How to get right numbers for state sales tax filing forms

Wow, that's a lot of work! I think what I will do is to just keep going like I have been....subtract the numbers of the invoices for states I don't want. 

I don't understand why there is no readily available useful report in QBO since so many of us deal with this situation.

I appreciate your help! Who would have thought we need to export to Excel in order to get our numbers right for sales tax filings. Thanks much!

I am having a similar problem but slightly simpler.  I only file in one state.  It's just been in the past few months that the "Gross sales" number listed in the Sales Tax Liability Report does not match or tie out to any number anywhere.  When I click on the Gross Sales column in the report it only shows taxable sales.  I have now spent multiple months and many hours on the phone with QBO support and NO ONE can figure it out.  I am so frustrated.

Thank you for joining the thread, @RLPLLCWLG. I'll take care of this query about the Sales Tax Liability report in QuickBooks Online (QBO) for you. 

Whenever you create an invoice with non-taxable items and the Tax box is unchecked, it gets completely omitted from the Sales Tax Liability report. What you can do is ensure that the box is checked for both taxable and non-taxable items. Rest assured, the sales for both items are driven by the Sales tax category on the item itself. You can then refer to your Profit and Loss report for the accurate gross sales amount. 

I suggest keeping this article for future reference: Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online. It has the steps on how you can record, adjust, and delete sales tax payments in the Sales Tax Center.

I'll be around if you need further assistance with your gross sales amount in QBO. Post a reply in the comments below, and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy the rest of the day!

I file in multiple states.  South Carolina requires filing by County and City, which  the reports don't have.  If I could easily export one list and calculate it, that would be fine but there is no one report that can be exported.  I have to to it for each Tax Name so that I get the breakdown. I add a column for county and city and then create a pivot table.  What should take a few minutes for filing takes over an hour each month to make sure it reconciles.  It is very frustrating.  Has anyone found a better way?

Hi, ajus.

I understand the importance of getting the right numbers for sales tax.

I'd like to reiterate what JessT answered. This will guide you on how to get the Total Taxable Sales per state.

For additional reference, you may want to read this resource to know how to manage sales tax payments: Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online.

I'm still here if you have other questions with regards to  sales tax filing forms. Just post your questions here, I'll respond as soon as possible. Keep safe

I am not sure if my question was clear but this answer was not relevant.  I need a report that shows taxable sales revenue by county and city since this is the way I have to report it. The information in QBO is correct but there is no report to provide what needs to be entered for South Carolina and it is highly manual.

Thanks for adding further information about your query, @ajus. I'll show you around on how to generate a report that shows your taxable sales revenue.

To begin, these are the steps:

1. On the left navigational bar, select Reports.
2. In the search bar, type Sales by customer detail report.
3. You'll then have Customize it and then go to the Rows/Columns section.
4. From the list, put a check for Tax Amount, Taxable Amount, Tax name. By doing this, they'll be added as extra column when you run a report.
5. Once done, click Run Report.
   
   

The gross amount of the transactions can be found below the Amount column.

Additionally, I'll be leaving these articles to help you in the future:

• Manage sales tax payments in QuickBooks Online
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online
• Memorize reports in QBO
   

As always, you can get back to me if you have other QuickBooks-related concerns. I'd be more than happy to provide additional assistance. Keep safe and Enjoy the rest of the week!

This is frustrating.  This does not address my issue.  I need to report to the state of SC by city and county and that is not an available option.

Hey ajus,

Thank you for reaching back out, and this isn't the type of feeling we want you to have. I went ahead and ran some tests, and you can add at least the city but not the county from the Sales by Customer Detail Report. Hopefully, this could somewhat help the process and make it easier for you to customize the report in Excel if needs be. The information is pulled from your customer's addresses and shown in the report. Once following the instructions my colleague mentioned to include the Tax Amount, Taxable Amount, Tax name, place a checkmark next to Name City as seen in the display below.

However, I can see how this is an important asset to have in your program having a report that already includes this information and I will be passing this along to our Developers. They are always looking for ways to enhance the program. You can keep up to date by following our QuickBooks Blog.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me if you have any questions. I will be here to help out! I hope you have a great day. 

