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# Sales tax: set it up, charge it, and see what you owe

Sales tax in BooksGPT is two screens: one to set the rate up, one to see what you owe.

${youtube}[Watch: How to charge sales tax on invoices and see what you owe in BooksGPT](rOkxcpt9HHE)

## 1. Add your rate

1. Open **All pages** in the left sidebar, then under **Setup** click **Sales taxes**.
2. Click **Add rate**.
3. In **Add sales tax rate**, fill in **Name**, **Abbreviation**, and **Rate (%)**, for example State Sales Tax, ST, 8.875.
4. Add your **Tax number** if you have a registration number to show customers.
5. Click **Add rate** to save.

![The Add sales tax rate dialog with name, abbreviation, exact rate and tax number](https://booksgpt.ai/help/sales-tax/add-rate-dialog-v2.png)

| Add one rate per jurisdiction you collect for. They are reported separately.

- **Rate (%)** keeps up to four decimal places exactly. 8.875% stays 8.875%, never 8.88%. A rate with more decimals is refused.
- To change or remove a rate later, open its **More actions** menu (the "..." on the row), then **Edit rate** or **Delete rate**. Deleting asks first. A rate used on a saved document cannot be deleted.

|| Under **Other rate options**, **Allow matching on captured invoices**, **Compound tax label**, and **Recoverable tax label** are saved with the rate. They do not change how tax is worked out on a manual invoice.

## 2. Charge it on an invoice

On an [invoice](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/invoices) or estimate, each line has a **Tax** column. It starts on **No tax**.

- Pick your rate on the lines that are taxable, and leave the rest.
- Tax is a straight percentage of that line, and it is shown as its own **Tax** total.

## 3. See what you owe

Open **All pages**, then under **Reports** click [**Sales tax report**](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/sales-tax-report).

1. Set **Report period** to your filing window.
2. Under **Accounting basis**, pick **Accrual** or **Cash**, then let the report refresh.

![Sales tax report with Accounting basis set to Cash and Tax recognized by rate](https://booksgpt.ai/help/sales-tax/report-cash-basis-v2.png)

- The first column is **Tax (current name)**. **Rate** is the rate those invoices were charged at. When one name has several rates in the period, it shows **Varies**.
- **Taxable** is the revenue that carried that rate in the period, on the basis you picked.
- **Tax charged** (Accrual) or **Tax recognized** (Cash) is the tax on that taxable amount, which is what you remit.
- Tax with no verifiable rate appears under **Legacy / unallocated**. Its taxable sales say **Unknown**.
- **Export** (Excel or CSV) gives you the figures to type into your state filing.

|| On **Accrual**, the report totals the tax each invoice saved, less credit memos and dated voids, by **issue date**. On **Cash**, it uses money you actually collected in the period, split across your rates the same way your books move **Sales Tax Payable** on a cash basis. A partly paid invoice shows only the taxable sales and tax tied to what was collected so far.

## How it adds up

- The report counts sales tax on invoices you have **issued**. Drafts are left out. On Accrual, a voided invoice or credit memo counts in the period it was issued and comes off in the period it was voided, so one issued and voided in the same period adds nothing.
- A voided invoice or credit memo whose void date the books cannot show is also left out. The report names it in a note above the table for the period of its issue date.
- **Accrual** counts by **issue date**, not by the date the customer paid.
- **Cash** counts by the date you collected payment, in proportion to each collection.
- In your books, tax you collect is credited to **Sales Tax Payable**. It is money you are holding for the state, not revenue, so it never appears as income.
- Your workspace needs a Sales Tax Payable account before a taxed invoice can be sent. The standard [chart of accounts](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/chart-of-accounts) already has one.

## What BooksGPT does not do

- It does not look up your rate for you. You enter the rate you are registered to collect.
- It does not track what you have already remitted. Record each payment to your state as a normal expense against Sales Tax Payable.
- It does not file or pay for you.