How can I adjust local tax settings on Shopify for my online store?

[RickKlem]

I am using the Shopify Tax option to collect taxes. I have an online store only and no brick and mortar. My state requires me to collect state tax from anyone that orders from me that lives in my state. And for Local taxes , I only need to collect taxes from customers that live in the same county that my businesses is located. So if someone orders something and lives outside of my county, but in my state, I charge them state tax only. But for some reason Shopify tax is collecting local taxes for other counties and any city taxes. 

I cannot find anyway to edit it, or any way to contact a human at Shopify to have them fix their app.

Thanks

Rick 

[RickKlem]

Anyone have any help? I need to fix this today or I will need to shutdown my site until resolved.

[MountainMadness]

Are you sure you're correctly looking at this? If you have nexus in a state, collecting and remitting down to the local level applies to the entire state.

[RickKlem]

Thanks for the reply. According to my tax advisor and a rep at Alabama Revenue dept, I must collect state tax from anyone that resides in Alabama and county tax from anyone that resides in my country only. I am not to collect tax for anyone that luves in the city near me because I do not live inside the city limits. Since I don't have a location in any other county besides Russell county I am not permitted or expected to collect tax in other counties. 

Shopify tax charges city and county tax for all cities or counties.  I spoke to Shopify and they don't know how to fix a simple problem. It looks like I have to move to Go Daddy. I can't believe there is no one from Alabama on shopify and dealing with this.

[RickKlem]

Is there anyone from Alabama that uses Shopify for their online store? I would like to know how they fixed theirs. 

[KP_Enterprises]

What you are describing doesn't match with my understanding. As I understand it, if anyone buys at your location, you collect state, county, and city tax for your county. If you ship to someone outside of your county, then you typically collect state AND local taxes related to that destination city/county. We sell into over 30 states and I've yet to see where they allow collecting only state tax. An exception might be if you are registered through Streamlined Sales Tax . Then you may collect at a fixed rate but that is still determined by that state.

I'd look destination vs origination tax requirements. Be aware too that some states require sales tax on shipping.

[RickKlem]

Do you have a location in Alabama? Alabama revenue law states that if your business is located in Alabama then you must collect county and citi taxes only for the county that you are selling from. If I had mulitiple locations  in different counties then I would have to collect taxes from those two counties only if someone lived in one of those counties. 

Side note, I do not live inside of the city limits so I am not required to collect city tax even if the customer does live in the city limits. That comes directly from the revenue office of Alabama and the city tax office.

[KP_Enterprises]

I believe that what you've said here is correct. If you sell to anyone in the state and they pick up in your physical location, then you collect state and local tax based on your location. If you ship to another location however, this may be different. Your state may require that you collect the local tax based on destination shipping. It is very possible though that you only collect for your location. I'd call your state agency and ask them. We don't have a physical location in your state so I could be wrong. But I would highly recommend that you call or email your state and ask the question. Email is best so that you have a record. In our state, we are required to collect our local taxes for sales outside of the county even if we don't have a physical nexus there. Be aware that the way that Shopify determines the amount of tax to collect may not match exactly to what the state tells you. In that case, you may need to set up a tax override. Shopify would have to help you do that. 

[Haleyodessa]

Did you find a solution? I am having this same issue now.

[RickKlem]

Yes I did. Originally I had entered my Alabama state tax collect ID number on Shopify. I had a different one for my local county so I went back and entered it instead and it appears to have corrected my issue.

[JHolder]

So you just went into Settings > Taxes and Duties > scrolled down to "United States", scrolled down to "Regions you're collecting in", Select "Alabama" and edited the "Sales Tax Information" with your LOCAL tax ID instead of your STATE tax ID?  That's all you have to do?  Is Shopify still collecting the 4% STATE sales tax when you ship everywhere else in Alabama?

[beth101]

Did this work for you? I have been trying to get my taxes set up for Alabama and my county only and literally can't get it to work. can you tell me what you did?

[JHolder]

Yes, it worked for me!

Login to Shopify (on a computer)

Select "Settings" on the bottom left corner. 

Select "United States"

Scroll down to "Regions you're collecting in"  (it should say ALABAMA)

Click on the 3 dots to the far right of "Alabama"

Select "Edit sales tax information"

Put you "LOCAL" sales tax number in the box.  It probably starts with "LCL" (this is the sales tax account number you received from the city/county your business is in. (DO NOT put your STATE tax number here).

Click "Save"

I hope this helps!!

[beth101]

thank you. for some reason it is still charging other jurisdictions. Thank you for all of your help! 

[beth101]

did this work for you? I have been trying to get this worked out and Shopify advisors are no help on it.