QuickBooksHelpIntuit

Edit sales tax rates

by Intuit•152• Updated 1 week ago

Update sales tax rates in QuickBooks Online to make sure you’re collecting the right amount.

Note: This feature is limited for QuickBooks Online Free and QuickBooks Online Lite. Upgrade your plan to get more features. Go to Settings , then Subscriptions and billing. Then select Upgrade your plan.

A change to your tax rate applies to all future transactions, even ones dated before the change, but not past ones. Reports and records will show the data for both rates.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online. Launch side-by-side view

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.

What you’ll need

Before you try to change the tax rate on a recurring transaction that is automatically charged, create a new tax rate and edit the recurring transaction to use it. Then go to your sales tax settings and make the old tax rate inactive.

Otherwise, you’ll get the following error:

"Error: To process this credit card transaction, please enter a credit card number. (code:"INDIRECTTAX-15811")"

Update rates for automated sales tax

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.

Go to All apps , then Sales Tax, then Overview (Take me there).
Select Sales Tax Settings.
Locate the specific rate within the Custom rate section.
Select Edit.
Modify the name or rate percentage as required.
Select Continue, then select Edit to confirm.

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

Update rates for manual sales tax

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 these steps:

Go to All apps , then Sales Tax, then Overview (Take me there).
Under Related Tasks, select Add/edit tax rates and agencies.
Select the rate you want to change from the Sales Tax Rates and Agencies table, then select Edit.
Enter the new tax rate percentage. You can also change the name.
Select Save.

Edit a tax agency name

You can change the name of an agency in your system settings through the Sales Tax Center. This won’t change any previously generated forms. If you want a different name to appear on your actual sales forms, create a new tax agency.

To edit your tax agency's name, follow these steps:

Go to All apps , then Sales Tax, then Overview (Take me there).
Locate the Agency Name column, find your agency, and select rename.
Enter the new name, then select Save.

Results

Your sales tax settings now reflect the updated percentages or names for all newly created transactions. Reports for the current period will display data for both the old and new rates if transactions exist for both.

Next steps

Review your recurring templates to ensure they are updated with the new tax rate.

If you’re using manual tax rates, check your manual sales tax settings periodically to see if you can switch to the automated sales tax experience.