I completely agree.  I am finding that I have to pull this into an Access DB to manually calculate taxes by county and city since SC requires it to be reported that way.  We need to be able to report that way and to create custom reports in QBO.

I am sure you are trying to help but this is not a solution.  It still requires manual calculation of the required taxable amounts.

Hello, ajus. 

We understand that each business has unique needs, and each product has unique features.   

I recommend send this feature request to our product engineers so they'll consider adding this in the future. We take this as an opportunity for us to improve on how the program works. Please click the send feedback. In this way, we'll be able to count the number of users who need this feature.  

Here are some related links that will help you run reports in QBO:

• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online
• Run reports in QuickBooks Online

We hear you and understand you. Stay in touch if you have any other questions or concerns about QBO features. I’ll be right here to answer them for you. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Can you clarify if your screenshot is from QB Desktop or QB Online?  My report view in QBO does not look like that and does not have those options.

Thanks for getting back with the Community, ajus.

The screenshot included in SashaMC's post is from QuickBooks Desktop. The same Sales by Customer Detail report exists in QuickBooks Online; however, it can't be customized to include the cities and/or counties for taxable sales revenue.

As a workaround, you can export a copy of your report to Excel where it can then be customized further.

I can certainly understand how an ability to include cities and/or counties for taxable sales revenue on reports could be useful and have submitted a suggestion about it as of today.

You can also submit your own feature requests while signed in.

Here's how:

1. Use the Gear (⚙️) icon.
2. Under Profile, go to Feedback.
3. Enter your suggestion(s) in the Have feedback? window.
4. If necessary, attach a file with your Camera (📸) icon.
5. Select Next.
   

Your feedback's definitely valuable to Intuit. It will be reviewed by our Product Development team and considered in future updates. You can stay up-to-date with the latest news about your product by reviewing Intuit's Product Updates webpage.

As a possible second workaround, you can check our QuickBooks App Store for apps which may be able to help you achieve what you're looking to do.

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have an awesome day!

I am sorry to be rude but it seems like QuickBooks advisors and team members are more focused on appearing as an expert than acknowledging issues that just aren't logical.  Why in the world would it make sense to have to export and Excel report, add fields and re-create reporting for data that already exists.  If you have automated sales tax functionality, it seems very reasonable to have reporting that meets state requirements too. I have submitted this as a feature request but that too is frustrating.  If you bring up an issue that clearly impacts all QBO users in the state, why wouldn't that be addressed quickly?  I first reported this issue well over a year ago.

Sigh.

I agree, ajus.

Having breakouts by state is not useful, it is necessary. Exporting to Excel is not an acceptable workaround bc of the time it would take. 

I suppose I will submit the request once again. 

Would others here do so as well, whether you need it or not?  Maybe if enough of us submitted Intuit would get the message.

As ajus said, the data are there - it's just a matter of having the report look at the location fields and breaking it out accordingly.

thanks.

Hi DS127, I entered one already and you can add a vote.  The title is: provide city and state for sales tax reporting.  Thanks

QuickBooks is TOTALLY ILLOGICAL!!!  First of all - THIS ISN'T TRUE!!  I tried to do an invoice and checked off the tax box for an item that is SET AS NONTAXABLE in the product's setting and checking the box DID INDEED ADD TAX - so this guy doesn't know what he's talking about and, secondly, if this DID work as he said - HOW STUPID is that to check an item as taxable when it isn't supposed to be taxed on EVERY SINGLE INVOICE that yo create???!!!! There's a reason we have SETTINGS for these things!!  Most of our invoices are CONVOLUTED enough without adding the additional burden of checking off boxes that aren't checked every time we process and invoice!!!  Why would I COMPLICATE things more for myself and our employees???  Why doesn't QuickBooks PROGRAM THEIR SOFTWARE TO DO THINGS CORRECTLY IN THE FIRST PLACE SO WE CAN RUN OUR BUSINESS???

QBO Sales tax accuracy and reporting options for such have been lacking for a number of years. Issues are elevated to "Product Developers" (do they even exist?), but the issues continue to be unresolved.