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How-to

Configuring TaxCloud

TaxCloud calculates United States sales tax and reports your orders for filing. When TaxCloud is your active provider, UltraCart asks TaxCloud for the tax on each cart at checkout and reports each finished order to TaxCloud, so your TaxCloud account holds the records it needs to file for you.

info

Navigate: Main Menu → Configuration → Checkout → Sales Tax

Prerequisites​

You need the following before you start:

  • A TaxCloud account. If you don't have one yet, the Sign Up button on the TaxCloud settings screen opens the TaxCloud site.
  • Your TaxCloud API Key and Connection ID, both from your TaxCloud account.
  • A distribution center with a complete street address. TaxCloud requires a ship-from address on every cart, and UltraCart uses the address of the order's distribution center, falling back to your default distribution center.

Enter your TaxCloud credentials​

UltraCart needs both the API Key and the Connection ID before it can talk to TaxCloud. You can't make TaxCloud the active provider until both are saved.

  1. Navigate to Main Menu → Configuration → Checkout → Sales Tax.
  2. Find TaxCloud in the list of providers and click Settings.
  3. Enter your API Key and Connection ID.
  4. Leave Estimate taxes without reporting orders on while you test. With it on, UltraCart gets tax from TaxCloud at checkout but does not report orders to TaxCloud.
  5. Click Save.

Classify shipping and items without a TIC​

A TIC (Taxability Information Code) tells TaxCloud what kind of product it is taxing, which decides whether the product is taxable in each state. Two fields on the settings screen cover the charges that don't carry their own TIC.

  1. In Default TIC, enter the TIC for items that don't have their own TIC on the item record.
  2. In Shipping TIC, keep the default of 11000 to send shipping to TaxCloud as a shipping charge. Clear the field to leave shipping untaxed; UltraCart then leaves shipping out of the request entirely.
  3. Click Save.

Test the connection​

The Test Connection button checks your API Key and your Connection ID together against TaxCloud. A passing test means the key is valid and belongs to the connection you entered.

  1. On the TaxCloud settings screen, click Test Connection.
  2. Read the result shown under the button.

If you have unsaved changes, UltraCart saves them first, because the test runs against the saved credentials. The button reads Sign Up instead until both the API Key and the Connection ID are filled in.

Assign a TIC to each item​

Items that need a different classification from your Default TIC get their own TIC in the Item Editor.

  1. Open the item in the Item Editor and go to the Tax tab.
  2. In the TaxCloud section, type a plain description of the product, such as "cotton t-shirt", into Search TaxCloud TICs and click Search.
  3. Click Use TIC next to the best match. UltraCart fills in TIC (Taxability Information Code) and Description (optional).
  4. Save the item.

To set TICs in bulk, use the TaxCloud TIC and TaxCloud Description columns in the item import.

Items marked tax free in UltraCart are not sent to TaxCloud, so they carry no tax whatever their TIC.

Go live​

TaxCloud starts receiving your orders once you turn off estimate-only mode and make it your active provider.

  1. On the TaxCloud settings screen, turn off Estimate taxes without reporting orders and click Save.
  2. Go back to Main Menu → Configuration → Checkout → Sales Tax.
  3. Select TaxCloud as your provider and click Save.

How TaxCloud handles orders outside its scope​

TaxCloud calculates United States tax only. A few kinds of order get no tax from TaxCloud, and knowing them up front saves a support ticket later.

  • Destinations outside the United States get zero tax from TaxCloud and are not reported to it.
  • An incomplete ship-to address can't be quoted. TaxCloud needs a street, city, state, and ZIP code.
  • No distribution center with a complete address means there is no ship-from address, so TaxCloud can't quote the cart.

How refunds reach TaxCloud​

TaxCloud keeps each order exactly as it was first reported, and it accepts refunds only as item quantities. UltraCart works within that rule automatically:

  • An order is reported to TaxCloud once. Later changes to that order reach TaxCloud as refunds, not edits.
  • Refunding an item's quantity, or the whole order, is sent to TaxCloud and TaxCloud recalculates the tax.
  • Refunds are sent only for orders in the Completed Order or Rejected stage.

Some refunds have no quantity for TaxCloud to work from, so UltraCart can't send them:

  • a dollar amount refunded on an item without refunding any quantity
  • a dollar amount refunded against the order subtotal
  • part of the shipping charge

Record these by hand in the TaxCloud web app so your filings match what you actually collected.

Tax exempt customers​

UltraCart does not send exemption certificates to TaxCloud, and the customer profile Taxes tab has no TaxCloud fields. Manage any exemption certificates in TaxCloud directly.

See Tax Exempt Customers for the requirements that apply to every provider.

Next steps​

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