Sales Tax Options
Standard Sales Tax Module - The system maintains rates for taxing jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada. The rate applied to an order is determined by the ship-to address. A zip code may have multiple jurisdiction options and the system offers a dropdown box at checkout if the city/state/zip combination has multiple options based on the county and special districts.
The system determines if the rate is to be applied to the item ordered based on the taxable price. The taxable price is determined by the client and input into the system. The system does not interpret nor apply taxation rules. The system maintains rates based on information provided by a third party taxation service that derives its information from the jurisdictions. This is rate information only and it is not an application or interpretation of rules. The client is solely responsible for determining if their products are taxable or not.
Given this rate data information, the Prime Downline system is able to assess, accumulate and summarize the sales amounts for each jurisdiction based on zip/state/county/city/district rates provided to it. This information will allow the Client to properly prepare the sales tax reporting forms for the various taxing authorities. The Client must determine if the products sold are subject to sales tax in each state.
The Prime Downline module is a calculation module and does not recognize tax laws and does not interpret tax laws. Prime Downline makes no determination as to the taxability of products and services. Prime Downline is not responsible for reporting and filing sales tax information with taxing authorities. The responsibility for reporting, filing and remitting sales tax data and dollars to any and all taxing authorities rests solely with the Client.
If a product is not taxable in any jurisdiction you make the product code NOTAX. The sale will be included on the sales tax reports but at a rate of zero. This keeps the company in compliance with the taxing jurisdiction as you report all sales and taxable sales separately.
Advance Sales Tax Module - If a product is not taxable only in certain states but taxable in others, then we must setup the specific exemptions in those states. If a product is taxed in certain states at a rate different from the standard sales tax tables for that state, then we must enter a specific rate override for that state. If the product price determines its taxability in certain jurisdictions, then we must setup special exemptions. All of these actions are the advanced sales tax module. Pricing available upon request.
Examples of these: Product A is considered a food in Ohio and is taxed at 4% whereas all other products in Ohio are taxed at 5.6%. Product A is not considered a food in any other state and is taxed at the regular rate. Product B is taxable in Texas but the same product is not taxable in Florida. In NY certain products costing less than $110 are not subject to county taxes but are subject to state taxes and may or may not be subject to district tax.
Overview - The taxation system, advanced or regular, does not consider special tax holidays - it has no provision for these special tax holidays on specified items for a state and the company must decide to refund the tax to the consumer.
The taxation system has rate information for all U.S. jurisdictions. It does not interpret tax laws. The determination of the taxability of a product is the responsibility of the client. The application of taxation laws and rules is the responsibility of the client as each may interpret the laws differently or more aggressively. PRIME DOWNLINE does not accept that liability. If the client does not care to tell us or cannot make the determination, the default is to tax all products in all jurisdictions that assess sales tax. The system has rates and applies those rates based on Product Codes and any special exemptions specifically requested by the client.
We do not guarantee the accuracy of any rates. Many times jurisdictions change rates without sufficient time or notice to the tax services so they are not able to provide an update to us. We use two different services and often find variances between them. If a client notifies us of a change that is not in the system, we will make every effort to implement the change as quickly as possible. However, changes to rates are not retroactive. Prime Downline does not prepare sales tax returns for its clients. We furnish the reports necessary for the client to prepare and submit the forms. Prime Downline accepts no liability for inaccuracies in tax rates. It is the client's responsibility to review the data and apprise us of any discrepancies.
Reports - For both the Standard and Advanced Sales Tax Modules the system produces reports that detail the sales and taxable sales and taxes assessed in each jurisdiction. The client is responsible for the preparation of tax returns, filing of the returns and remittance of taxes to the applicable jurisdictions. The client is responsible for determining what jurisdiction they need to establish accounts with and filing the proper documents with those jurisdictions. Prime Downline does not perform those functions and has no knowledge of how to perform those functions. We suggest you contact a tax attorney, tax accountant or service that will assist you in the registration and filing processes.
International Taxes - The client will need to provide the jurisdictions, rates, tax types and interpretation of how and when the taxes are to be applied. There may be a fee associated with this depending upon the complexities involved. Canada is not considered International.
Sales Tax Holiday Module - Three is a Sales Tax Holiday module that is configurable by the Prime Downline staff. This requires several conversations and information must be provided through tickets. Pricing available upon request.