Wine Technology Blog @ WineWeb.com

The way that sales tax is calculated to customers in Washington state will change on July 1. I just read a blog post at ShipCompliant that called it a streamlined style. While the tax reporting may be streamlined, the rate calculation is anything but. It's a destination-based tax, where the tax rate is based on the location of the customer. OK so far, as several states do that. The complexity comes into play as the tax rates are not based on county or city boundaries, but must be determined based on ZIP Code plus 4. All e-commerce systems and other order processing systems must be revised to either require entry of ZIP+4 for Washington customers or determine the ZIP+4 based on the customer's address. We've prepared for this change by enhancing our sales tax calculation routines and loading over 30,000 records that correspond ZIP+4 ranges to sales tax location codes.