To set-up AST, begin by clicking Taxes followed by Sales Tax in the left side tab. Next, enter your company’s physical address and then indicate whether you sell products outside your home state. You will be prompted to enter information such as when you started collecting taxes in that jurisdiction and how often you file tax returns for that jurisdiction. If you have additional sales tax agencies you need to setup, just click Add Agency and you will be prompted for the relevant information.
For each item you sell, you will need to indicate whether the item is taxable and if it is, does it have any special tax characteristics. Examples of special characteristics include whether the item is food or beverages and if it is, whether it is a carbonated beverage, which is subject to special taxes in some jurisdictions.
Also, for each of your customers, you will need to indicate their billing address and their shipping address, if it is different. If a shipping address is supplied, it will be the one used to calculate sales taxes. Additionally, you will need to indicate whether a specific customer is exempt-from sales taxes and if so, the nature of the exemption – governmental exemption, religious organization, etc. Once all the above items are established, you are ready to begin using Automated Sales Tax.