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Set up and use sales tax in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit29 Updated 2 days ago

QuickBooks can calculate sales tax for you on invoices and receipts. This makes filing taxes easier and more accurate. Here's how to set it up and get started.

Get the tools you need to streamline your business and the insights to drive it forward. All in QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Just joined QuickBooks? Here's how to set up sales tax for the first time:

Note: Depending on your location, QuickBooks may already have taxes set up for you. 

  1. Go to Taxes and select Set up tax.
  2. Enter the Tax name.
  3. Enter the Description.
  4. Tax agency name gets populated automatically based on the Tax name you've entered. You can change this if you wish.
  5. Select Start of current tax period and Filing frequency from the dropdown.
  6. Select your Reporting method (usually it'll be Accrual, but if in doubt, please consult your accountant).
  7. Select Next, then select OK.

You can set up multiple tax agencies, If you wish to set up another tax agency; refer to Create custom tax agency.
Once you have set up the tax centre, you can also add custom tax rates.

Depending on where you sell, tax rules can change for products. When ready, you can set sales tax for anything you sell. This helps QuickBooks know how much tax to charge for each product.

When you're done setting things up, you can start using taxes within your sales forms. We'll show you how it works and where you'll see it when you create an invoice or receipt for your customer.

See sales tax details to make sure they're right before you file and pay your return. You can run the Tax Liability report anytime to check your sales tax info.

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