Sales Tax Setup Fill-In Info

sassymonkey
Contributor
Contributor

After much research, I'm still fuzzy on how the sales tax setup truly works (see NOTE below).

 

Specifically, I'm setting up Paypal buttons in a website and need those purchases to get 9% sales tax applied to orders from CA customers only.

 

I've found this common bit if instructions BUT IT'S NOT COMPLETE:

 

  1. Go to the PayPal website and log in to your account.
  2. Click "Profile" at the top of the page.
  3. Click the "Sales Tax" link.
  4. In the Set Up Domestic Sales Tax Rates section, click "Add New Sales Tax." If you've already added sales tax, click "Add Another Sales Tax."
  5. Click the "ZIP Code" link and complete the required fields.
  6. Click "Continue."
...So, after setting up a tax table, then what? How is it applied to purchases?
Is it automatic and all I have to do is create the table and it just works on all my buttons? What about the sales tax field in the button configuration? Should I leave that blank and the the tax table would be applied? 
I, and according to questions from others on the forum, need more info about how EXACTLY to set up the complicated world of tax rates in Paypal.
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NOTE: Dear Paypal, I find this lack of sales tax info at Paypal vexing. Sales tax is essential information that EVERY person who uses any payment service will need to know, yet there's little to no info about it and what is available has apparently been left to the incomplete bits and pieces typical of lay people in forums.
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2 REPLIES 2

sassymonkey
Contributor
Contributor

Also, I want to add that the tax table interface is not very clear either.

 

For instance, I want to only set up tax for CA and have no tax for purchases from all OTHER states.

 

How is this done in the tax table interface? 

 

Best I can see how to do it is to set up one tax table for CA and HOPE it does the right thing.

 

Or, I can set up one for CA and then create another table for UNITED STATES that is set as 0.0% tax. But this is confusing because CA is part of the US and makes me wonder which will take priority at the time of purchase.

 

The other option is to manually set up 0% tax on 49 tables for the other states, but that's just stupid and a waste of time.

 

Finally, what about international sale tax? I don't want any tax for purchases from other countries, but the interface doesn't allow me to be sure that will happen.

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Misty11
Advisor
Advisor

Hello sassymonkey,

 

You can collect domestic or international sales tax for purchases made with PayPal “Buy Now” buttons and through the PayPal Shopping Cart.

 

Here's how to set up your sales tax rates: Log in to your PayPal account, Click “Profile” near the top of the page, Depending on your account view, click “Sales Tax” under “Selling Preferences,” or “VAT” under “Hosted payment settings, "  Click “Add New Sales Tax," Choose the states for which you are setting up tax rates, Enter a tax rate. Only click “Apply rate to shipping amount” if your state requires it, and Click “Continue,” or click “Create Another” to set up another sales tax.

 

You can create separate sales tax rates for every state in the U.S. and for every country or region that accepts PayPal.

To set up additional sales tax rates, click “Add Another Sales Tax” on the Sales Tax page.

If you need more specific options for sales tax calculations , you can visit our developer network.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Smiley HappyMisty

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