Tax Settings & Compliance
Floatless computes tax at invoice time from three inputs: your tax rate table, the customer's ship-to jurisdiction, and the customer's tax-exempt flag. This guide covers the console surfaces you use to keep those inputs honest — especially for Canadian GST/HST/QST, where registration numbers must appear on documents by law.
When should I read this?
- You started selling into a new province or state and need its rate configured.
- Your invoices must show a GST/HST or QST number.
- Finance asked whether you have nexus in the US.
Use cases
| Scenario | What you do |
|---|---|
| You bill customers in Ontario and Quebec | Configure the HST and QST rates for the right regions; register your GST/HST and QST numbers so both print on invoices. |
| A B2B customer is tax-exempt | Tick tax exempt on the customer with an exemption certificate number; invoices skip tax. |
| You are approaching US thresholds | Run the economic nexus check monthly; register where you cross the line. |
Tax rates: the stacking model
Open Settings → Tax Settings. The rate table stores every jurisdiction you bill into, and orders apply stacking: federal rates apply everywhere, state/provincial rates apply in their region, and local rates add on top — combined automatically from the ship-to address.
Add or import a rate
Click Add Rate for one-off entries, or use the CSV Template + Import flow for bulk setup (the import report shows imported / updated / skipped / error counts).
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Display name, e.g. "Ontario HST". |
| Category | Federal (national), State (provincial), or Local (county/city). |
| Country / Region | Where the rate applies (state/province selector for non-federal rates). |
| Percentage | Up to 6 decimal places (e.g. 8.875 for NY). |
| Effective date | When the rate becomes active. |
Rates can be enabled/disabled in bulk and edited when jurisdictions change them — history is preserved on documents already issued.
Tax registrations: your numbers on invoices
Open Settings → Tax Registrations. Registered numbers print on invoices and drive compliance checks.
| Registration type | Format | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| GST/HST (CRA) | 123456789 RT0001 |
Anyone selling taxable goods/services in Canada above the small-supplier threshold. |
| QST (Revenu Québec) | 1234567890 TQ0001 |
Businesses registered for Quebec sales tax. |
| PST / state permit | Provincial format | Provincial sales tax or US seller's permits. |
The page also carries two lookup tools:
- Destination tax lookup — pick a country and province/state to preview the tax components and notes that apply to a shipment there.
- US economic nexus check — screens your sales against the standard threshold ($100,000 or 200 transactions per state over the trailing 12 months) and flags states where you may need to register.
Customers and products
- Customer level: the tax exempt flag plus certificate number (required for B2B exemptions in some jurisdictions) — honored at every invoice.
- Product level: products can carry tax-category hints that influence how the stacking engine treats them.
- Invoice review: tax shows as its own line; if an invoice looks wrong, check the ship-to jurisdiction first — tax follows where the goods go, not where the customer lives.
Rates to know (Canada, verify current)
| Jurisdiction | Model | Typical rate |
|---|---|---|
| Federal (GST) | Single national rate | 5% |
| Ontario (HST) | Harmonized single line | 13% |
| Quebec (GST + QST) | Two registered lines | 5% + 9.975% |
| Nova Scotia (HST) | Harmonized single line | 14% |
Configure these as rates in your table; register the matching numbers in Tax Registrations so both appear on documents.
Common issues
- Tax is missing on an invoice. No active rate matched the ship-to jurisdiction — add it in Tax Settings, then re-issue.
- Tax ID doesn't print. The registration is missing or its region doesn't match the customer's jurisdiction.
- The order screen shows 13% but the invoice differs. The order page estimates; the invoice applies real jurisdiction stacking. Trust the invoice.