Introduction
Tax Rules in Empress are a powerful feature that simplifies your business’s accounting procedures by automatically applying taxes to transactions based on predefined conditions. These conditions could be related to the customer, customer group, supplier, supplier group, item, item group, or a combination of these.
This guide will guide you on how to create, edit, sort, and track information using the Tax Rule feature.
Accessing Tax Rule
To view your Tax Rule list:
- Sign in to your Empress account.
- Navigate to the Empress dashboard.
- Follow this path: Home > Accounting > Taxes > Tax Rule
Preparing for Tax Rule Creation
Before you start creating a Tax Rule, ensure that you’ve set up your Sales Taxes and Charges Template and Purchase Taxes and Charges Template. These templates act as the foundation for your tax rules.
Creating a Tax Rule
To create a new Tax Rule:
- Navigate to the Tax Rule list.
- Click on ‘New’.
- Under ‘Tax Type,’ choose whether the tax will be applied at sales or purchase.
- Select the appropriate Tax Template.
- Hit ‘Save.’
By enabling ‘Use for Shopping Cart’ in the Website module, your Tax Rule will apply to Shopping Cart transactions as well.
Understanding Tax Rule Features
Auto-apply Tax Rule
You can set your Tax Rule to automatically apply based on the customer or supplier. For specific parties, select the respective Customer/Supplier. For all parties, leave it as ‘All Customer Groups/All Supplier Groups’.
Tax Rule Based on Item/Item Group
A Tax Rule can be set to apply automatically to new transactions that include a specific item or item group. Just set the Item or Item group in the Tax Rule.
Tax Category
This feature allows you to apply multiple Tax Rules to a transaction based on different factors.
Validity
To set a specific time frame for the tax to apply, define a start and end date. If these fields are left blank, the Tax Rule will be timeless.
Priority
If multiple Tax Rules apply to a transaction, you can prioritize them by assigning a priority number. ‘1’ has the highest priority, followed by ‘2’, and so on.
The Working of Tax Rule
Let’s consider an example. You want the system to automatically apply specific tax rates when a particular condition matches. For instance, if a customer’s billing address is in ‘Malibu,’ the system should apply a state tax of 6.25%, a county tax of 1%, and a district tax of 2.25%.
First, create a Sales Taxes and Charges Template. Then, create a Tax Rule. Once done, the system will automatically apply the correct taxes when you select a customer with a billing address in ‘Malibu’.
Conclusion
The Tax Rule feature in Empress significantly simplifies your business’s accounting procedures. By automating the application of taxes based on predefined conditions, it saves time, reduces the risk of errors, and ensures uniformity.
For further assistance or to learn more about Empress features, please visit our support page or contact our support team.