The sales tax is not automatically being added to my client invoice. How can I fix this?

There are several factors on why you're sales tax isn't calculating on your invoices, @billjmallek.

First, let me share with you how QuickBooks Online calculates the total tax rate for each sale. Here's are those: 

• Your customer’s tax-exempt status
• Where you sell and where you ship
• What you sell

Your customer's tax status may be the reason why the sales tax isn't calculating on the invoice. You can check out this article on how you can determine if your sale is exempt from tax: Conducting non-taxable sales.

Another factor is the state where you sell and ship the product or perform the services. To get more details on how this factor affects the calculation, you can check out this link: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/sales-tax/the-sales-tax-life-cycle-of-a-lemon/.

To fix this concern, make sure to check the following: 

• Your customer's tax status- Go to the Sales menu and select Customers. Click the name of the customer and select Edit. Then, go to the Tax info and make sure that the This customer is tax-exempt box isn't checked.
• Business location or where you sell/ship the product.
• How you add sales tax categories to your products and services.

In addition, you can run the Sales Tax Liability report to view your sales tax info anytime.

Don't hesitate to tag my name in the comment section below if you have other concerns or questions aside from sales tax. I'm always ready to help.

The client in question is taxable.  When I click on NYS tax rate of .08725 the sales tax does not automatically populate on the invoice.  These is an icon that says "show math" below the box that should p[opulate with tax amount.  I click on that and nothing happens.  

Is there a bug in the software that needs to be fixed?  any suggestions on how to get this fixed?  I there someone in Intuit that can access my program and repair problem??

Bill  

Allow me to step and fix the issue about the sales tax not being added on the invoice , billjmallek.

After selecting the NYS tax rate, you'll also need to make sure the item is taxable. This will allow QuickBooks to calculate taxes.

You can click the Tax field to make the item taxable. See the attached screenshot below for your visual guide.

You can also mark the item as taxable through the Product and Services page. Doing this will automatically enable the check mark in the Tax column on the invoice.

Let me show you how:

1. Go to Sales from the left navigation bar, then choose Products and Services.
2. Find the item, then click Edit under Action.
3. On the Product/Service information window, select Taxable - standard rate under Sales tax category.
   
4. Click Save and close.

I've added this link: Set up and use automated sales tax to learn how QuickBooks do you sales tax calculations for your invoices.

Stay in touch if you need additional information by clicking the Reply button below. I'm always right here to help ensure the sales tax amount is added to the client's invoice.

Remember to check the "Taxable?" box at the end of each taxable line-item on the invoice.  You can thank me later.  : )

I am  having the same issue. I know the item is taxable and I have checked the box to mark it taxable and it is still not calculating the sales tax. 99% of my sales are for resale and out of state but I occasionally have a California taxable sale. It is NOT calculating automatically and the answers above do not correct the problem.

Hello there. 

When setting up a customer (taxable), you still have to select the tax code from the drop-down. This way, QuickBooks will be able to identify which rate to use when calculating the sales tax. 

However, if you want to set a default sales tax rate for specific client, simply configure the Sales Tax Settings.

1. Tap the Taxes menu on the left panel and choose Sales Tax to open the Sales Tax Center.
2. Go to the Related Tasks field section and click the Edit sales tax settings link. 
3. In the Edit Sales Tax Settings window hit the Default sales tax drop-down arrow and then pick the tax you want to use. 
4. You can also select to Mark all new products and services taxable and select Mark customers taxable. 

The new default rate will now show up on all sales forms. For more information, check out the Default customer sales tax rate in QuickBooks Online article.  

However, if the system still not calculating the sales tax, I recommend reaching out to our QuickBooks Online Support Team. This way, a representative can review your account and further investigate this issue.  

Keep me posted if you have any other concerns or questions. I’ll be right here to assist further. Have a good one and stay safe!

This finally allowed me to get QBO to actually compute ST.  Thank you!

I am wondering why QBO is unable to do this automatically without clicking the "Tax" box on each line item for an invoice?  Product and customer are both marked as taxable in advance of invoice creation.  

QBO's attempts to automatically calculate based on location are simply wrong.  The automation basically just interferes with me applying the correct rate to my customers.  No one asked for this program to make wrong guesses about Sales Tax and them try to prevent correcting its wrong guesses.

Further tip to everyone:  Sign up for an accountant account then make yourself the accountant of your company.  Your real accountant can still be associated because 2 accountant accounts are allowed.  This will allow you to delete QBO's automated, error ridden sales tax guesses and replace it with a correct (manually created) return.

