Edit sales tax rate in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to edit sales tax rates in QuickBooks Online.

The amount of sales tax you collect may increase or decrease depending on the state where you conduct business. Update your sales tax rates to make sure you collect the right amount. Here’s how.

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What happens when you edit sales tax rate?

Here are a few things you need to know before you edit a sales tax rate.

• Changes you make will update the rates everywhere except for any in past transactions.
• Existing transactions that used the earlier rate remain unchanged unless you edit the transaction and specifically select a different sales tax rate.
• If you create a new transaction but use dates in the past, the transaction uses the new rate.
• After you edit a rate, the earlier rate can no longer be used.
• For recurring templates that use the changed component, new transactions created with the template use the new rate. Existing transactions created with the template and the earlier rate remain unchanged.
• If you edit a sales tax rate you use on a template, you need to go edit your template again to add the updated sales tax rate.
• Reports show the data for both rates (before and after) if there are transactions for both the rates in a particular period.

Get your books done right

Set up a live video appointment or message your QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper whenever you need help with new sales tax rates. Learn more about QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping.

Edit your sales tax rate

When you use the automated sales tax feature, QuickBooks automatically generates the tax agencies and sales tax rates you need. However, if you still use custom sales tax rates, here’s how you can edit them.

Note: You'll see "Error: To process this credit card transaction, please enter a credit card number. (code:"INDIRECTTAX-15811")" when trying to edit a tax rate that is being used on a recurring transaction that is setup to auto-charge.

To resolve this error:

1. Creat a new tax rate.
2. Edit the recurring transactions to use to the new tax rate.
3. After all recurring transactions are updated to the new tax rate, go to the sales tax settings and make the old tax rate inactive.

Note: The following steps are for the automated sales tax experience. If you still use manual sales tax, check if you can switch over to automated sales tax. If you don’t have the option to switch yet, follow the Edit sales tax rate using manual sales tax steps.

1. Go to Taxes, then select Sales tax (Take me there).
2. Select Sales Tax Settings.
3. In the Custom rate section, find the sales tax rate you want to edit.
4. Select Edit.
5. Update the name or rate accordingly.
6. Select Continue, then select Edit.

If you’re still using manual sales tax, use the following instructions to edit your sales tax rate instead:

Edit a tax agency name

You can edit a sales tax agency’s name through the Sales Tax Center using manual sales tax only. However, your sales forms will still show the old or initial name you’ve entered. If you would like a different name to show on your sales forms, you'll need to create a new tax agency.

To edit your tax agency's name, here's how:

1. Go to Taxes, then select Sales tax (Take me there).
2. In the Agency Name column, look for the tax agency you want to edit and select rename.
3. Enter the new name, then select Save.