Entering New York State sales tax by zip code

[pkatch]

Is there an easy way to do this?

Is there a tax table available by zip code?

Is there an efficient way of knowing when tax codes are updated?

[skier]

1. Unfortunately not, Zip Codes are either entered individually or in ranges.   There's no import or upload feature.

2. Have your checked your States Web site, as most states list their tax information.?

3. Again you would need to check your States Web site.   There are no links from within PayPal to outside tax tables.  The data you enter is the data you have.

Regards,

skier

[elsa]

I just received my COA along with Publication 718, which is a table of NYS sales and use tax rates by jurisdiction. It specifically states that tax reporting codes (included on the table) or the online  Sales Tax Lookup Service should be used and that zip codes should NOT be used as they often differ from political boundaries and tax jurisdictions, resulting in "a high degree of inaccurate tax reporting."

My question is, what is PayPal suggest NYers do, who currently are unable to correctly set up their accounts for correct tax collection?

[skier]

You have two options.  If the features offered by PayPal do not work for your needs, the first option is to find a 3rd party shopping cart or service that has the featues you need.   The second option would be to develop or hire a Developer to create a custom shopping cart with the features you need.

Regards,

skier

[NiTiKi]

We are in NY too (the 2nd highest taxed county in the state) and have looked extensively into this.  Having a developer modify an existing cart is not cost effictive (mainly time wise) as there are just too many counties and NYS is always making changes, hence the need to constantly maintain/change them.   We charge the lowest tax of 7% and eat the difference, which isn't too bad after you figure out your tax credit.. Much worth the headache of maintaining the alternative!

[elsa]

Thanks for the replies. Hiring a developer definitely does not make sense to me given that crafting is not my main source of income. Going with the lowest rate is a good idea, and one I wouldn't mind. The only problem I have would be in record-keeping, as my invoices would not show an accurate tax rate. Initially I thought I'd just make a shop notice for NYers to wait for an invoice rather than paying on their own, but I'm sure some would just go ahead and pay first anyway.

[Irmos]

Yes, as a new seller, I too, am quite beside myself in this area, and setting up the PayPal cart for other needs as well; mea culpa. It all makes me want to abandon my online endeavors altogether! But, I will keep trying, for now...

I know people who charge a 'median' NYS ST in their carts, and hope no one complains. Is this legal, as long as they pay the actual/correct county & state combined rates each quarter? IOW: charging the lowest %, such as 7% as stated in an above post, would really cause a newbee like me to loose much needed $!

Should a customer complain and/or request a refund due to being overcharged NYS (or any) ST, does PayPal take any fees for this? If so, this could really add up!

[skier]

Just for grins, here's how refunds work.

If you issue a total refund within 60 days of the transaction date, PayPal refunds the original transaction fee for receiving the payment to your account. For partial refunds, the fee refund will be calculated at the same percentage as the payment refund. When you issue a refund after 60 days, your original transaction fee for receiving the payment is not credited to your account. If you refund a pending eCheck payment, no fees are charged because the pending payment is effectively canceled.

For example: If You sell something for $100 (fee is $2.90 + $0.30) and refund $50, paypal will issue a refund of 50% of the fee (not including the $0.30) so in this case $1.80 will be returned to your PayPal Account.

However, when you're talking about very small amounts such as an over payment of a Tax, you could simply use the Send Money feature to pay back the difference.  This would bypass getting involved with a partial refund calculation.

Regards,

skier

[bump]

Hi,

We are a new online store and are dealing with the NY tax issue for clothing since there is no tax on clothing under $110.00. In your experience, would you suggest charging tax (since there is no way to break it down in paypal) and then send the customer a refund payment? rather than issuing a refund and having to pay the fee since it is not a full refund?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Rusty44]

Local Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear - Effective October 1, 2010

Here is the official NYS publication link.     http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/publications/sales/pub718c.pdf

I'm beginning to wonder why I moved here, what a difficult state to deal with.

You would think as big as Paypal is and how much money they earn off of every sale, they would help sellers with this solution.  Instead of having each individual seller try putting in all this sales tax information, they would have a solution to help us. One button option ... BAM

Here is the NYS publication link for NYS Sales and Use Tax Rates by Jurisdiction - Effective June 2, 2010

http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/publications/sales/pub718.pdf

Hope this helps someone.