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TaxCloud Integrated Sales Tax

Akhil S
  • Updated

This article walks through setting up TaxCloud, which is use an integrated tax option to calculate taxes during the checkout process.

Note: In order to calculate real time sales tax rates, you will first need to set up an account with TaxCloud.

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Set Up a TaxCloud Account

In order to calculate real time sales tax rates, you will first need to set up an account with TaxCloud.

Please follow the steps below to setup your TaxCloud account. Once you have setup your account you will then proceed to Steps 10-12 in order to tie your TaxCloud account into your store for calculating sales tax.

Step 1 - Visit https://taxcloud.net

Step 2 - Click “Register Now” to create a Tax Cloud account

Step 3 - Complete the required fields as shown in the screenshot below, by entering your first and last name, company, business email, phone and website address (i.e. promocloset.mybrightsites.com)

For the Shopping Cart option select “Other – Not listed” and click Register.

Step 4 - Once you click Register, the page will refresh and you will see a message stating:

“Congratulations! Your account has been created. Check your email for your account confirmation message.”

Click OK to proceed.

Step 5 - In the email you will receive from TaxCloud, click on the link to confirm your account which will take you to the TaxCloud website to complete the account setup process.

Step 6 - To confirm your account you will need to first check the box that you have read and agree to the TaxCloud Terms of Service and then click the button that reads “I Accept the TaxCloud Terms of Service” to proceed.

Now in Step 2 of 2 you will need to create a unique password for your TaxCloud account. Enter your desired password and then re-enter your password and click “Save My Password” to proceed.

Congratulations! You have just created your TaxCloud account! Click “Thanks” to proceed.

Step 7 - Now that you have your TaxCloud account created, you will need to configure your account settings.

Login to your TaxCloud account by entering the email address and password you created during the account setup process, and click the “Secure Sign In” button.

Step 8 - Next you will need to add the url for your store by clicking on the “Websites” button.

Click the “Add Website” option.

Enter the website/store name and your store url. For the Commerce Platform option select “Other – Not Listed” and click “Add”.

Step 9 - Make note of the API ID and API KEY as you will need to enter these details into your Bright Sites control panel in Step 12 below.

Step 10 - Now that you have added your website you will need to complete the 5 “Remaining Tasks to Go Live” shown under the Websites tab, in order to finish your TaxCloud account setup.

** Please note that you can add as many websites as you would like using TaxCloud, as each URL is a different website.

 

Step 11 - Now that you have completed the setup of your TaxCloud account, configure TaxCloud for your Bright Sites store.

Activate the Tax Integration Add-On

  1. Access the Features page.
  2. Click into the Add-Ons section.
  3. Toggle the Tax Integrations feature on. Click Approve if you agree to an additional monthly support fee. Click Close or Set Up Now to continue.

Enable TaxCloud Sales Tax Integration

  1. Access the Taxes page.
  2. Click into the Setup section.
  3. Toggle the Enable Tax option on.
  4. From the Tax Method drop down, select TaxCloud.
  5. Match only first 5 of zip/postal code - When toggled on, only the first 5 digits of the zip code will be checked against the database. The zip code database only has 5 digit codes available and any additional numbers or letters are not recognized.
  6. Save changes.

Configure the TaxCloud within Store

  1. Click into the TaxCloud tab.
  2. Enter the required and relevant fields as follows. If you need assistance with these values, reach out to the TaxCloud Support.
  • API Login - Enter your TaxCloud API Login ID. (see step 9 above).
  • API Key - Enter your TaxCloud Api Key. (see step 9 above)
  • Default Tax Code - By default the tax code is set to 00000 which applies to “General Goods and Services.” Leave this as is or for more information on Tax Codes please visit https://taxcloud.net/tic/ Important note: You can edit tax codes at the product level.
  • USPS username - In order for TaxCloud to calculate sales tax you will need to enter your USPS username for address verification. If you do not have a USPS account you will need to set one up by clicking here or by visiting https://www.usps.com.
  • Fallback tax percentage - Enter a fallback tax rate that will be charged on the order in the event that TaxCloud is unable to pull in taxes for an order.
  • Tax Origin Address - Enter your tax origin in the address fields provided. If you leave the origin address empty, sales tax will not calculate in your store.

3. Click Save.

 

You will also need to keep in mind that if shoppers enter a 9 digit zip code ("12345-9999") for their shipping address, the cost for sales tax will not be calculated properly.

Tax Codes at the Product Level

Product Tax Codes can be configured at the product level, which will override the default code set up in the tax configuration.

  1. Access the Products page and click the pencil (edit) icon for the product to be set up.
  2. Click into the Setup section.
  3. Click the Product Info tab.
  4. Product Tax Code - Enter the tax code that is specific to this product. This will override the default tax code entered in the tax configuration.
  5. Click to Save.

Determining Taxability Codes

By default the products will pull in the default tax code that you have entered into the Tax tab of your store settings.

You can locate individual tax codes by logging into your TaxCloud account and selecting the Taxability Codes option in the left navigation. For further help with Taxability Codes please visit https://taxcloud.net/contact/

Tax Exempt Products:

For Tax Exempt items, you need to enter 91020 into the "product tax code" field in the admin of each item that should be tax exempt. Do not check the box that reads "tax exempt" in the top right hand corner of the product you are editing when adding this tax exempt code to each item.

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