Level 7

Question

Are you able to set up discretionary sales tax by county in Florida? This tax is only on the first $5000 of the item and is in addition to the 6% state sales tax

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
January 3, 2019
5 replies
43 views

No text available

QuickBooks Online

M

MaryGraceS

Moderator

Hi there, @lindak1119. Yes, you can. QuickBooks Online's (QBO) automated sales tax automatically applies Florida's 6% state tax plus the county discretionary surtax (capped at the first $5,000) for product sales.

For each product line item, the state tax applies to the full amount, but the county surtax is capped at the first $5,000. To verify the calculation, click See the math in the invoice's tax drawer for a breakdown showing the full state sales tax and the capped surtax amount.

Since sales tax is location-based, you can review if the Ship to or the Ship from address is set to Florida to ensure the surtax is applied.

If you don’t want the county surtax cap to apply to your product, simply map it to the tax category "Taxable retail Items not applying the Florida local surtax cap, seller takes full responsibility for qualifying".

Hit the Reply button below if you have additional concerns. Have a great day ahead.

J

JKFlorida

Where are the instructions for surtax by county in Florida for desktop.

JaneD

Level 6

Hi there, JKFlorida.

You'll have to manually set up the sales tax for state of Florida in QuickBooks Desktop. I'll show you how.

From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
Go to the Sales Tax section and choose the Company Preferences tab.
Select the Yes radio button to turn on sales tax.
Click on the Add sales tax item button. From there, set up the sales tax items or sales tax groups for each county, district, city, etc. where you collect sales tax.
Set all the required fields and click on OK once done.

You can read our rundown and learn more about sales tax-related tasks in this link: Set up sales tax in QuickBooks Desktop.

Let us know if you have further questions. Have a wonderful day.

M

MDJ0314

I am having the same issue. When I set up the separate surtax for each county, it charges on the whole invoice instead of just the first $5,000. Not to mention that it makes it a nightmare filing my monthly sales & use tax report. If I let Quickbooks Online automatically calculate it, it is also wrong. It charges on the whole invoice. How can I fix this? I'm tired of getting penalties from the State of Florida when it comes to this.

M

MirriamM

QuickBooks Team

Hi there, MDJ0314. Thanks for joining the thread and bringing this to our attention.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), the tax on per item showing on the invoice is based on location. It is the reason why we're unable to have the tax per line item. In the meantime, you can create a separate invoice for another county. This way, the calculations won't be messed up.

While the feature you're looking for is unavailable, you may wish to consider looking for a third-party app. I can route you to the website where you can look for an application specific for your business needs. From there, you can integrate the app to QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Additionally, I'd encourage you to visit our QuickBooks Blog, so you'll be updated, with our latest news and updates including, product improvements. Just go to https://quickbooks.intuit.com/blog/.

Here are some resources for more information about using automated sales tax in QuickBooks:

Please feel free to get in touch with me here for any additional questions. The Community always has your back. Have a great day.

R

rgose

same Florida question but for QBDT or Enterprise.

Z

ZackE_

Moderator

Thanks for joining this thread, rgose.

The steps for setting up discretionary sales tax by county can be found in MirriamM's post.

You'll additionally be able to find many detailed resources about using QuickBooks in our help article archives.

I'll be here to help if there's any questions. Have an awesome day!

T

thartman808

Does anyone know of a resolve for this yet?

MariaSoledadG

QuickBooks Team

Hi there, thartman808.

May I know what specific issue do you have with your sales tax? This is to make sure that we'll be able to address your concern. Anyway, if you have any other questions other than sales tax, please let us know so we'll be able to assist you as soon as possible.

H

hgacctng

The question that has been asked multiple times has still not been addressed by the QuickBooks team/moderator. Let me try to simplify it...

As has been addressed in multiple QuickBook team responses is how to set up a county surtax. Thank you for the directions.

However, the more complex issue has not been addressed. In Florida, the surtax is only on the FIRST $5,000.00 - there is no surtax for any amount ABOVE $5,000.00. For example, if the Florida county has a 1% surtax, and the invoice is for $6,000.00, the total surtax on the invoices would only be $50.00 ($5,000.00 cap x 1% surtax). If the invoice is for $8,000.00, the total surtax would still only be $50.00. Same goes if the invoice is for $100,000.00, the surtax would still be only $50.00 ($5,000.00 cap x 1% surtax).

If the QuickBooks team cannot address this, has anyone in the community that has dealt with the county surtax in Florida figured out a workaround yet?

Thanks!

C

Centurionholdings360

I SOLVED THIS

I'm using QB Desktop but was just able to solve this and confirmed it is working by viewing the transaction journal.

Go to Lists

Look for tax and search.

Click Item (New) or CTRL+N

Select this item as a Sales Tax Item

Name Surtax Cap

An example of my description "Florida discretionary sales tax surcharge cap for invoices over $5,000"

For rate leave 0%

And set the same state tax agency you pay you (in my case FL DOR)

Do not add this new item to your sales tax group rather use it as an item.

Also make sure you have the state 6% sales tax rate already created.

Create a new invoice

Set sales tax to 6%

Enter your items totaling over $5000

Add your new Surtax Cap item and tab over to the amount column and enter $50

At this point you'll get a warning but just press okay you can ignore that warning.

After saving your invoice you can view the Transaction Journal and confirm that the invoice posted correctly.

For my example I used a $7000 invoice to coincide with the FLDOR surtax example here: https://floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/gt800019.pdf

H

HMCarley

This "solution" appears to work if you happen to have a simple invoice and time to manually calculate and post the discretionary sales tax.

My company does business around the state and through most Florida counties. My staff does not have the time and should not be made to manually calculate the sales tax on each invoice. That is why we pay for software like this.

This "solution" is not a viable work around for me and I presume almost anyone else who reads it.

And based on previous comments, Florida is not the only state that has similar discretionary takes laws. The fact that after 5 years of this thread and continued posts, questions, Reponses, etc. to the same issue that no one with Intuit can provide a solution is just infuriating. Small businesses around this county rely on Intuit QuickBooks to make sure these items are taken care of smoothly and without issue. Clearly Intuit cares very little for it's users and how somethings "as small as this" impacts their businesses in a BIG way.

So, once again, I ask does Intuit QuickBooks have a viable solution for ALL QuickBooks users (desktop and online)????

JoesemM

QuickBooks Team

Hello there, HMCarley.

I can see how this option would be helpful for you and your business. Therefore, let me take note of this as a suggestion to improve your QuickBooks experience. In the meantime, the workaround provided in the thread can help you with discretionary sales tax by county in Florida.

Also, I'd recommend sending feedback directly to our product developer team. Your feedback is valuable in shaping the direction of QuickBooks and adding features that best meet the needs of our users.

To send feedback using QuickBooks Desktop, follow the steps below:

Click the Help menu and select Send Feedback Online.
Choose Product Suggestion, then enter the details of your concern.
Select Send Feedback and click Close Window.

For QuickBooks Online, click here to submit your suggestions: How do I submit feedback? You may open this article to track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

I'll also share these resources that will guide you in managing your sales taxes in QuickBooks Desktop and Online:

I'm always here to back you up if you have further concerns about adding taxes in QuickBooks. Feel free to hit the Reply button.

Sign up

Login with SSO

Let's get you signed in

Login with SSO