Can Paypal/Google be configured to charge tax when the shipping address is in the State where the business is located? This will eliminate the issue.

This is not just a US and Canadian problem, its probably a world wide problem. One of the many reasons I'm not using the Shopping cart software is that there is no proper tax implementation. So if I want to sell to someone in Europe I have to charge tax. And if they are from else where I do not charge tax. Plus if someone is VAT registered and has a valid registration number then I do not need to charge VAT unless they live in Spain, (I live in Spain).
I'm seriously thinking about OScommerce, its free and does everything that shopping cart doesn't. And after seeing a video tutorial on the web about how to set it up. Its quite simple, its not as simple to use as CCSC but the learning curve is not that steep.

We have the same same situation in NC and have been struggling with a way to handle it. The program should at least connect the State tax with the address of the customer for in-state customers. A better solution would be to connect the tax to the customer's zip code.

Well I was doing some research and apparently Google can handle the taxes for a particular jurisdiction - but only if a particular tag is not sent to it in the transaction communication. Google provides this info:

Checkout shopping cart: How do I set tax rates in the Google Checkout Merchant Center?
To set tax rates in the Google Checkout Merchant Center:

Sign in to Google Checkout.
Click the Settings tab.
Click Tax setup.
Select a state (U.S. only) from the drop-down menu and enter the appropriate tax rate.
Select items only or items and shipping from the 'Apply to' drop-down menu.
Click Add to save your changes.
Repeat these steps for each state and tax rate you'd like to specify.
The tax rates you specify will be applied automatically when the buyer completes the checkout process.

Note: If you submit a shopping cart which includes the tag <tax-tables>, we'll ignore any tax values set in the Merchant Center.

So - how do we get the store to NOT send the tag <tax-tables> - to allow Google to handle taxes???

That's good news about google, but I'm guessing from your reaction that SCC DOES send the tag <tax-tables> ? If so, that's too bad because it would have been a simple solution. At least for google checkout. I Can't figure out why they would send the tag if they aren't going to allow us to use it. Maybe a quick fix would to give us the ability to turn the tag on or off. That way we can allow google and paypal(hopefully) to take control collecting the taxes. I'm assuming there would be a monthly tax report you could run to get your liability amount owed. Has anyone checked Paypal to see if they have the same capabilities? When I get a chance I'll look into it to see what I can Find.

I have been experimenting with Paypal - which I find harder and less intuitive. If I come across a tax configuration I will post it here.

I really like the rest of the store - but then I am a fan of CCS (although I had a number of their modules - I just purchased the superpak to get them all).

Hopefully they will lend us some support with the cart issues.

As far as I know Paypal does not support tax calculations although I will have another look.

The Google fix will only be an option for those in the US as it does not work outside the USA.

Dont forget about Canada when you do this... we have GST and PST for most provinces.

Thanks

I was doing some investigating on paypal this morning and they do have a feature to add state sales tax to an order. Google also has this feature, so for me this issue is closed. I know a lot of you have more complicated tax schemes(Canada, you poor souls). So this won't be a solution for you. But for most everyone in the states you can configure both Paypal and Google to charge sales tax by state.
Now, if we could just do something about shipping charges...........

Craig,

If you get the taxes up and working in Paypal would you please drop back in and let the rest of us know??

rosey