Tax refusing to calculate state and exclude others

[Sphyrna]

Hi,

 

Prestashop is not calculating the tax for my state and it is not excluding other locations from tax.

 

I can get it to calculate tax by setting rules to apply to all locations, but then it will not limit it to the provided zip code range or state.

 

I have gone through the tutorials and believe I have the settings correct:

 

Location: United States

 

Zones: North America, I also created a zone United States in the event that "North America"was the problem (did not help and messed up shipping), switched back to North America

 

Countries: United States - North America, enabled, others disabled

 

States: 50 US states enabled

 

Taxes: Sales-taxes US-NC 6.75% enabled only, other states disabled

 

I have also tried switching to the default theme from the prestacart theme although no edits have been made, just in case: no effect.

 

I have deleted everything from the server [except for the https files that look like they might be used by the server, (one of them is a css folder)] and done a clean install from the host applications tab. The tax is still displayed as 0.00 in the shopping cart.

 

At this point, I think I may try uninstalling again and clearing all files from my host and installing tonight by FTP upload instead of using the host installer.

 

Could the files in the https folder be the problem and can I safely delete them?

 

Any help is appreciated.

[benjamin utterback]

Hi, so when you add a product to cart and select shipping address as a NC address, it does not calculate?

[Sphyrna]

Correct.

 

I have even tried setting the tax rule to include one specific zip code and then using that zip code in the cart and it will not calculate the tax. The tax is shown as 0.00 in the cart.

 

Any ideas?

 

I may try an FTP upload tonight if I can't get it working. :-(

 

Thanks.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Sphyrna (see edit history)

[benjamin utterback]

Okay cool, under localization>taxes can you tell me what the settings are at the bottom of that page.

[Sphyrna]

Thanks for the help!

 

These are the default settings from the host re-install.

 

Under Localization>taxes it shows all fifty states and associated tax rates, all are green check enabled.

[benjamin utterback]

Is it based on Delivery Address? All green checkmarks at the bottom too?

[Sphyrna]

All green checks by the state taxes, Enable Tax - green check, Display Tax in Shopping Cart - green check, Based on - Delivery address, Use eco-tax - red x no.

 

However, I have just realized when I go through the check out as living in Alabama - the default state tax set, it does eventually calculate the state tax correctly. I still need to try it from another state to see if it will leave it off.

 

I would really like to be able to show the tax in the cart so customers will not be surprised by it.

 

Thanks.

[Sphyrna]

Just tried it with an address from another state and it works great.

 

Is it maybe just not possible to show it early in the cart?

[Sphyrna]

Aw, phooey. I've decided to try 1.4.11.0. I know I would be miffed and possibly not go through with the transaction if the cart suddenly tacked on a tax when I had already entered my country and zip.

 

Thanks.

[benjamin utterback]

Hi Sphyrna,

 

I think there is a misunderstanding. You want to tax all products with your NC tax? The way you have it set up now is that if a Delivery Address is within NC.

 

The tax would only calculate once it knows that the delivery address is within NC. Once a person makes an account and already has their address set as NC address, it will automatically update.

[Sphyrna]

Hi Benjamin,

 

What I would like..is for the shopping cart to display the appropriate tax or lack thereof when the customer enters their state and zip code after placing an item in the cart, (as one would reasonably assume) without having to fill out all of the registration forms, only to find out that they received an inaccurate order "quote" and they will be charged more than they thought, i.e. the NC tax if they reside in NC.

 

If you know of any way to do this let me know. It seems like the programing request from the cart is either not configured to access the tax information at that point in the check out process or else it is not completing the needed request.

 

Thanks,

 

Elizabeth

[benjamin utterback]

Hi, okay well let's say If you have a first time customer, who is not logged in. When they add a product to cart and go to checkout, on the first page they have a Shipping and Taxes estimator, that is where they can put the zipcode of the Delivery Address and press "Update Cart" . That will show them the cost of shipping and taxes before they move on.

 

Do you have this as well?

 

[Sphyrna]

Hi Benjamin,

 

That is exactly how I would like it to operate.

 

As it is operating now, the tax never updates and shows 0.00 even when a location selected to be taxed is selected i.e. the default Alabama w/ Alabama zip 36006, or when set to the NC tax and using NC w/ NC zip 28752. Could I have something set wrong on my server?

 

If you want to try it now, I will take off the maintenance block. I think all items are set to the default Alabama 4% tax. The address is www.empty-o.com.

