, even if I setup a zone for that state specifically, it doesn't include it in the total. It's calculating the tax, but then it doesn't add it to the total. Anyone got an answer for that?

I am losing my mind. I've been over the setup like probably 10 times now.

In the Configuration ... My Store ... there is a setting on whether to use the Shipping Address or the Payment Address to base the Tax on ...

By default, this is set to be based on the Shipping Address ...

If you need to change that to the Billing Address, then change the setting on:

Basis of Product Tax
On what basis is Product Tax calculated. Options are
Shipping - Based on customers Shipping Address
Billing Based on customers Billing address
Store - Based on Store address if Billing/Shipping Zone equals Store zone

Shipping
Billing
Store

to be for the Payment Address ...

leabuff:

I am mostly new to Zen Cart Using the latest version 1.3.9g
i have some custom work setup for my templates, and i'm terrified of breaking it so let's not discuss the upgrade to h yet.

I'm having some of the same issues as you Colorowdy.

I need to collect sales tax for Texas (6.25%) for any item i sell anywhere in the US. if i use a Texas shipping address, it adds it in. If I use an address anywhere else, even if I setup a zone for that state specifically, it doesn't include it in the total. It's calculating the tax, but then it doesn't add it to the total. Anyone got an answer for that?

I am losing my mind. I've been over the setup like probably 10 times now.

I have gotten it to calculate and add in. Make sure you have taxable goods checked on the products.
Here is what I did that made it work. Everything bolded is a heading plain text is what I entered or chose from a drop down menu.
In the tab: locations/taxes
Zone Definitions
Zone Name: United States

Zone Description
Sales tax

Tax Classes
Taxable goods

Tax Rates
Priority: 1
Tax Class
Taxable goods
Zone United States
**Tax Rate ** 8.25%
Description
Sales Tax

Hope this helps I know I struggled for a day or two with this one.

Yeah. it basically hates me. I have it set to calculate the tax based on the store, not on the shipping or billing address.

I keep hoping one time it will stick and it will magically add the tax into the total and I can get on with my life. Alas, for this time, it is not to be.

I'll keep trying. It's the definition of insanity, but the US approach all the way through was a different approach. Still no joy though.

So I finally got it to work, though not how I wanted. With everything set to the US with one tax rate, I labeled the tax rate as TX Sales Tax and then just set it draw it from shipping address zone instead of store zone. So it's working, and is technically correct, just not how i wanted.

The correct way is to use Shipping as the Tax Basis.
Using "Store Zone" is seldom if ever appropriate, and only works in very isolated situations, and certainly not for TX taxes.

When you set up your zone definition, click on the Define button and select United States from the countries list, and Texas from the States list. Then link your tax rate to that zone. It's all explained in the FAQ/Tutorial article on setting up taxes.