Tax Report

Complying with sales tax codes online can be a real chore. If you're an online merchant in the US, you need to comply with State, County, and Local/Municipal tax regulations. Besides, there may be other international taxes like VAT, GST, etc. to consider.

Whether you’re a US-based seller or not, complying with tax codes for ecommerce can be like navigating a minefield. The only way you’ll make it through is if you have accurate, timely tax data for guidance.

That’s where the Tax Report by Report Pundit steps in. It neatly summarizes all taxes collected by your Shopify store, making it stress-free to file your tax forms accurately.

Want the scoop on taxes for each order, including the flexibility to add on extra taxes? Set your custom tax rates, and watch as each tax column updates with real-time data. Tax free items are also shown for added clarity.

This tool is your secret weapon against tax-related confusion, and the penalties that follow. Stop overpayment before it happens. It’s the smart way to save money while maintaining your Shopify store growth.

Understanding the Tax Report

We’ll explore this report with an example:

Flavor Forge is a specialty foods e-tailer selling gourmet cheese, artisan bread, boutique wines and more across the U.S. After about a year of starting in Philadelphia, it opened a warehouse and physical store in New York City to capitalize on its nearby food culture and logistical infrastructure.

And boy did it capitalize! Flavor Forge saw sales volumes blow up from that NYC move, but it also threw the company’s sales tax calculation up in the air. The physical presence established a nexus for the business in New York, a state with destination-based sales tax rules, unlike PA (Philadelphia), which is origin-based.

Flavor Forge had to charge a flat state tax rate instead of the buyer’s destination rate as it was in no position to choose. This was a gap that its competition could exploit at any moment, since the flat tax rate made product prices less competitive.

To stir up more trouble, Flavor Forge had to shoulder shipping and handling taxes of BOTH NY and PA. Not to mention county taxes of both Philadelphia and NYC. Also, due to its strong regional sales, the company would soon cross the annual revenue threshold for online merchants in Connecticut and New Jersey. This would trigger an obligation to collect sales tax in those states as well.

Managers at Flavor Forge knew they needed to find a quick solution to their sales tax woes, something that wouldn’t miss a single tax on any product they sold anywhere online.

The Tax Report was that solution. Flavor Forge made the most of versatile and data-rich features of the report, gaining benefits like:

• Full Knowledge of All Taxes

PA and NY state taxes, Philadelphia and NYC local taxes, and more, Flavor Forge got it all with this report, gaining insights into the taxes applied to each order, total sales value, how much its taxes contributed to those total sales, name and amount of each tax applied, etc.

• Accurate Breakdown of Taxes

Flavor Forge now views the many types of sales taxes in one place, like NY and PA state taxes, Philadelphia and NYC county/city taxes, etc. The report has these listed in separate data columns under their respective titles for clarity. No more missing out on collecting or remitting a tax that’s owed.

• Identifying Non-Taxable Products

Cheese, a dairy product, is non-taxable in PA and NY. Seeing this in their Tax Report brought huge relief to Flavor Forge. The report splits items into Taxable and Non-taxable categories, setting apart products that give tax breaks to online merchants.

• Saving on Resources

By automating its tax data collection process, Flavor Forge saved big on time and money. The Tax report removes the need for manual tax calculations, delivering accurate tax details that are ready for filing.

• Only Remitting the Right Amount

Management at Flavor Forge was worried about forking over more tax than necessary. But the Tax report cleared that up, showing them exactly what they had to remit in both NY and PA. Accurate tax records help governments remit tax credits and refunds to online merchants in a flash. This in turn helps keep their store operations efficient and away from the consequences of remitting insufficient amounts.

• Easy Reconciliation of Offline and Online Tax Data

Flavor Forge uses Shopify POS for its NY store. So it faced the challenge of reconciling tax data for products sold both in-store and online. Fortunately, this report accurately integrates tax data by order across sales channels, eliminating the need for manual matching of online and offline sales tax details.

• Timely Filing of Taxes

Thanks to this report, Flavor Forge said goodbye to manual data work and met its tax deadlines in both NY and PA with ease. The Tax Report automatically delivers accurate tax data on time, leaving no room for delays in tax filing and preventing a hit on profit margins due to penalties.

Flavor Forge is now on track to let customers in more states savor its gourmet food products without stumbling over tax calculations. It’s racing to open distribution centers in Utah and Georgia to fulfill online orders received from those regions, while looking to serve Canada in the near future. Its confidence in the Tax Report to handle the additional taxes is a major factor behind this push.

Data Fields in the Tax Report

The standard data fields in this reports are:

Order Date: date when the order was placed

Order Name: unique ID assigned to an order. The code used is usually part of a series

Taxable Sales: sales containing products that can be taxed. Depends on product type, customer type, customer location, etc.

Non Taxable Sales: sales with products that can’t be taxed

Ex. Sales of handicraft products are tax exempt in some regions

Total Sales: total revenue generated from taxable and non-taxable sales

Total Tax: total tax amount collected for an order, including shipping taxes

Tax Title*: name of the applicable tax. Examples are GST, PST, HST, State Tax, City Tax, County Tax, Municipal Tax, VAT, etc.

Tax Amount*: amount collected by applying the respective tax for an order

*Important: Both Tax Title and Tax Amount are followed by a number like 1,2, etc. These represent the various taxes applicable to an order and the respective amounts collected. The default is three tax rates but you can customize the report to add more.

Ex.: Tax Title 1 is the name of the first applicable tax and Tax Amount 1 is the amount it generates when applied to an order.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why use the Tax Report?

You can use the Tax Report to:

1. Accurately calculate taxes for filing
2. Reduce manual labor while calculating taxes, saving valuable resources
3. Distinguish taxable and non-taxable items; reconcile offline and online tax data

• Is it possible to know Shipping taxes separately?

The Tax Report shows taxes collected on product price and shipping charges by default. However, you can customize the report to show only shipping taxes. Contact us at support@reportpundit.com to set it up easily.

• I want the tax rates for each tax title. Is it possible to include this information?

Yes, individual tax rates can be added to the report. Simply click on the Add Field option in the app or reach out to our team at support@reportpundit.com and we’ll do it for you.

• Can I set custom tax rates in this report?

Taxes in the Tax Report are calculated based on the rates configured in your Shopify store settings. If you want that changed, just send the new rates and conditions to our experts at support@reportpundit.com. They’ll customize this report to calculate values based on the new criteria.

• How can I run the Tax Report in Report Pundit?

Navigate to: Report Pundit App -> Library -> Tax Reports -> Tax Report