Avalara

Avalara Overview

Avalara is a 3rd party tax compliance software that can be used to dynamically assign tax codes based on Order and Yard Locations, Entity Use Codes and External Avalara Settings.

Fast-Weigh sends a request to Avalara with the payload listed below to determine the Fast-Weigh Tax Code that needs to be applied:

  code = $"{transactionNumber}";
    type = $"Sales{transactionType}";
    date = transactionDate.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
    customerCode = customerID;
    commit = "true";
    description = $"Sales {transactionType} for {customerID}";
    purchaseOrderNo = poNumber;
    lines = new List<Line>();

This request is only triggered by 2 processes in Fast-Weigh:

1) A New Order-Product is added to an Order

2) When unbilled Tickets are assigned to a Batch on the New Billing Screen

Non-Exempt Tax Process:

If there are no exemptions such as an entity use code or an external rule then the following applies:

Avalara references the FROM/TO Latitudes and Longitude to determine if tax is applied at the pickup or the destination and what rate to use accordingly.

Fast-Weigh always sends the Yard Latitude and Longitude for the FROM Location. Setting a Lat/Long is required for all yards for the integration to work.

Optionally, a Lat/Long can be set at the order level in Fast-Weigh. This will be sent as the TO Location.

Tax Exemption Options:

1) Set an entity use code on the order. Entity use codes are initially setup in portal settings. Once created, they can be assigned as defaults to customers. If a customer has a default entity use code, new orders for that customer will inherit the entity use code. Fast-Weigh allows for the default to be overridden by any other use code (including "none") at the order level.

2) In Avalara: Define a Customer exemption

3) In Avalara: Define a specific PO for a specific customer exemption

4) In Avalara: Define a Product exception

First Time Setup:

Portal Settings > Configure External Tax Service

Set the Service to Avalara

Account ID: rest

User: Avalara Admin Account

Password: Avalara Admin Account

Entity Use Codes: https://knowledge.avalara.com/bundle/rpb1660904325464_rpb1660904325464/page/List_of_entity_use_codes.html

A	Federal Government	U.S. only
B	State Government	-
C	Tribal Government	-
D	Foreign Diplomat	-
E	Charitable/Exempt Organization	-
F	Religious Organization	Effective January 1, 2018, the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) split educational and religious organizations into 2 separate categories. Previously, Entity/Use Code F represented both religious and educational organizations. This change was effective in Avalara products on April 1, 2018.
G	Resale	-
H	Agricultural	Use tax codes PA020120, PA020122, PA020123, and PM020400 with this code. These codes apply state-mandated reduced rates for manufacturers in New Mexico. This code produces a fully taxable result in states where there's no reason for exemption or a reduced rate.
I	Industrial Prod/ Manufacturers	Use tax codes PM020704 and PM020700 with this code. This will apply the state-mandated reduced rates for manufacturers in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This code produces a fully taxable result in states where there's no reason for exemption or a reduced rate.
J	Direct Pay	-
K	Direct Mail	-
L	Other/custom	Other exempt reasons such as, Capital Improvement Common Carrier Enterprise Zone Exempt by Statute Exporters Material Purchase Medical Pollution Control Prime Contractor R&D
M	Educational Organization	Effective January 1, 2018, the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) split educational and religious organizations into 2 separate categories. Previously, Entity/Use Code F represented both religious and educational organizations. This change was effective in Avalara products on April 1, 2018.
N	Local Government	U.S. only
P	Commercial Aquaculture	Canada only
Q	Commercial Fishery	Canada only
R	Non-resident	Canada only For use by Canadian registrants receiving a Drop-Shipment Certificate from a registered consignee pursuant to Subsection 179(2) of the Excise Tax Act.
Taxable	Override Exemption	Using Taxable as the entity forces a typically exempt customer to pay taxes. This is how you can prevent an exemption certificate by applying to a sale.