[nlburt]

I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to deal with this problem. In my state (MD) it is required for any coupon in which the retailer will receive reimbursement, that the consumer pays sales tax based on the total value of the sale and not the adjusted sale.

So for instance one of the manufacturers I deal with has a buy 12 get 1 program. Once they've shown me proof of 12 purchases I give them a free product - but they are required to pay the sales tax. How do I do this in RetailEdge? I'm not finding any way to apply a discount or coupon that calculates tax based on the total before applied discounts. My old POS system which I'm about to switch from gave me the ability to create a coupon item in my inv that when used prompted the cashier to enter an amount and then applied that discount post sales tax.

Is there not a simple way to apply coupons? Because none of the discount rules or sales screen functions seem to take this into consideration when calculating for taxes.

[RetailEdge Moderator]

This I think should be a fairly easy one.

All you need to do is apply a coupon to the sale. We do this automatically with one of our discount rules. You can setup a Discount Rule that Applies to the Complete Sale (Optional Coupon). Then choose the Discount Rule Type: Complete Sale - Amount Off. Then set all the other options for date and time range, etc. and then set the amount of the coupon. Then when you enter the coupon code on the sales screen, RetailEdge will automatically put a coupon on the sales screen for the specified amount. This coupon code will be non-taxable and so will take care of your MD sales tax issue. You will able to sell 12 items, collect the tax on the items but the non-taxable coupon won't reduce the sales tax.

RetailEdge also has an option for a taxable coupon for those cases where you might want to reduce the tax liability. Also be aware that this can lead to some strange sales where you might have a $0 sales total amount but have to collect tax (although this is technically correct.)

Hopefully this helps.

I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to deal with this problem. In my state (MD) it is required for any coupon in which the retailer will receive reimbursement, that the consumer pays sales tax based on the total value of the sale and not the adjusted sale.

So for instance one of the manufacturers I deal with has a buy 12 get 1 program. Once they've shown me proof of 12 purchases I give them a free product - but they are required to pay the sales tax. How do I do this in RetailEdge? I'm not finding any way to apply a discount or coupon that calculates tax based on the total before applied discounts. My old POS system which I'm about to switch from gave me the ability to create a coupon item in my inv that when used prompted the cashier to enter an amount and then applied that discount post sales tax.

Is there not a simple way to apply coupons? Because none of the discount rules or sales screen functions seem to take this into consideration when calculating for taxes.

[nlburt]

Ok so I see that the discount rule does collect the tax that I need, but my problem is I need a less specific coupon function that still collects tax. For example in the aforementioned buy 12 program, this applies to an entire range of products, not just one. So it would seem I either need to make a discount rule for every conceivable product or train employees on how to create new discounts when required, which would be less than ideal. Is there no way to apply a generic 100% discount coupon that collects tax? Because only the "Amount Off" rule seems to do this, and that amount will be different for every product. Or a coupon that prompts the user to enter the amount on the actual sales screen so that the employee doesn't have to create a custom discount rule?

Another example is a rebate we deal with on a daily basis where the customer buys a 6 pack of flea control and are given 2 doses free, but would need to pay the additional sales tax on those 2 doses. So I created packages for each product that include 1x 6 pack, and 2x single does, but couldn't find a way to include a specific discount or coupon in that package that would still trigger sales tax. It sounds like I would have to make a separate discount rule for each of them, which the employees would have to remember, or require that I make a generic "Coupon" rule and then have them edit that amount before applying it to any sale.

I love this program but I'm really missing the simplicity of my previous POS in regards to doing this sort of thing. Is there any other discount function besides Amount Off that collects tax?

[nlburt]

For anyone with a similar problem I came up with a solution after getting an idea from support. I had tried to create a Coupon inventory file but my problem was that the system would not accept a negative price, which was my first inclination. However it will accept a negative quantity.

So I created a non-stock, non-taxed item called Coupon and set it to prompt for both price and quantity. Now my employees can type in coupon, enter -1 as the quantity and set the price to whatever it needs to be. Viola, a coupon that still allows the appropriate amount of tax to be collected.

[RetailEdge Moderator]

I am glad that that works for you and it is great that you posted that solution to our forums. That is really what these should be about.

That being said we have written up your problem as a suggestion for a future feature. Many of the RetailEdge features are products of customer suggestions. It would be nice if we could better automate the discounting to allow this so we could minimize errors.

Thanks.

For anyone with a similar problem I came up with a solution after getting an idea from support. I had tried to create a Coupon inventory file but my problem was that the system would not accept a negative price, which was my first inclination. However it will accept a negative quantity.

So I created a non-stock, non-taxed item called Coupon and set it to prompt for both price and quantity. Now my employees can type in coupon, enter -1 as the quantity and set the price to whatever it needs to be. Viola, a coupon that still allows the appropriate amount of tax to be collected.