Zip Code Based Tax Rates

This page allows you to upload a CSV file containing ZIP codes and tax rates.

To upload a CSV file, click the Add button. To update a previously uploaded taxes file, select a tax description, click the Update button, and then upload the new taxes file.

IMPORTANT!
1. This page is only used to upload tax rates that depend on the ZIP code. After you’re done here, you should define the taxes and the tax calculation formula by going to Store Settings >> Taxes.
 
2. After uploading taxes, you should also double-check the tax rate by entering 5–10 test ZIP codes from the uploaded file in the Check Tax Rates section.

CSV file formats for Tax Rates.

The uploaded CSV file may have the following formats.

The ZipCode and SalesTaxRatePercent columns.
ZipCode column must be a 5-digit ZIP code. SalesTaxRatePercent must be a tax rate expressed as a percentage.

IMPORTANT! The SalesTaxRatePercent field must be a tax rate expressed as a percentage.

When entering ZipCodes, you can use masks. The asterisk wildcard (*) can match any digit from 0 to 9 in the ZipCode field. On the screenshot shown, row #6 has a ZIP code with the mask 4300*. This ZIP code mask matches all codes from 43000 to 43009.

ZIP code intervals matching a mask have a lower priority than explicitly defined ZIP codes. This means that if a customer enters the ZIP code 43003 at checkout, the tax rate will be 6.75%. Even though the entered ZIP code falls in the 4300* interval, this exact ZIP code is also defined in Row #2 and has precedence. In case of identical ZIP codes, the higher tax rate will be used. For example, if a customer enters the ZIP code 43005 at checkout, then the tax rate will be 7.00% (according to the screenshot shown).

Defining ZIP code intervals
To define the tax rate for Zip code interval, use the following file format:

You cannot use masks in the Zip5Low and Zip5High fields. For the above example, if a customer enters the ZIP code 43005 at checkout, then the tax rate will be 7.00%, because this ZIP code falls under the interval defined in Row #2.

Using expanded Zip codes (Zip5+4).
You can use expanded “Zip5+4” codes:

Here, the ZipCode field defines the 5-digit part of the ZIP code. The Zip4Low and Zip4High fields define the Zip4 interval. You cannot use masks in the Zip4Low and Zip4High fields. For the above example, if a customer enters the ZIP code 43011-0155 at checkout, then the tax rate will be 6.50%, because this Zip5+4 code falls in the interval defined in Row #4.
 

US States Tax Rate Lookups

You can look up the sales tax rates from the websites of your state’s revenue agency.
 
Example: http://streamlinedsalestax.org - https://streamlinedsalestax.org/R_and_B_Files/State_Tax_Lookups.htm (the link may not be current).

Paid tax databases are available from http://www.taxdatasystems.com

After you download a CSV file from one of these websites, open it in a spreadsheet processing program (for example, Microsoft Excel) and set up the appropriate column headers as described above.