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In response to
"I would assume their accounting software is hardwired to their online order system..."
by
Beaker
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It's way different in the US.
Posted by
spamlet
Apr 4 '12, 07:03
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Not only does each state have a sales tax, you may have five different taxing layers in any one place.
State
County
City
School/Fire/Other
"Special jurisdictions" (usually TIF financing deals)
The final one could be one shopping center or a neighborhood wide. There is no way to tell if you hit one of the special jurisdictions until they charge you.
Plus, in most states you can sue if they charge you incorrectly. There's a woman around here that goes to stores technically inside or outside a special district and buys one item to recalculate the sales tax. If they do it incorrectly, she sues and wins $100 each time.
Some states have gotten together to do a Streamlined Sales Tax to try and fix the issues but Ohio sucks and has basically brought that whole effort to a halt because they refuse to listen to the rules they agreed to and there's no real enforcement mechanism.
Plus, the definition of what is taxable is different in each locality. In NY (or NYC, can't remember) Yoohoo chocolate drinks are taxable because they are a beverage. Starbucks chocolate drinks are coffee based and therefore not taxable because there is an exemption for coffee.
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