Sales Tax in ServiceVisit - How It Works

Availability: all plans

ServiceVisit does not ask anyone to type tax onto an estimate or an invoice. Instead the provider records their own tax rules once, and the product applies those rules to each document. This guide explains the pieces and how they fit together. ServiceVisit applies the rules you enter; it does not decide what is taxable or what you owe. Confirm your obligations with a tax professional.

Before you start

Tax setup is under Settings. Seeing the setup needs access to view tax settings; changing anything needs access to configure tax. Both are included with every plan.
Tax is calculated by ServiceVisit from the settings described here.

The pieces

Whether you collect sales tax at all. On Tax Rates, the question "Do you collect sales tax?" is answered Yes or No. Answering No means every new estimate and invoice charges no tax. Documents already issued keep the tax they were issued with.
Tax Zones. A zone is a state plus the ZIP codes it covers. A zone with no ZIP codes covers the whole state.
Tax Rates. Each rate belongs to one zone and has a level. A zone can hold several rates, such as a state rate and a local rate, and a job is charged all of the active rates in its zone.
Taxability Rules. Switches for which kinds of line item are taxed: Labor, Materials, Fees, Equipment Rental, Permits, Environmental Fees and Travel, plus how work marked as a capital improvement or as repairs and maintenance is treated.
States You Collect In. Where you work in a state in which you have recorded no obligation to collect, you record that so documents there are issued without tax.
Tax Registrations and the Tax Filing Report. Keep your permit numbers and see what was collected for a period.

How a document is taxed

The tax on a document comes from the service address on that document, using your zones, your rates and your taxability rules. The rate is never typed onto the document. The product finds the zone that covers the address. A zone listing the address's ZIP code is the most specific match; if none lists it, the statewide zone for that state is used.

For a document with several line items, only the lines your taxability rules mark as taxable are taxed. A zone's rates are added as separate lines, one per level, because each level is filed on its own return.

A rate of zero is a deliberate answer. The Rate % field has no pre-filled value, and the page asks you to enter 0 only if that authority genuinely charges nothing.

Tips

Set up in this order: answer the collection question, add a zone, add its rates, then review the taxability switches.
The Tax Rates page shows a combined rate for each zone, built from its active rates.
The page also has a Tax Calculator that estimates tax on an amount using one of your active rates.

If something goes wrong

If no tax appears on a document, check that the collection answer is Yes, that a zone covers the address, and that the zone has an active rate.
If an invoice cannot be issued for work in a state, there may be no zone for it. Add one, or record the state under States You Collect In if you have determined you have no obligation there.
If the Tax Rates page is read-only, your role can view tax settings but not change them.

Setting Up Tax Zones, Rates and Taxability Rules — This guide walks through the Tax Rates page, where you tell ServiceVisit how to apply your own tax rules: whether you collect sales tax, where your rates apply, what each rate is, and which kinds of…
States You Collect In and Tax Registrations — Two pages under Settings record facts about your business for tax. States You Collect In records states where you have determined you have no obligation to collect, so work there is invoiced without…
Reading the Tax Filing Report — The Tax Filing Report shows the tax you charged over a period, split by tax authority, so the person preparing your returns has the figures. ServiceVisit reports what you charged, refunded and…
Set Up Sales Tax — Setting up tax is where a provider tells ServiceVisit how to apply their own tax rules. Under Settings, the Tax Rates card covers the tax mode, tax zones, jurisdiction rates and line-item taxability…
View Tax Settings — View-only tax access lets someone see how tax is set up without being able to change it. Under Settings, the Tax Rates card opens the provider's tax profile, where the tax mode, zones and rates can be…