Create one invoice for multiple items at different sales tax rates?

In the QB info entitled "Show multiple sales tax items on an invoice" ... which sounds like it should answer my question, right?? ... well, maybe, maybe not.   

Near the end of that response, it says 

 d:To generate a subtotal, enter the subtotal item after entering all taxable items. If you are calculating a tax based on a certain threshold sales amount, add the subtotal item below all the taxable items up to that amount. You can add the remaining taxable items along with the non-taxable items in step f.

e: Enter the appropriate sales tax item directly below the subtotal item to calculate tax on the subtotal amount. Note that using a subtotal item on an invoice does not affect sales or commission reports.

Unfortunately, what is expected here is a sales tax item that is already identified in a Sales Tax Group (a combination of the sales tax items that make up the total rate and allow for reporting on each component of the group). QB seems to have ignored the fact that the "group" already exists and instead, now also expect us to create a Sales Tax Item that is an item with the same total as a corresponding group but without the ability to report on the components that make up that total. Why on earth would QB/Intuit ignore something they already created and serves a needed purpose and now demand another item?

This response also does not address what will happen if we need two separate subtotals and a different sales tax item rate .... I'm going to try this to see what happens. More to follow.

Hello, Al. 

I can share some information about creating an invoice with multiple items at different sales tax rates. 

The option to create a single invoice with multiple sales tax rates is currently unavailable unless you use the subtotal item and multiple tax items. However, adding this feature would be a great addition to the current features and would benefit other users who also need to add multiple sales tax rates.

I invite you to provide input to our developers so that this feature can be added to future releases. Rest assured, I'll do the same on my end.

Here's how:

1. From the Help menu, select Send Feedback Online.
2. Click the Product Suggestion from the dropdown menu.
3. Fill out the on-screen instructions in the QuickBooks Feedback window.
4. After that, click Send Feedback.

Here's more information about setting up your sales tax items/groups and then assigning them: Set up sales tax in QuickBooks Desktop. 

If you encounter any issues or unexpected results along the way, here are solutions available to resolve common sales tax issues. Check out this article for further guidance: How to resolve common sales tax issues.

Should you require further assistance or additional information while setting up your sales tax, feel free to reach out. I'm here to provide guidance and support every step of the way. Have a wonderful day ahead!

To record sales on one invoice that are taxed differently, group the item(s) together that are taxed at one rate, then use a subtotal item if there are multiple items to be taxed, and then use the sales tax item or sales tax group item below the subtotal. Then, for the sales tax item at the bottom of the invoice, use a 0.00% tax item:

Thanks for the ressponse, Big Red.  I tried that and while it would work for the invoice, it didn't appear to put the total tax amount in the tax field at the bottom, nor was there an option to use a Sales Tax Group to generate the appropriate tax amount. By forcing users to create an additional Sales Tax Item, the reports to break out the sales tax by component of the total rate is destroyed. True, an accountant could calculate what the totals should have been, but that's another example of QB forcing users to manually do something that the software should be able to do far more quickly and with needed back up documentation. Had QB allowed the Sales Tax Group to be allowed in the line below the Subtotal, it would have worked (theoretically) in generating the sales tax reporting to show the components and the sales that generated each component. 

If you actually have the ability to use a Sales Tax Group, as your comment suggests,  how do you do that? In the example you pasted, it appears you are using a Sales Tax Item that is for the total of the Sales Tax Group entry but not broken down into component levels. If I am wrong, please let me know. In your example below, if the 7.9% and the 10% were each made up of 3 components that equalled the 7>9% and 10%, would the sales tax reporting break out the components correctly? I have been under the belief that only a Sales Tax Group would result in the component level reporting. In all the states I am familiar with, the periodic sales tax reports asks for data and totals on each of the components.

I don't completely understand your post. I own a market and have two categories of products:

• Food for home consumption - 3.87% sales tax (City tax only)
• Non-food item - 9.055% sales tax (City, County, and State tax)

Currently I create two separate invoices for a sale that has both food and non-food items. You mention "subtotal item and multiple tax items". Are you saying that I can put both food and non-food items on one invoice and have the correct tax calculated? If so, can you give more detail?

