Local Sales Tax Mod (with admin!) for testing

No, i want to be able to enter in all the zipcodes, so no limit of 100 char. I will look at the code later today and see if i can figure it out, but would appreciate any input. if this works, I will upload the excell document i am using that breaks down each county by zipcodes for california and shows the tax rates.

Also someone said this mod doesn't support group discount pricing is this true? wouldn't it just take the total at checkout with the discounts included and tax that?

You will have to change the table properties in the database. If you plan to enter the zip codes via the admin then you will have to change the properties of the field used to enter the data, it was not intended to enter long strings.

As for group discounts, yes the mod will work with them, but a lot depends on the sort orders for the Order Total modules as well as the setting for the group discount in the admin under Modules -> Order Total.

LadyHLG

local_datamatch changed to text, there was no limit on the data field input, but when i put the figures in, on the display in admin local sales taxes page, the field goes way to the left now, how would i correct this?

Looks like that is the only change i will have to make though.

figured out a way that works, edited admin/local_sales_taxes
don't know what line, using wordpad

                <td class="dataTableContent" align="center"><?php echo $localtax->fields['local_datamatch']; ?></td>

to

                <td class="dataTableContent" align="center"><?php echo wordwrap($localtax->fields['local_datamatch'], 90, "\n", true); ?></td>

works like a charm.

I will be doing testing today to verify that this adjustment works okay and give you updates. thanks for the help so far!

Glad to see you got it worked out!

LadyHLG

Okay, so I don't know if this is some weird bug or if it's how I have things set up. I'm testing out this mod right now (Very nice :) ) but I'm having a couple of issues. one I've managed to work around, but I don't know if maybe this "bug" is showing up because of said workaround or not.

So, I enter taxes like so:

29621-to-29627;29654-to-29656;29699;29670;29677;29684;29689;29697

These zip codes get a 7% tax rate. (I've also tried it listing out the zip codes individually, rather than using ranges - same thing happens either way....)

now the possible "bug". My default address is set at the 6% (default) tax rate. If I change my address zip code (during the check out process) to a zip code of say. 29670 (to reflect the 7% tax rate), it'll change properly in the cart. But if I try to change it to any other address, the tax rate never changes - it'll stay stuck at 7%. So it seems I can only change my address once. (I mean, I can change the address as much as I want - but the tax rate only changes once and never again. If I try to change the address a second time, the tax rate - once it's been changed - stays no matter what I change the address to.)

The only way I can seem to get around this is by logging out and logging back in and then changing it to the proper address.

For the record, I'm using the latest (as of this writing) versions of both ZenCart (1.3.8) and Local Sales Tax (2.1).

My default address is set at the 6% (default) tax rate.
I'm not sure what you mean here by default.

Also, what kind of work around did you make?

LadyHLG

I'm not sure what you mean here by default.<<

Well, the default tax rate for the state in question is 6% - but on this thread, I mean that I'm starting at 6%. The address I'm using - and zip code - is a 6% rate, and it's my default test address. So, by default (if I don't change the address) I should be charged 6% because of my zip code.

If I change the address (i.e. changing the zip code) to get a different tax rate, the tax rate will change to the right one. (For purposes of example, the new changed zip code is a 7% tax rate). Changes as it should. But if I try to change the address again (either by a new zip code with a different tax rate, or swapping back to my default address for the 6% rate), it forever remains 7%. The only way I've found is to log out and log back in, and change the address - seems you can only change it once.

The workaround was to not use the "-to-" for ranges. I put in every zip code. This also meant, in some cases, I had more than 100 characters, to I went to the table and changed the varchar to 200 rather than 100.

Which address are you changing the Billing address or the shipping address - ie Is it the address in step 1 or step 2?

Well, I've tried it all kinds of ways - trying to use it like a customer would. I've done it both in Step 1 and Step 2. Using my mother as an example - where she'll get partway through the process and remembers he wants it shipped to someone else, so she'll change the address. I can't honestly say off the top of my head if it's specifically one or the other that does it...but I'll go try it now and see if doing it in one or the other makes a difference.

