cannot record payments to sales tax agency account

Hello there, dLearned.

I'd like to help and make sure you record your sales tax payment in QuickBooks Online.

You can use a private window from your browser to record your tax payment. This way, we can also see if there is an underlying browser issue.

These are the following keyboard shortcuts to open a private window for your browser:

• Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge - press CTRL + Shift + N.
• Mozilla Firefox - press CTRL + Shift + P.
• Safari For Mac - press Shift + Command + N.

Once you're able to record the tax payment without having the same issue, you can go back to your regular browsing window and clear browser cache. This will replace all outdated temporary internet files saved on your computer that is also causing some browsing issues.

After that, you can now start recording sales tax payments. Check out this link for more information: Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online.

Let us know how it goes or if you still have other questions about sales tax payments. I'll be here to help. Have a great day!

Using a private window did not work.  The error message is still preventing me from doing the transaction.

Thank you for joining us here in the Community, @dLearned.

I can get this fixed for you in no time. 

When you get this error, it means you assign a liability account from the online banking page. Instead of adding the transaction manually through Bank Feeds, create the transaction in your appropriate bank register. 

You might want to read this article to learn how to manage your sales tax payments: Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online. 

Feel free to read this article if you have any other transactions to review in your register in the future: How you can check a transaction in your account register. 

Keep in touch if you need more help with your sales tax report. I always have your back and am always happy to help. Have a great day.

Thank you for your reply.  I have already spoken to a support agent, and this issue is still outstanding.

I am not doing anything from the banking page.  Rather, I am trying to enter checks and/or expenses for previous periods using the check and expense functions, as there is no way to enter tax transactions (payments or adjustments) for more than 12 months ago within the automatic sales tax center regardless of when you want to pay them (the dropdown selection (at least for me) doesn't go back past October 2020).

The issue appears (from my layman eyes) to be that once a ledger account is attached, the only transaction allowed for that account is via Journal Entry (can't do payments, checks or expenses), and any transactions that are on that account prior to switching to the new automatic sales tax center, are not modifiable (unless they are within the last 12 months).

As I have several years of back records that need to be entered into QBO, I do not want to do dozens of journal entries (I could, but according to QBO, the need for Journal Entries is "rare"...plus I dislike doing journal entries to accommodate a software oversight just on principle lol).

Still have not received a response to this issue, and the link provided in the original reply is for the old sales tax center (which I would love to get back).  Am I really supposed to create (literally) dozens (as I have 4 years of remittances and fees to enter) of journal entries??  

And why will support no longer revert the sales tax center on request? 

Thank you, I will try it tomorrow, although I can see already that there will be an issue with "duplicate check numbers" as EFT wouldn't be unique.  Am I right in assuming I would have to remove that safeguard to do this? 

Let me share additional information about how checks work, dLearned.

QuickBooks will only warn you that a check with that number already exists. You can still save the check if selecting Yes from the prompt. Although, you can also turn off the Warn if duplicate check number is used option if you don't want to receive that message. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Choose Account and settings.
3. Select the Advanced tab, click the Other preferences section.
4. Turn off the Warn if duplicate check number is used option.
5. Hit Save, then Done.

I'm also adding these articles to help track and manage your sales tax in QuickBooks Online:

• Set up and use automated sales tax
• Check how much sales tax you owe

Feel welcome to visit us again here with any concerns you may have. The Community always has your back.

Hi Jess - This method worked for me also because I received the same errors as an "expense".  I did enter using the "Check" method and matched the transactions in the bank feed.  However, I still have duplicate payments showing in the liability account.  Payments that were made to the State as well as what was recorded as a payment in the Sales Tax module.  How do I resolve the duplicate decrease of the liability??

Hi there, @pdenman. 

Thanks for following along with the thread and trying the suggested steps by my colleague above. I'm happy to see the steps worked for you. 

To know how to resolve the duplicate decrease of the liability, I recommend consulting with your accounting professional. Your accountant can review your books and advise the best way to handle the duplicates based on your business needs. If you don't have an accountant, don't sweat it. You can find one here in our Resource Center. 

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. Take care! 

My accounting professional said to look for another bookkeeping app. They recently moved away from Quick Books completely because of the poor quality of the application, frustration in use and outright errors. When it comes to Sales Tax payments, you can't screw around. Recording a payment as a "check" to get around a QBO shortcoming is NOT a solution. The solution is for QBO to FIX the application, test it, and let users opt out of the terrible Automatic Sales Tax "feature".

Hi @JessT ,

I am having the same issue with entering sales tax payments prior to 2022.  Entering the payment as an EFT check does work. However, now I need to figure out how to add the late fee's and interest charges that the state tax department charged us for that time frame as well. 

Thanks for your help!

Let me help you add the late fees and interest charges from your state tax department, LD2013.

Since entering the payment as an EFT check doesn't work on your end, we can create a sales tax adjustment to add the late fees and interest charges. When receiving a tax fine or penalty, you can adjust the sales tax you owe. This way you don’t have to worry about making corrections when it’s time to file.

If you're adjusting the amount to be collected, it’s likely that the agency will still be expecting the original amount. That means you'll either be underpaying or over-paying your sales tax obligation. There are a few reasons you might make an adjustment:

• Credit / Discount: a credit/discount received from the agency.
• Prepayment: an additional payment for a future return in the current filing period.
• Prior prepayment: a prepayment that was made previously.
• Other: penalties, interest, or rounding errors.

Let's first create an account for the sales tax adjustment. You can set up an expense account if you need to increase your sales tax due. To decrease the amount, set up an income account. With this, I'd suggest consulting your accountant to determine the appropriate account and detail types. Once verified, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Accounting from the left menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Click New.
4. Choose Income or Expense from the Account Type drop-down.
5. Select the account’s Detail Type.
6. Name your adjustment account, such as Sales tax due increase.
7. Press Save and Close.

Second, let's go to the Sales Tax tab to add an adjustment. I'll guide you on how. 

1. Go to Taxes from the left menu.
2. Select the Sales Tax tab.
3. Locate the tax period you need to adjust and hit View return.
4. Click Add an adjustment.
5. Select the Reason for the adjustment.
6. Choose the Account for adjusting sales tax.
7. Enter the adjustment amount.
8. Click Add.

Here's an article you can refer to for more details about creating or deleting a sales tax adjustment. You can check out this article to learn how to manage your sales tax payments: Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online. 

Keep in touch if you need more help with managing your sales tax payments. Just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you. Have a great day ahead.