How to get correct tax rates in the United States using TaxCloud - Odoo 12.0

The TaxCloud integration allows you to correctly calculate the sales tax for every address in the United States and keeps track of which products are exempt from sales tax and in which states each exemption applies. TaxCloud calculates sales tax in real-time for every state, city, and special jurisdiction in the United States.

Configuration

In TaxCloud

  • Create a free account on TaxCloud website.
  • Register your Odoo website on TaxCloud to get an API ID and an API Key.
  • In Settings on TaxCloud, click Locations to enter the location of your Office(s) & Warehouse(s).
  • In Settings on TaxCloud, click Manage Tax States to verify the states where you collect sales tax.

In Odoo

  • Go to Invoicing / Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings and check TaxCloud - Compute tax rates based on U.S. ZIP codes.
  • Enter your TaxCloud credentials.
  • Click SAVE to store your credentials.
  • Click the Refresh Icon next to Default Category to import the TIC product categories from TaxCloud (Taxability Information Codes). Some categories may imply specific rates.
  • Select your default TIC Code. This will apply to any new product created.
  • Set a specific TaxCloud Category on the General Information tab of the Product, or on the Product Category.
  • Make sure your company address is complete (including the state and the zip code). Go to Settings ‣ Users & Companies ‣ Companies to open and edit your Company record.

How it works

Salestax is calculated in Odoo based on fiscal positions (see How to adapt taxes to my customer status or localization). A Fiscal Position for the United States is created when installing TaxCloud. Everything works out-of-the-box.

You can configure Odoo to automtically detect which Customers should use this fiscal position. Go to Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Fiscal Positions to open and edit the record.

Now, this fiscal position is automatically set on any sales order, web order, or invoice when the customer country is United States. This triggers the automated tax computation.

Add your product(s). You have two options to get Sales Tax on the Order. You can confirm it, or you can save it and from the Action Menu choose Update Taxes with TaxCloud.