 

Thanks!

[tdr170]

I can confirm the the estimator will not update the tax based on a zip, I even added a zip range to the default FL tax rule, by default there are no ranges set for any of the states so I thought maybe this was the issue, no such luck.

The taxes show fine in the cart summery once you are logged in, however the tax line does not appear the the header cover cart at all.

I have been fixing this issue for as long as 1.5 has been out by changing the code below in blockcart.php

 

blockcart.php @ line 58

 

change this

$useTax = !($taxCalculationMethod == PS_TAX_EXC);

 

To this:

$useTax = true; /*!($taxCalculationMethod == PS_TAX_EXC)*/;

Edited August 9, 2013 by tdr170 (see edit history)

[Sphyrna]

Very good! Thank you tdr170!

 

I have added this and it does add the tax to the pop up cart, which is very good.

 

I am, however, still unable to get the tax to update when the country and zip are selected, once one clicks on the cart button and goes to the cart page.

 

Thanks!

[Sphyrna]

Okay. I'm turning the cart off for now.

 

Let me know if you guys come up with anything.

 

Thanks.

[generalexperts]

I have read most of the forums on here and tried peoples ideas. I can't get tax to calculate in the cart. Tax only shows up when the user creates an account and puts in their location. Then it will show the proper tax. I want it to show tax for Minnesota (any zip in MN), ie 55344. But only taxing MN. No other states in the US. I'm using PS 1.5. Please let me know if there is a way to have it update shipping in the initial summary in the cart. Thank you!

Edited April 21, 2014 by generalexperts (see edit history)

[Sphyrna]

Hi,

 

The only work around I have found, is to uninstall the "shipping estimate" module and place text on the order page notifying the customer that a state tax charge will be added if they reside within the state.

 

 

By removing this module, the enter zipcode/tax calculator is eliminated and the customer fills out the form and is charged the appropriate tax when they have entered their delivery address. I don't find this to be as much of a problem if they are notified that the tax will be added, rather than being shown a $0.00 tax, only to have it added later.

 

Sorry I don't have a better fix.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Sphyrna (see edit history)

[tdr170]

I have read most of the forums on here and tried peoples ideas. I can't get tax to calculate in the cart. Tax only shows up when the user creates an account and puts in their location. Then it will show the proper tax. I want it to show tax for Minnesota (any zip in MN), ie 55344. But only taxing MN. No other states in the US. I'm using PS 1.5 and the site is www.savvymarina.com. Please let me know if there is a way to have it update shipping in the initial summary in the cart. Thank you!

 

 

This actually sounds correct for the most part, for Prestashop to show proper tax it needs an address therefore a visitor or guest will not have an address for tax to be calculated from.

I know that the shipping estimator says Estimate the cost of shipping and taxes but the tax function part of that does not seem to work and has not for as long as I remember.

In the latest version 1.5.5 being tested we have addressed this so hopefully the Prestashop team will fix this or remove the tax text from the estimator.

If you want you can change the text to say Estimate the cost of shipping, so customers are not confused.

I think that people would not expect or need to estimate the taxes because they are what they are.

You could however add another line to the code below to say, Tax if applicable will be added after you create an account or whatever you wish.

You can add this above or below the Estimate line I show it below in the example below.

 

 

line 47 of carriercompare.tpl ../modules/carriercompare/template/carriercompare.tpl

 

change this

<h3>{l s='Estimate the cost of shipping & taxes.' mod='carriercompare'}</h3>

 

to this:

<h3>{l s='Estimate the cost of shipping.' mod='carriercompare'}</h3>

<h5>{l s='Tax will be added if applicable once you create an account.' mod='carriercompare'}</h5>

<br />

Edited August 17, 2013 by tdr170 (see edit history)

[generalexperts]

tdr170, I tried it and there was no change. I found some code in blockcart.tpl that looks like it would get rid of the 0.00. Do you know what I would need to change it to? Here is the original:

{if $show_tax && isset($tax_cost)}

<span id="cart_block_tax_cost" class="price ajax_cart_tax_cost">{$tax_cost}</span>

<span>{l s='Tax' mod='blockcart'}</span>

<br/>

{/if}

<span id="cart_block_total" class="price ajax_block_cart_total">{$total}</span>

<span>{l s='Total' mod='blockcart'}</span>

</p>

{if $use_taxes && $display_tax_label == 1 && $show_tax}

{if $priceDisplay == 0}

<p id="cart-price-precisions">

{l s='Prices are tax included' mod='blockcart'}

</p>

{/if}

{if $priceDisplay == 1}

<p id="cart-price-precisions">

{l s='Prices are tax excluded' mod='blockcart'}

Edited August 17, 2013 by generalexperts (see edit history)

[tdr170]

Make sure to turn force compile on and cache off then refresh the page.

