What is everyone doing to figure sales tax?

[jbird5150]

Hey everyone--setting up a new store and got a quote from Avatax of several thousand dollars monthly for 2000 transactions. Even a lower tiered option of 500 transactions was over 1K. A little much for me starting out.

So I'm looking for options. I know this can be set up internally but it looks to be a pretty daunting task, especially with specific state, county, and local tax rates being different all over the place. I'm looking for simple and easy if it exists. I've had another Ecomm store owner who told me I only had to charge tax for the state I'm located in. But my accountant says that's not correct.

What's everyone else doing to figure their state sales tax? Any better options than Avatax that will integrate with Abantecart? I contacted TaxJar and they said they don't have an integration with Abantecart, but do have an API option.

[Nuno Neff]

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[Midonna]

Whoa, those Avatax prices are insane! I use TaxJar, it's not directly integrated with Abantecart, but their API is pretty straightforward to work with (a developer could hook it up relatively easily). There are also some cheaper, simpler tax calculators out there, but you'll have to manually enter the data, definitely more work, but way less expensive than Avatax. 

[Rizzzk]

Hey everyone--setting up a new store and got a quote from Avatax of several thousand dollars monthly for 2000 transactions. Even a lower tiered option of 500 transactions was over 1K. A little much for me starting out.

So I'm looking for options. I know this can be set up internally but it looks to be a pretty daunting task, especially with specific state, county, and local tax rates being different all over the place. I'm looking for simple and easy if it exists. I've had another Ecomm store owner who told me I only had to charge tax for the state I'm located in. But my accountant says that's not correct.

What's everyone else doing to figure their state sales tax? Any better options than Avatax that will integrate with Abantecart? I contacted TaxJar and they said they don't have an integration with Abantecart, but do have an API option.

Since TaxJar doesn't integrate with Abantecart, you could try TaxCloud (free for smaller businesses) or QuickBooks Sales Tax as more budget-friendly options. Taxify is another choice to consider. If you’re just starting, manually handling tax for a few states might also work. The goal is finding something that automates the process without breaking the bank.

[Midonna]

Yeah, Avatax prices are crazy for a small operation. I'm in a similar boat and ended up using a combo of manual setup and a cheaper API-based service. I use TaxCloud, it's not super flashy but it's way more affordable and handles multi-state rates decently. No native Abantecart integration either, but their API isn't too bad if you're comfortable setting it up or can get someone to help.

And yeah, your accountant's right, once you hit nexus in other states (economic or physical), you’re supposed to collect there too. It’s a pain, but ignoring it can come back to bite later. Keep it lean early on, but set yourself up to scale without headaches.