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DianaAxe
Level 2

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

I've recently started collecting PA sales tax. When I went to file my latest return, I discovered an issue with the Sales Tax Liability Report. (FYI, shipping is 'generally' taxable in PA).

 

We had a sale in which the customer bought a taxable item and a non-taxable item. According to PA, the shipping for the order should be allocated between the taxable and exempt items. A simple example: Customer buys a bumper sticker (taxable) for $1, a shirt (tax-exempt) for $9, and pays $4 for shipping, for a total order of $14. In this example, $0.40 of shipping would be allocated to the taxable item ($1/$10 x $4), and the remaining shipping of $3.60 would be allocated to the tax-exempt item.

 

QuickBooks correctly calculates the sales tax on the sale. The problem is the reporting.

 

Assuming this is my only sale, I would expect that the Sales Tax Liability Report (STLR) would show the following:

Gross Amount:  $14.00

Non Taxable Amount:  $12.60 ($9.00 + $3.60)

Taxable Amount:  $1.40 ($1.00 + $0.40)

Tax:  $0.08 (6% x $1.40)

 

Instead, the STLR shows the following:

Gross Amount:  $14.00

Non Taxable Amount:  $9.00

Taxable Amount:  $5.00

Tax:  $0.08 

 

As you can see, the Gross Amount and the TAX are the only correct figures shown in the current iteration of the Report. As should be obvious, I can't use this report to file my Pennsylvania tax return.

 

The bigger problem is that I file my PA taxes quarterly, and I don't have just one sale to PA in a quarter. So now, in order to calculate the correct Non-Taxable and Taxable Amounts, I have to create a spreadsheet to track my orders, and then I have to open every single sale to PA in order to allocate the shipping between taxable and non-taxable.

 

NOTE:  I'm not sure how the system would report the Taxable and Non-Taxable Amounts for a sale of only exempt items as this hasn't happened for me yet.

 

This is a MAJOR flaw in the report and the work around is a HUGE waste of time!

 

Unfortunately, I don't expect it to be fixed, so now I'm having to rewrite my sales tax procedures to compensate for Intuit's poor programming skills (yet again). 

5 Comments 5
ZackE
Moderator

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

Thanks for reaching out to the Community, DianaAxe. I appreciate your detailed information.

 

Since your Sales Tax Liability report is displaying incorrect amounts, I'd recommend working with an accounting professional to confirm everything's being entered correctly.

 

If you're in need of one, there's an awesome tool on our website called Find a ProAdvisor. All ProAdvisors listed there are QuickBooks-certified and able to provide helpful insights for driving your business's success.

 

Here's how it works:

 

  1. Go to our Find a ProAdvisor page.
  2. Use the City or ZIP search field to specify a location.
  3. Select Find a ProAdvisor.
  4. Browse through your results and find one that works best for the business. You can click on each ProAdvisor's profile to learn more information about them.

 

Once you've found an accountant, they can be contacted through their Send a message form:
 

  1. Use the available text box to introduce yourself. Be sure to include details about which services you're looking for.
  2. Enter your appropriate info in the Your nameYour email, and Your phone number (optional) fields.
  3. Select Send message.

 

I've also included a detailed resource about working with your Sales Tax Liability report which may come in handy moving forward: Check how much sales tax you owe

 

Please don't hesitate to send a reply if there's any questions. Have an awesome Thursday!

DianaAxe
Level 2

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

That's funny. I'm a CPA.

It's a bug in your program.

DianaAxe
Level 2

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

I forgot to mention that I'm also a ProAdvisor. Perhaps that will change your answer? I would call or chat with someone to report the problem, but it's much easier to explain with the numerical example I provided, and I haven't had much luck with QB support. All I'm looking for here is an acknowledgement that this is a problem and that you will pass it along to someone so they can address it. 

 

I look forward to your canned response regarding the Feedback feature.

DianaAxe
Level 2

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

I guess I'm not going to get even the canned response.

 

Having been a QuickBooks user for over 20 years and enduring all of the increasingly ridiculous price hikes in recent years that have been "justified" by Intuit as necessary so that you can continue to provide your "excellent customer service!", I can't say that I'm surprised. 

 

I pointed out a flaw in your software and provided you with a concrete example that could easily be reproduced if you bothered to take my issue seriously. The really bizarre part of this whole issue is that QB calculates the tax correctly! It's just the report that I need to use to file my state sales tax return that is wrong. 

 

I don't recommend QB to anyone. If I were a newly minted accountant, I would avoid QB at any cost. It's very sad what's become of such a formerly solid product. It's common to blame the "bean counters" at companies when they lose sight of the needs of their customers and prioritize their shareholders. Oh the irony!

RhoiceW
QuickBooks Team

Sales Tax Liability Report for Pennsylvania is wrong. Non-taxable amount is understated by shipping allocated to exempt items

Hi there, Diana. I know how important it is for you to calculate your sales tax. This isn't the experience you want to have.

 

I recommend sending feedback to our product developers to inform them about your request to show these in a report. This way, our Product Engineers can consider adding this in future updates.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Sign in to your QBO account.
  2. Click the Gear icon at the top, then Feedback.
  3. Enter your comments or product suggestions.
  4. Press Next.

 

Once done, our designated team will review it. You can track your future requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

 

In addition, you can refer to this article to learn how to personalize your reports in QBO: Customize reports in QBO.

 

Comment on the post if you still have concerns about Sales tax liability report. I'm always here to help in any way I can.

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