Sales Tax added to out of state customers (rarely)

Hi there!

The business is in AZ and only charges sales tax for AZ residents. We sell to many states and it seems that the few times the sales tax was added in error were only to a few addresses in California. This just recently started on only a few orders.

This is definitely not expected behavior. Can you please cross-check in those orders if there is any mention of AZ in the shipping address or the Billing address?

If not, could you please share a copy of your site’s System Status? You can find it via WooCommerce > Status.
Select “Get system report” and then “Copy for support”.? Once you’ve done that, paste it here in your response.

Along with that, please also share a screenshot of your TAX settings from WooCommerce > Settings > TAX > Standard rates (and any other rates you’ve defined)

So the last order had the billing & shipping address:
906 S Briargate Ln
Glendora, CA 91740

Nothing close or confusing and I assumed as long as they choose any state BUT AZ it wouldn’t add tax.

I have “standard rates” and “taxable goods rates” both set with the same info. Not sure why I used both but tax class for products are all set to standard. Here is a screenshot of my tax setup:
https://axiaalloys.com/temp/axia-help1.jpg

I noticed there is another update for woocommerce but I am only 1 update behind.
Thanks for your help!

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Hi there!

Thank you for getting back to us with your findings and System Status Report.

Not sure why I used both but tax class for products are all set to standard. Here is a screenshot of my tax setup:
https://axiaalloys.com/temp/axia-help1.jpg

Link to image: https://d.pr/i/b6mZWM

Am I right in understanding that even though you have two tax classes setup, Standard rates are the only tax classes assigned to your products?

In that case, from the screenshot you’ve shared – only AZ needs to be charged tax.

I noticed there is another update for woocommerce but I am only 1 update behind.

From the System Status Report, while I do notice that the WooCommerce installed is at version 3.8.0, the WooCommerce database itself is at 3.0.8. For further steps:

1. Reach out to your Web Host to ensure that you have the latest, working backup of your site
2. Update everything on the site, including WooCommerce, and WooCommerce database (by accessing Dashboard > WooCommerce > Status > Tools > Update database)
3. Check if you’re still seeing the same behavior upon trying to checkout using a different address

If you’re still seeing the same behavior, can you please share a screenshot of WooCommerce > Settings > TAX tab?

I have updated the database. I had updated previously but I guess the update failed. I never noticed it was still the old DB version so thanks for pointing that out! It took me a few tries but is now showing the correct version.

Could that have caused this error with the sale tax?

How can be sure the problem is solved? I was never able to replicate the problem before even if I entered the exact same address as was on the orders with sales tax being added incorrectly.

Thanks!

Could that have caused this error with the sale tax?

I’m not 100% sure about that, but this is the first step before investigating further.

How can be sure the problem is solved? I was never able to replicate the problem before even if I entered the exact same address as was on the orders with sales tax being added incorrectly.

Interesting. After updating the database though, did you notice any similar orders where TAX was added even if the order was not from AZ?

This is the only way to reconfirm this since you’re unable to replicate this behavior.

If you’re still seeing this behavior though, the next step would be to ensure there are no conflicts on the site. This kind of problem is usually caused by either a conflict with your theme or with another plugin.
?
The best way to determine this is to:
?

• Temporarily switch your theme to Storefront
• Disable all plugins except for WooCommerce
• Repeat the action that is causing the problem

If you’re not seeing the same problem after completing the conflict test, then you know the problem was with the plugins and/or theme you deactivated. To figure out which plugin is causing the problem, reactivate your other plugins one by one, testing after each, until you find the one causing conflict. You can find a more detailed explanation on how to do a conflict test here.

Well there is no reason to test for a conflict IF I cannot replicate the issue.

So just wondering why I have orders with the tax added but I cannot replicate by creating an order with the same exact address?

I have never had an issue that I could not replicate and it does not seem to be an issue that others have experienced so must be something unique to my setup. Not sure what to tell the client ??

I wonder if it could be a certain mobile device or operating system causing a glitch?

Thanks for your help.

Hi there!

Apologies for the delayed response here.

Well there is no reason to test for a conflict IF I cannot replicate the issue.

I wonder if it could be a certain mobile device or operating system causing a glitch?

That’s a fair assumption, but we cannot confirm that there isn’t a conflict until no one is able to replicate this behavior. The conflict test may or may not help us narrow this down, but it is a starting step. Especially since this is not something that can be replicated on a stock WooCommerce installation which just runs Storefront as the theme.

I’d also recommend checking with your WebHost to confirm that the cart, my-account and checkout pages are not cached.

Let us know how the testing goes.

We haven’t heard back from you in a while, so I’m going to mark this as resolved – if you have any further questions, you can start a new thread.

This has not been resolved it is just so random that it is hard to test for. Happens about once a month and we have many out of state orders daily, average about 3-400 per month. I keep everything updated and today again we got another out of state order charged sales tax.

Can’t reproduce using the same info on the order and no sense using a different theme yet as we would have to wait a month perhaps to see the error again?

The only thing I can think of is I started using the built in import/export a few months ago, prior to that used wp all import pro to make updates for the last few years.

Any ideas on what to do next?

thx!!

Hi there!

Sorry for the delayed response here. The topic was marked resolved due to inactivity.

I understand that you’re still seeing the same behavior in your store, and it is quite tricky to narrow this down to a conflict due to the random nature of this.

—

Can’t reproduce using the same info on the order and no sense using a different theme yet as we would have to wait a month perhaps to see the error again?

The only thing I can think of is I started using the built in import/export a few months ago, prior to that used wp all import pro to make updates for the last few years.

Ideally, that shouldn’t cause the behavior you’re seeing where only some orders are being charged TAX on out of state orders. Chances of this affecting TAX is slim as you’re not able to replicate the same behavior upon trying to make a new order using the same details as the customer who was charged TAX did!

—

For further troubleshooting, please log in to your WooCommerce.com account and create a ticket to us at ?https://woocommerce.com/my-account/create-a-ticket/?form=ticket, and provide the following details along with the query:

1. A link to this forum interaction
2. Screenshots of orders (from order details page) where TAX was changed incorrectly.
3. Screenshots of the product configuration page. Specifically the General tab
4. Screenshot of tax configuration at WooCommerce > settings > TAX > Standard rates and WooCommerce > Settings > TAX > Taxable goods rates
5. A copy of the latest System Status Report

Please make sure to redact any personal details in the screenshot you’re sharing with us.