No, you are not able to put both food and non-food items on the same invoice. That is essentially the same type problem I was trying to learn more about.

The only combination you could do on one invoice is to include either food OR non-food items along with anything that is exempt from any sales tax, as long as your coding for that item was to identify it as non-tax.

I have submitted feedback to Intuit telling them that they should find a way to allow multiple tax items on one invoice: in our case (tourism) we have sales that are exempt (resale items to members), items that are subject to tourism tax (state, city, & tourism tax) and items/activities that are subject to gross receipts tax (state, city, tourism + gross receipts tax). Frequently there are cases where we would like to invoice tourism item sales and gross receipt item sales on one invoice, but because of the way Intuit designed the invoice tax tracking process, we have to do two separate invoices .... just as you do now. If Intuit designed the tax tracking process to use the tax code of each item instead of the single tax item at the bottom portion of the invoice, it would be possible to combine items.

But my experience in submitting feedback to Intuit is that my grandchildren would likely be the ones to see something implemented ... Intuit responds extremely slowly to user feedback, probably because their design teams have never worked in the real world and do not understand real world problems with their software or how to design improvements that really provide solutions to the issues users face day in and day out.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help .....

@roxybarnes 

RE: Are you saying that I can put both food and non-food items on one invoice and have the correct tax calculated? If so, can you give more detail?

Yes, you can do this.  In this case create two sections on your invoice, each subtotaled, and each using one of the taxes you mention - food and non-food.

Then at the bottom of the invoice use a 0% tax item so no additional sales tax is calculated.

And then optionally remove the tax information from the footer of the printed invoice by editing the invoice template you're using.

If you print sales tax reports where the detail of sales and tax charged is required for each component of tax (how much state, how much city, how much (whatever)), I'm not sure that the method described would do that ... instead it would show the amount in the combined sales tax item instead of the components of the sales tax group, meaning that you would have to manually break out the totals whenever you have to file a sales tax return. This is because Intuit doesn't provide for using a sales tax GROUP as a tax code assignment in the sub-totaling method described. The sales tax group is how you can provide for a detail breakdown of the components of the combined tax amount.

If your state doesn't require the detail breakdown of tax components, then that method may work ok.

RE: instead it would show the amount in the combined sales tax item instead of the components of the sales tax group, meaning that you would have to manually break out the totals whenever you have to file a sales tax return.

Yest, that's correct. However, some states like California ask you for the sales by county and/or city in any case, and then on the form you calculate the tax due for each of those line items.  Either way, it may be a little more work once a quarter, but less than creating two invoices for every sale.

The invoice can look like this, for example:

And then the sales tax report will look like this:

On the tax form, the county and state taxable sales are only $200, but the city taxable sales is the total, $400. Not too much work to figure out.

Having lived in CA and completed their sales tax forms, using Sales Tax Groups made up of the components of tax (like State, County, City, and district taxes ... sometimes more than 1 district), it made tax reporting much easier and cleaner on the reports. And depending on how many invoices are done using a combination of sales tax groups and some invoices with just the sales tax code or a code that combines two or more individual rates, that would impact how much work the manual effort would be ... especially if the tax reporting was monthly instead of quarterly. 

I agree that it could be done as you describe, but how difficult (time consuming) it would be might make two invoices easier in the long run. Invoices don't take long to do and if the sales tax groups are used the tax calculation is virtually automatic and easily used for reporting. When I responded I was thinking of monthly tax reporting and more transactions of the type that would create the problem.  

But both doing multiple invoices OR using sub-totals and calculating tax for the sub-total amount are examples of the workarounds that the current QB design in invoicing makes us users come up with. If they used sales tax groups in each line on the invoicing coupled with a code for the customer, they could make the process simpler and more efficient and effective for we who use the system on a day to day basis.