TaxCalculator issue

[ImmortalLogic]

Hello

If TaxCalculator.cs is designed to calculate the tax and I remove TaxCalculator.cs, I should not be able to view any tax calculated in my CheckOut. However, when I do remove the TaxCalculator.cs file, I still receive the calculated tax. Are there other files that perform the tax calculation?

Thanks.

[mazhar]

Which version of AbleCommerce you are using. In new versions there is an option to disable taxes.

[ImmortalLogic]

Apparently, we are stuck in the dark ages. We are using AbleCommerce 7.0.0 build 11659

[ImmortalLogic]

Mazhar or anyone that can answer this question,

The reason I wanted to remove TaxCalculator is because I wanted to see if this is the class that performs the true tax calculation. I was assigned to this project that already contains a lot of customizations.

In the Check Out, we have have a Basket Total Summary section and then Order Contents, which seem to be calculating Tax, Shipping, Total Price separately. The main issue that caused us to look into this is that our requirement on orders where (1) down loadable software AND (2) software on CD (shippable taxable item) that tax should not be charged. Tax should be charged to CD orders only. This works correctly sometimes...where it will not add tax to this scenario (software download and shippable software on CD). However, it does not work most of the time as it charges tax to this type of order. <----I am not sure if this is a bug that is resolved in an updated version.

I wanted to remove this TaxCalculator.cs file to see if this is the file that I need to investigate. Unfortunately, when I removed it, taxes are still calculated.

Also, with all of our customizations, how difficult would it be to implement the latest version (while including our customizations)?

Thanks in Advance.

[mazhar]

Well what happens if you truncate ac_TaxGateways table ? First take backup of the data from table and then try truncating it. Finally try some tests to see if tax is gone or not.

[ImmortalLogic]

Well what happens if you truncate ac_TaxGateways table ? First take backup of the data from table and then try truncating it. Finally try some tests to see if tax is gone or not.

It's funny. We do not have any data at all in this table. I am not sure how I can test this.

[mazhar]

Well what happens if you truncate ac_TaxGateways table ? First take backup of the data from table and then try truncating it. Finally try some tests to see if tax is gone or not.

It's funny. We do not have any data at all in this table. I am not sure how I can test this.

Well that makes sense. I think we implemented AbleCommerce default taxation as AbleCommerce Tax Provider in later releases so that is the reason you are not seeing any entry in this table. Why don't you just remove all tax rules if you want to take away taxation. I think this will work.

[ImmortalLogic]

Mazhar

How do the tax tables work by zip code for a particular state? Currently, we are charging sales tax at a flat 6% rate for the state and then the company is paying the proper surtax. We look up the county based on the zip code of the customer. Eventually, that is what we will need AbleCommerce to do, especially if there turns out to be filing requirements in different states. Do you know when the next version of Able Commerce will be released? Will it have the capability to use set tax by zip code or have county look up?

If you need more information or if this is not clear, please let me know. I am asking these questions from our Accounting Department.

[ImmortalLogic]

Is it possible to have a product (such as a software on CD) that can be charged Tax which shipped by itself but then not charged tax when it is purchased along with a non-shippable item, such as a download product? In another post, I read that this was not possible and that the product, if set to taxable, will be taxable no matter the situation.

[AbleMods]

In another post, I read that this was not possible and that the product, if set to taxable, will be taxable no matter the situation.

The other post is correct. It is not possible to alter taxable status of an item based on other items in the basket. Is that permissible with your state tax laws?

[ImmortalLogic]

In another post, I read that this was not possible and that the product, if set to taxable, will be taxable no matter the situation.

The other post is correct. It is not possible to alter taxable status of an item based on other items in the basket. Is that permissible with your state tax laws?

So, since it is not possible to alter the tax status, I did read that you might be able to alter (remove tax amount) from a calculation depending on our requirements. I would assume that the code would have to be implemented in ReCalculate? I would think that this is possible.

[ImmortalLogic]

Our e-commerce shopping cart software keeps trying to charge shipping costs for downloadable software we are selling. We have looked everywhere to see if we can turn this feature off, but we haven't had any luck. Is there a shopping cart we could plug into our website that wouldn't have this problem?

I'm no expert but maybe if you change the products Shippable status to No? Does that fix it?

[AbleMods]

I did read that you might be able to alter (remove tax amount) from a calculation depending on our requirements. I would assume that the code would have to be implemented in ReCalculate? I would think that this is possible.

Certainly. But if you're able to modify the tax calculation routines, then you have full source cod and you're also able to add your own line item tax exclusions. At that point you might as well customize it to your exact need.

[AbleMods]

I'm no expert but maybe if you change the products Shippable status to No? Does that fix it?

Unfortunately the shippable/unshippable status of a product does not have an effect on taxable status.

[ImmortalLogic]

I did read that you might be able to alter (remove tax amount) from a calculation depending on our requirements. I would assume that the code would have to be implemented in ReCalculate? I would think that this is possible.

Certainly. But if you're able to modify the tax calculation routines, then you have full source cod and you're also able to add your own line item tax exclusions. At that point you might as well customize it to your exact need.

The odd thing is that I am not able to find the file that calculates the tax. I see several files that perform a ReCalculate on the basket including OnePageCheckOut, but I do not see anything related to taxes. I temporarily removed the TaxCalculator.cs files but tax is still calculated. Help!

[AbleMods]

I temporarily removed the TaxCalculator.cs files but tax is still calculated.

Without full source code, you will not be able to manipulate the tax programming. You'll have to work within the rules defined in AC7 or buy the full source code and modify the CommerceBuilder API tax calculation routines.

That's a pretty unique tax situation you have. I've never heard of the entire order being considered taxable/nontaxable based on the contents of the order. Usually taxes apply to individual items regardless of the order as a whole.

There are a great many different things that occur when basket.Recalculate() is fired. You've got coupons to worry about, volume discounts, shipping rules along with taxes. It gets quite complicated when you get that deep into the code.

[ImmortalLogic]

I temporarily removed the TaxCalculator.cs files but tax is still calculated.

Without full source code, you will not be able to manipulate the tax programming. You'll have to work within the rules defined in AC7 or buy the full source code and modify the CommerceBuilder API tax calculation routines.

That's a pretty unique tax situation you have. I've never heard of the entire order being considered taxable/nontaxable based on the contents of the order. Usually taxes apply to individual items regardless of the order as a whole.

There are a great many different things that occur when basket.Recalculate() is fired. You've got coupons to worry about, volume discounts, shipping rules along with taxes. It gets quite complicated when you get that deep into the code.

Thank you. Yes, I believe we have the full source but we also have duplicate files and sometimes it's hard to sort through all of this. Yeah, I know what we are doing is a bit different but it is our requirement. 1. CD orders are charged tax, shipping, and shipping tax. 2. CD orders with Digital Good are only charged shipping (not tax or shipping tax). Thanks for your help. Have a good weekend.