The accountant features also allow you to perform basic tasks which Intuit seems to think should off limits to regular business people, such as easily viewing account bank balances in one screen.  Or fixing a ST return.  Or reclassifying several transactions at once. It's a breath of fresh air compared to the normal, dumbed down user interface.

The accountant features go a long ways towards making QBO usable to people who do understand their books.  It's your "get out of kindergarten free" card. 

Still looking for why QBO cannot assume line items are taxable.  None of the instructions here got me that far.  Fortunately I mainly use Harvest for invoices and it does calculate ST correctly and easily...you know, in the manner every accounting program ever, other than QBO.  

Hello, Evan. 

I appreciate sharing your insights and solutions regarding the sales tax calculation problem.

I'd like to address the Tax box issue when creating an invoice in QuickBooks Online. 

Just to clarify, QuickBooks Online does mark the line items as taxable automatically provided that the customer and the items are taxable. 

You mentioned that you use Harvest for invoices. Did you integrate it with QuickBooks Online? If so, check Harvest's app settings and see if there any settings that causes this. 

If you use QuickBooks Online and Harvest separately, this might just be a simple webpage lag issue. You can refresh the invoice creation screen page to fix this. 

If it still persist, you'll want to check to see if this is a cache-related problem. Isolate this by using an incognito window: 

• Google Chrome: Press CTRL + Shift + N.
• Safari: Press Command + Shift + N.
• Mozilla Firefox: Press CTRL + Shift + P.

After opening the incognito window, log in to QuickBooks and create a test invoice and check the Tax box. If it checks the box automatically, go back to the regular browser and clear the cache. 

When the prompts are done, close out any browser instances to finish the process. You can also use another supported browser since each browser uses a different cache data.

If you'd like to check on your financial data after fixing the Tax box issue, you can read this article to see what reports you can run: Run reports in QuickBooks Online.

Do you have any other concerns related to sales taxes? Or do you need help with other things such as expense transactions? Let me know the details below. I'll help you out. 

How can I apply tax for each line item in QBO?

Is there a way to apply tax for each line item ?

Thank you for joining the thread, @amit15.

Yes, you can add tax for each line item. Beforehand, you’ll have to set up your sales tax in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Learn how to set up your Sales tax by checking out this article: Set up your sales tax in QuickBooks Online

After that, your invoices, sales receipts, estimates, and credit memos will all include a sales tax section. Apply sales tax by doing the following when in any of these windows:

1. Add your products and services in the form.
2. Check the box next to Tax for each taxable item in the Tax column.
3. Click in any white space to update the sales form. At the bottom right, select the appropriate sales tax.
    

You have the option to opt-out of collecting sales tax from clients who are tax-exempt (such as companies, non-profits, or charities, to name a few). By default, every client is "taxable." 

Furthermore, I added this article to learn more when applying sales tax to your transactions in QBO: Apply sales tax rates to transactions and sales forms in QuickBooks Online

Let me know if you need further assistance with taxes. The Community always has your back. Stay safe!

I am having the same issue.  i cant close out an invoice because the spinny wheel just keeps moving saying its calculating tax even though the amount shown is the correct tax....HELP

Let's get rid of the spinning wheel so you can assign a sales tax to your invoice, DAAshley.

QuickBooks Online uses browser cache and cookies to run faster. But sometimes these can also block web pages from loading.

When this occurs, let's log into your account using a private or incognito browser. Then, manage sales tax from there. When that works, go back to your default browser and clear its cache and cookies to fix the issue. 

Depending on your browser, please choose a link below to see the detailed steps.

• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari for Mac
• Microsoft Edge

After clearing the cache, make sure to restart your browser for changes to take effect. To have the best and most secure experience with QuickBooks Online, use a supported, up-to-date browser.

Once done, log into your QuickBooks account and assign a sales tax to your invoice. If you're still seeing the spinning wheel, I'll let you contact our QuickBooks Live Team. They can create a case under your company and provide updates via email.

I'm adding these articles :

• Learn how QuickBooks Online calculates sales tax
• Learn how to set up and get started with automated sales tax in QuickBooks.

Leave a comment below if you need anything else with adding a sales tax to your invoices. I'll be right here whenever you need more help with this.

Im having almost the same issue, mine is taxable-based on location only and calculates the right tax rate, but does not print on invoice the % on it, sample, CA 9.75%, is there any way to let the system get that % in the invoice format? Thank you