Sales Tax Recommendations

Cartweaver 4 has two "tax systems" to choose from. One is the internal tax system, and the other off-loads the handling of sales tax calculation to a third party system - Cartweaver 4 supports AvaTax by Avalara.

Which tax system should you choose? The answer depends on the complexity of your tax system.

Internal Tax System

The internal tax system in Cartweaver 4 is very robust and handles most sales tax requirements, including more complex Canadian sales tax and European VAT tax, so you should take time to familiarize yourself with the system and see if it will meet your needs.

When Things Get Complicated

There are however some states or regions with sales tax laws or structures that are simply too complex for a stand alone solution to reasonably support. A few US states, such as Washington State for example, have begun charging sales taxes based on the location of the buyer rather than the seller. They have divided the state into "tax districts" that are not based on city, county or postal code, but on a separate tax districting map. To be able to comply with such complex requirements, Cartweaver 4 PHP and ColdFusion support AvaTax by Avalara. AvaTax calculates sales tax based on whatever criteria the state/province requires, and passes this back to your cart to be added to the order total. It also keeps a record of the transaction and prepares the necessary tax reports for you.

AvaTax Calc - Fully integrated. Always accurate.

The AvaTax Calc tax decision engine determines rates based on 100,000+ taxability rules in 11,000+ jurisdictions and instantly applies them to each transaction. Geo-location provides the basis for precise identification of tax jurisdictions and associated taxability and sourcing rules, ensuring the most complete and accurate tax rate.

Sales tax is hard. AvaTax™ makes it easy. Avalara’s AvaTax is the fastest, easiest, most accurate and affordable way to handle sales and use tax compliance. AvaTax determines rates based on 100,000+ taxability rules in 11,000+ jurisdictions, and provides seamless integration with 100+ ERP, accounting, e-commerce and retail POS systems.

Learn more at www.avalara.com