Setting Up Taxes in VirtueMart

In this tutorial we will show you how to setup taxes in Virtuemart, which allows you to charge a tax based on a customer's state or region.

Be sure to research the tax laws based on state, country, and region, since they are being updated and modified at the time this article was written and can differ.
Here is a helpful link to the Federation of Tax Administrators page on State Tax Rates.

How to Setup Taxes:

1. Login to your Joomla! Admin panel.
2. In the navigation menu, roll your mouse over the Components, and click the VirtueMart option.
3. On the left VirtueMart menu, select Products, then Taxes & Calculation Rules.
4. You will see a Tax & Calculation Rule list, click the New button to create a new tax rule.
   
   A Tax & Calculation Rule Details menu will come up with various options:
   
   Fill in the fields / select your settings as needed. Below is a brief description of the options:
   

   Option	Description
   Calculation Rule name	Enter a name that will help you identify this tax rule.
   Published	Check this box to make this tax option function, if you do not it will still be visible in the admin panel.
   Ordering	If you have more than 1 tax option, the lower numbered option will display first, followed by the next lowest option.
   Description	You can type more details regarding this option here.
   Type of Arithmetic Operation	Virtuemart advises "Select the type of tax you are required to collect OR discount you will give. Choices are: tax per product, price modifier before or after tax, tax per bill, price modifier before or after tax per bill. Consult your accountant or lawyer or taxing authority if you are unsure. Otherwise, select tax per product."
   Math Operation	Choose how you want to calculate the tax from the drop-down menu, options are: +, -, +%, and -%.
   Value	Enter the tax percentage here without the '%' Symbol. For example 5.5% would be entered as 5.5
   Currency	From the drop-down menu, choose your default currency.
   Product Category	If you choose a Category, this option will only apply to that category.
   Shopper Groups	If you choose a Group, this option will only apply to that group.
   Country	Choose your country from the drop-down menu.
   State / Province / Region	Type the state / province / region in the field that you want the tax rate to apply to.
   Visible for Shopper	Choose Yes to display this option for Customers, No will not display it.
   Visible for Vendor	Choose Yes to display this option for Vendors, No will not display it.
   Start Date	If you want to set a specific start date enter it here, otherwise it will start today with no End Date.
   End Date	If you want to set a specific end date enter it here, otherwise it will start today with no End Date.

   After making your selections, click the Save & Close button. You will see a notification stating "Tax & Calculation Rule successfully saved."
   
   Now when a customer checks the price of a product that has tax assigned to it, they will see the tax charge.
   
   Congratulations, now you know how to add a new tax to your VirtueMart eshop!