How the Sales Tax Report Works
Access requirements. You need access to "Analytics & reports" to open this report.
It shows the tax you actually charged. The report doesn't work tax out again. It adds up the tax your register charged on each sale, item by item, so it matches your receipts.
Your business day runs 3 AM to 3 AM. A sale rung up at 1 AM counts toward the day before, the same as your other Scotch reports.
Refunds count on the day you give them. If you sell something on the 28th and refund it on the 3rd, the tax comes off on the 3rd, not the 28th.
Tax is figured after discounts. If an item is discounted, tax is charged on the price the customer actually paid.
It updates throughout the day. New sales usually show up within about an hour.
Opening the Report
Step 1
In Back Office, click "Analytics & reporting" in the left-hand menu, then click "Payments."
Step 2
Click the "Sales tax" tab.
Step 3
If you have more than one store, pick the store you want. Then choose your dates. The report starts with the last 30 days, so set it to the exact period you're filing for, like the 1st through the last day of the month.
Step 4
To get this report sent to you automatically, click "Subscribe" and choose how often you want it.
The Three Totals at the Top
Total | What it means |
Tax collected | All the sales tax you charged customers during these dates, before any refunds. |
Tax refunded | The sales tax you gave back to customers on returns during these dates. |
Sales tax due | What you owe for the period. It's the tax you collected, minus the tax you refunded, with a couple of adjustments explained below. |
Sales tax due is usually the number you'll file with. It takes two extra things into account:
Fees that are taxed are added. If your store charges a fee that's taxed, like a California CRV fee, the tax on it is included.
Tax DoorDash already paid is taken off. In some states, DoorDash collects and pays the sales tax on its orders itself. When it does, Scotch subtracts that tax so you don't pay it twice.
Important: Always check your filing period's dates before you copy a total. The report starts with the last 30 days, which almost never lines up exactly with a filing period.
Reading the Tax Category Table
Below the totals, the "Tax Category" table breaks your sales down by tax category, like your state sales tax. Click a category to see each tax rate inside it.
Column | What it means |
Taxed sales | Sales of items that were charged tax, after discounts. |
Taxed adjustments | Surcharges on those items, like a credit card surcharge. These are taxed too. |
Untaxed sales | Sales of items that weren't charged any tax. |
Untaxed adjustments | Surcharges on those untaxed items. |
Taxed refunds | Refunds of items that were taxed. |
Taxed adjustments refunded | Surcharges given back on those refunds. |
Untaxed refunds | Refunds of items that weren't taxed. |
Untaxed adjustments refunded | Surcharges given back on those refunds. |
Tax collected | The tax charged in this category or rate. |
Sales tax due | What's owed for this category or rate after refunds. |
If an item is charged more than one tax rate, like a state rate and a county rate, it shows up under each rate when you open the category.
What Counts as Untaxed Sales
Untaxed sales are grouped by the reason no tax was charged:
"Non-taxable" is for items in a department or tax category you've set up with no tax, on purpose.
"Tax Exemptions" is for sales to a tax-exempt customer, or sales marked tax exempt at the register.
"No Tax Category" is for products that don't have a tax category at all.
A category name with untaxed sales under it means items in that category didn't get charged tax, often because the category has no tax rate set for this store.
Important: Sales under "No Tax Category," or under a taxed category that shows untaxed sales, usually mean something isn't set up right. Check the product's department and tax category so the right tax is charged from now on (see Using Departments to Add Tax to Products).
Not included in sales at all: gift card sales, bottle deposits, and payouts. Those aren't taxable sales, so they don't show up in Taxed sales or Untaxed sales.
Tax-Exempt Orders
The "Tax Exempt Orders" table lists the orders that didn't collect tax, so you can back them up if your state asks. For each order you'll see the order number, when it was completed, the order total, the tax charged, how many items were on it, the employee, the customer, and the register it was rung up on. You can filter it by order, employee, or register.
Why Your Numbers Might Look Different
If the report doesn't match your own math or another report, it's usually one of these:
The day starts at 3 AM. Late-night sales count toward the day before.
Refunds count on the refund day. A refund early in the month can lower this month's tax even though the sale was last month.
Refunds count at the store that gave them. If a customer returns something at a different store, the refund shows up at that store.
Tax is figured after discounts. Your Taxed sales are the discounted prices, not the regular prices.
Surcharges are listed separately. A credit card surcharge shows under "Taxed adjustments," not in "Taxed sales," but it's still taxed.
Tax is rounded on each item, for each rate. Adding up the rounded amounts can differ by a few cents from working out tax on the whole total yourself.
DoorDash and taxed fees. "Sales tax due" subtracts tax DoorDash paid for you, and adds tax on fees like CRV, so it won't equal "Tax collected" minus "Tax refunded."
Recent sales may not be in yet. Give it about an hour after your last sale.
Troubleshooting
There's no "Sales tax" tab: You need access to "Analytics & reports." Ask an admin to add it to your user.
Today's numbers look low: New sales can take up to about an hour to show up. Check again later.
The total doesn't match my filing period: Check the dates at the top. The report starts with the last 30 days, not a calendar month.
I see sales under "No Tax Category": Those products don't have a tax category, so no tax was charged. Fix the department's tax setup so future sales are taxed correctly.
A taxed category shows untaxed sales: That category may have no tax rate for this store. Check your tax rates under Settings → Taxes.
"Sales tax due" is lower than I expected: If you take DoorDash orders, some of their tax may have been paid by DoorDash, so it's subtracted. Refunds in the period also lower it.
The report is a few cents off from my calculation: Tax is rounded on each item, for each rate, just like at the register. Small differences are normal. Use the report's numbers.
Still not sure which number to file: Contact Scotch support, or share the report with your accountant using "Subscribe."