Hang on, and I'll report back :)

doodlebee,
Don't forget that you set whether the cart charges sales tax by shipping or by billing address and the local sales tax mod follows these settings. So if you change the billing address and the cart is set to charge sales tax by shipping its not going to make a difference. The mod will determine the tax by the shipping zip. Be sure you are taking that into account when you are testing.

LadyHLG

Okay, so if I use the "default address" I have set up for myself (we'll say it's zip code 12345, with a sales tax of 6%), and I'm on the initial checkout page (step 1) and I change my address (for purposes of example, we'll say I change it to 98765, with a tax rate of 7%). Okay, so of course it doesn't how the tax rate in Step one, but the address changes just fine, and the tax rate is applied properly.

Bwahaha - I see what you're saying. "STep Two" is the billing address. Duh, me. So if I applied it in step two, it wouldn't do squat. ::dies:: I can be so smart sometimes.

Okay, well let me verify that this is what's happening...and yes it is.

Okay, I'm an official idiot. You may ignore me. LOL Hello, folks - changing your billing address has no effect on this. Take it from stupid here, and drink more coffee in the morning before you start asking questions!

Dont feel bad, its a easy mistake to make! Just glad we figured it out.
Have a good day!

LadyHLG

Heh. I have a new question! And this one is just in general - because I don't know if it's me, or if there is a conflict with another mod. I've already sent off an email to the other mod author, but I'm going to ask here, too - because it's something - although right now I'm assuming it's something stupid I've done and cannot figure out.

Okay, so here we go. The other mod is "Better Together". The site I'm working on offers a free product if a certain other product is purchased.

Now - the "freebie" in question is actually sold at a regular price of $11.99. The "Better Together" module will check to see if another product is purchased - and if it is, then it'll subtract $11.99 from the total on the cart.

My issue is this: when the freebie item is removed (i.e. the $11.99 is taken off the subtotal), it's still taxed. In my example case, it's 6% - so even though the $11.99 is removed, it's still adding in the extra $0.72 to tax it.

Now, I suspect the reasoning for this is in how I have my order total module set up - the 'Better Together" shows up after the Local Sales Tax. It would make sense that if I put the Better Together before the local sales tax, it would subtract the $11.99 from the subtotal, and then that tax module would tax it appropriately (and leave off the extra $0.72) - however, after I installed the Local Sales Tax mod, if I put "Better Together" before "Local Sales Tax", the $11.99 is not removed, and it's still taxed. (So not only do I have the extra $0.72 in taxes, but it's also not removing the price of the free item - and charging the customer for it instead.)

It's almost like the Local Sales Tax treats a negative amounts as "0", forcing the total to ignore the discount - so when it goes through the list to figure out sales tax, it sees the "negative" and resets it to "0" instead of removing the price in question (like it should).

Is this anything you've come across before? is it something I'm doing? is it a bug? Just curious if you have any ideas for me. Thanks!

I can't say with any certainty but its most likely a conflict with the mod. I will try to take a look at the other mod to see if I can figure out what is happening, but I can't give you a definite time frame.

LadyHLG

Okay - thanks :)

doodlebee,
I know what is causing the problem I'm just not sure how to fix it.
Does your store use more than one tax class, if not then I may have a work around.

LadyHLG

I have a stupid question. I downloaded your mod, ran the sql query. The directions say to: "(1) Copy all files over to your cart" ... what folder do I copy the files to?

I believe the download has a folder called catalog.
Put all the files in that folder (BUT NOT THE CATALOG FOLDER ITSELF) wherever you put your zen cart files be it your website root or a folder off the main root.

Make sense?

LadyHLG

Ok, I have my Zencart set-up in a folder called "shop". So my the structure is something like:

web/content/shop/[Zen Cart Files]

I copied the "catalog" folder into the /shop/ folder, it obviously did not work.

Should I copy the "admin" and "includes" to the root /shop/ folder? Do I want it to over write the current admin and includes folders?