Set default taxes and fees
Your state's sales tax schedule is set from your location; set the doc fee, other fees and issuing state that pre-fill every new deal, and override them per deal.
Set your standard fees once, and every new deal pre-fills them: the doc fee, the other fees, and a sales tax computed the way your state computes it. The state comes from your primary location, and where the state sets its rate by county, so does the county. You can still change any number on the deal itself.
Only an Owner or Manager can change these, since they affect the money on every new deal. Salespeople see the pre-filled values on a new deal and can override them there, but the Save defaults action on this page is rejected for them.
Your sales tax is set from your location
You do not have to set the tax up. The first time anything needs it (a new deal, this page, the storefront estimate), the deal desk takes the state of your primary location and fills in that state's schedule: the state rate, the shape of the local tax, and the trade-in rule. Where the state sets its local rate by county and we ship the state's table, your address is placed in its county too, so a Florida dealership in Orlando starts on Florida's 6 percent plus Orange County's surtax without a visit here.
What still needs you:
- A state that sets its local rate by city or district, with hundreds of jurisdictions (California, Colorado, Missouri and others): the state's own line is set, and the Local rate (%) field asks for yours, with the state's rate finder linked.
- An address we could not place in a county: the County picker stays empty until you pick it.
- The District of Columbia, whose rate depends on the vehicle: you enter it.
- A dealership that had typed the old single rate before this existed: that rate stays yours until you pick the state here.
The page says when the schedule was set from your location, and warns when your primary location and the schedule disagree.
Every deal keeps the split its schedule computed on the day it was made, and Reports → Financial adds it up by state and county or city for the month you pick, under Sales tax by jurisdiction, so the return can be filled from it (see Reports).
Set your defaults
The page has three cards: Title issuing state at the top, Fees in the middle and Sales tax below it.
- Go to Settings → Deal defaults.
- In the Title issuing state card, pick a Default issuing state if you want to force one. Leave it on - Auto (primary location) - to inherit your main location's state automatically. (If you have no location with a state set, the dropdown shows No state available instead; add a location first.)
- In the Fees card, enter your Default doc fee (e.g.
199.00). - Enter Default other dealer fees if you charge a flat extra (leave blank or
0if you don't). - Enter Default tag & title fees for the government money you usually collect and remit (tag, title, registration). Kept separate from dealer fees so your books count it as a liability, not income.
- In the Sales tax card, check the State (already picked from your primary location; change it only if you sell from elsewhere). The card fills in the state's rate and the shape of its local tax, and sets the trade-in rule the state uses.
- Answer what the state still needs: a County (or county or city) from the state's own table where we ship one, or a Local rate (%) you look up where the state has hundreds of local jurisdictions. A few states need nothing more.
- Check What a new deal will charge: every line of the schedule, in words, so you can compare it with what you charge today.
- Leave Trade-in reduces taxable amount as the state set it unless you know better; where the state caps the credit, the cap is shown and editable.
- Click Save defaults.
What each setting does
- Default issuing state is the state your deals are titled in. It drives which state's documents and fees apply. Leave it on - Auto (primary location) - to inherit your main location's state automatically. Your only choices are states you have a location in.
- Default doc fee is the dealer documentation fee that pre-fills the Doc fee (optional) field on a new deal.
- Default other dealer fees: any flat additional fee you keep. Pre-fills the Other dealer fees (optional) field.
- Default tag & title fees: government pass-throughs you remit. Pre-fills the Tag & title fees (optional) field.
- State decides the sales tax schedule: the state's own rate, whether a county or city rate applies and to how much of the price, any cap or minimum, and the trade-in rule. See Sales tax on a vehicle, state by state for what every state gets.
- County (where the state sets its local rate by county and publishes one table) or Local rate (%) (where it does not) supplies the local part. The card says which address decides the local rate in your state; pick the county most of your buyers are in and change it on a deal when a buyer is elsewhere.
- Trade-in reduces taxable amount: when on, a trade-in allowance is subtracted from the selling price before tax is calculated, up to the cap where the state has one. The state sets it when you pick the state; you can still change it.
- Not set (one combined rate): the old way, one percentage applied to the whole price. It still works, but pick your state to get the county surtax ceiling, the cap or the split your state really uses.
How the defaults pre-fill a deal
- Start a new deal at Deals → New deal.
- The Doc fee (optional) and Other fees (optional) fields are already filled with your defaults (a default of 0 shows the placeholder instead, so the field starts empty).
- As you type the Selling price, the Tax (optional) field auto-fills from your schedule, but only if the schedule has at least one line. The hint names the lines, for example "Auto: 6% Florida sales tax + 1.5% Hillsborough County surtax on the first $5,000.00 (less trade)".
- Where your state sets its local rate by county and we ship the table, a Buyer's county for sales tax picker sits above the tax field. It starts on your default county; pick the buyer's county when it differs and the tax recomputes.
- Change any of these numbers on the deal if this sale is different. Editing one field doesn't change your saved defaults.
When you leave the auto-filled tax as it is, the deal keeps the breakdown behind it (the state line, the county line, the amounts each came to), so a state return later can still see the split as it was on the day. A tax amount you typed by hand keeps no breakdown, because nobody knows what it was computed from.
Once you type in the Tax (optional) field on a deal, it stops auto-updating. After that, changing the selling price, the trade-in or the buyer's county won't recalculate tax for you, so fix the tax amount by hand. To get auto-tax back, start over on a fresh New deal form (a new form recalculates from your defaults).
A doc fee or other fee set to 0 shows the field's placeholder instead of 0.00 on a new deal. That's normal: a 0 default means "no pre-fill," so the field starts empty and you can leave it blank.
FAQ
Where do the state rates come from?
From each state's own revenue department, motor vehicle agency or statute, read in September 2026. The state by state page lists every state's shape, which address decides the local rate, the trade-in rule and how sure we are. Where we could not verify a rule from an official source, the Sales tax card says so and asks you to check the schedule against your state's guidance.
My county's rate is not in the list, or it changed.
County tables are dated; the card says which edition it uses. If your county's rate changed, or your state has no table and you type the rate, enter the current rate you look up on your state's site (the card links the state's rate finder where there is one). Tell us about a changed table so we update it.
Should I turn on "Trade-in reduces taxable amount"?
Picking your state answers this: most states grant a trade-in tax credit, a few grant none (California, Virginia, Hawaii, the District of Columbia among them), Michigan caps it at an amount that rises every January, and Ohio credits a trade-in on a new vehicle only. The card shows the rule and the note behind it. When the switch is on, the trade allowance is subtracted from the price before tax; when it's off, tax is figured on the full price. Either way, the full trade allowance still reduces what the buyer owes.
Why is the issuing state locked or empty?
You can only pick states where you have a location set up. If the dropdown says No state available, add a location with a state under Settings → Locations first. Florida is supported today; more states are added over time.
Do these defaults change taxes on deals I already created?
No. They pre-fill new deals at the moment you create them. Existing deals keep whatever fees and tax they were saved with.
Can a salesperson change the defaults?
No. Setting the defaults is Owner or Manager only. A salesperson still sees the pre-filled doc fee, other fees, and auto-tax on a new deal and can override them on that deal, but the Save defaults action here is rejected for them.
The pre-filled tax looks wrong on a deal.
Open Settings → Deal defaults and read What a new deal will charge: each line says its rate and the slice of the price it applies to. Check the county or local rate, and the Trade-in reduces taxable amount switch. Also remember: if someone already typed in the Tax (optional) field on that deal, it stopped auto-calculating; and if the schedule is empty, tax doesn't auto-fill at all.