The code does work as I tested on a 1.5 test site:

 

http://team-shepherdusa.com/shop4

Edited August 20, 2013 by tdr170 (see edit history)

[benjamin utterback]

Hello everyone,

 

 

I understand the issue and it has been reported. I will keep you updated, Tod, about the news.

 

Thanks for the code changes to make it a little more clear.

[nbonolis]

I have same problem as the initial one posted.

 

My PS is 1.5.6 hosted on A2hosting where the provider first installed it; I downloaded localization pack for Italy and set it as default country with related tax rules set and all works properly until I use an Italian address to checkout.

 

Being in EU I should apply my TVA rate to sales done to all 28 european countries, as correctly set in tax rules set by the localization pack, but as I use an addrress outside Italy simple no one tax is applied and in the cart appears the basic price tax excluded.

 

I ckecked all rules dozen of times and everything is ok, I also deleted some rules and taxes and manually added them again but nothing changes, simply PS is unable to apply tax rules aoutside Italy (even on front end pages prices changes if I use a foreign address being tax not applied) and this is an hard problem because I am going to start an activity aimed especially for european market.

 

Any idea about this problem?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sphyrna]

I am not sure of the tax rules needed in the EU, but in my case the the tax was calculated accurately after the initial registration during the order (as soon as the customer put in their address). What I ended up doing was removing the shipping and tax preview module and adding text below the customers cart outlining that they would be charged tax if the delivery was sent within my state.

 

Also, the different paypal modules Standard and Express calculated the cart differently (standard will not recognize and add a gift wrapping charge), so you may want to try different check out options if you are still having problems.

 

Sorry I don't have any more technical or helpful advice. But at least these work arounds got our site up and running.

 

Try looking up patches and similar problems on the debugging website http://forge.prestashop.com

 

You can submit your issue here too.

 

Good luck.

[benjamin utterback]

I have same problem as the initial one posted.

 

My PS is 1.5.6 hosted on A2hosting where the provider first installed it; I downloaded localization pack for Italy and set it as default country with related tax rules set and all works properly until I use an Italian address to checkout.

 

Being in EU I should apply my TVA rate to sales done to all 28 european countries, as correctly set in tax rules set by the localization pack, but as I use an addrress outside Italy simple no one tax is applied and in the cart appears the basic price tax excluded.

 

I ckecked all rules dozen of times and everything is ok, I also deleted some rules and taxes and manually added them again but nothing changes, simply PS is unable to apply tax rules aoutside Italy (even on front end pages prices changes if I use a foreign address being tax not applied) and this is an hard problem because I am going to start an activity aimed especially for european market.

 

Any idea about this problem?

 

 

 

Hi, can you confirm that the tax does not calculate for customers even if they are logged in with the delivery address and/or at the last page of checkout after the delivery address is inputted?. 

 

The tax will not update on the Estimator page. However, it should calcualte the tax correctly at the last page of checkout

[nbonolis]

Benjamin, thanks for reply

 

I use one page check out and no estimator page appears and yes, I confirm you that the page changes as I change address even if the rule is set to apply always the same tax across the 28 EU countries (you can see the images I previously attached for tax rules).

 

Here attached you cans see 2 cases: one using italian address has 5,23 euro tax, and the other referred to a german address has no tax at all.

 

Note that if I change the address, being logged with a german address, if I open another page with the shop, all prices will result without tax applied and as soon as I change the address again, returning to the italian one, all prices become again tax included.

 

If you want to enter the console and personally check it all, I can give you access to the administrator panel without any problem.

 

 

 

[nbonolis]

Elizabeth, thank you for your kind reply.

As you can read above also Benjamin answered me and I hope he will find a solution.

 

Norbert

[nbonolis]

Benjamin, I now noticed something and I took a screenshot that you can see here.

 

The cart above in the left corner shows the right retail price tax included, probably coming from product page and even affirm down there that product is tax included (I prezzi sono IVA inclusa means all prices are tax included) but the tax field shows 0.00 ...

 

Norbert