Enabling Tax Exemptions at a Store Location

Tax exemptions are enabled per store, based on the revenue center, so a location can accept tax-exempt orders through some revenue centers and not others. For example, a store can accept tax-exempt catering orders while excluding tax-exempt orders through regular online ordering. This article explains how to enable tax-exempt ordering, how it appears to a customer, and what to do if a customer forgets to enter a Tax ID.

Enabling tax exemption for a revenue center requires two separate settings: Allow Tax Exempt Orders and Allow Tax Exempt Customer Orders. Once both are enabled, customers can automatically remove the sales tax by entering their Tax ID at checkout through that revenue center.

Enabling Tax-Exempt Ordering at a Store Location

Two Settings Control Tax Exemption

Each revenue center has two independent settings that control tax exemption:

• Allow Tax Exempt Orders: enables tax exemption on orders built directly in the admin panel, such as catering quotes.
• Allow Tax Exempt Customer Orders: enables tax exemption when a customer completes checkout and payment directly.

Both settings must be enabled for tax exemption to apply from order creation through payment. If only Allow Tax Exempt Orders is enabled, an order built as tax-exempt may still show sales tax when the customer pays online. Enabling Allow Tax Exempt Customer Orders as well carries the exemption through to checkout.

How a Tax-Exempt Order Looks to a Customer

What to Do if a Customer Forgets to Add Their Tax ID at Checkout

If a customer forgets to add their Tax ID to an ASAP order that has already closed, the tax amount must be refunded manually as a partial refund. For the steps, see Processing and Calculating Refunds.

For tax-exempt customers who order on a deferred-payment basis, see Setting Up House Accounts.