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The top three signs it’s time to look for a new sales tax solution

by Sarah Craig April 20, 2024

Please note: This blog was originally published in 2020. It’s since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

In a perfect world, your sales tax solution works seamlessly in the background to calculate, collect, and even remit sales tax for you. It should do this without error, and without causing your website load speed to decrease. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. 

Your business deserves a sales tax solution that works hard, and gets compliance right. That’s why we’re sharing the red flags that signal it’s time to evaluate alternative sales tax solutions.

A decrease in speed and performance

If you’ve noticed your website load time has slowed down, it might be time to check in on your sales tax provider’s performance. Chances are, if you’ve noticed a slower website speed, your customers have as well. This could happen because your sales tax provider’s API is too slow, or requires too many API calls. Related, it’s important to keep an eye on your vendor’s downtime. If your sales tax solution goes down, so does the ability to calculate and collect accurate sales tax from your customers. This could lead to you having to go back to customers and charge sales tax, or provide a refund if too much sales tax was collected. 

System performance and reliability are significant factors in choosing a sales tax vendor. For instance, on average, TaxJar’s sales tax API clocks in at sub-20ms for sales tax calculations with 99.99% uptime. Rate accuracy, system reliability, and speed are must-haves, especially for e-commerce retailers. A study by mPulse Mobile discovered that Walmart found a conversion increase of 2% for every 1 second improvement in page load time.

Poor customer service

Sales tax is complex, complicated, and unique for each business model. When your business has questions regarding your compliance, you need answers quickly. If you constantly find yourself struggling to get the answers you need from your current provider, it’s time to research alternative solutions. Look for a sales tax solution that offers an excellent customer experience from product to person. Whether you want to find an answer on your own or dig into details with an expert, your sales tax provider should offer you clear documentation, online learning, and email or phone support. 

A trusted solutions provider doesn’t skimp on the details and can get ahead of questions before you know you have them. They’ve seen it all and are ready for whatever; however, they’re not afraid to roll up their sleeves to help you solve edge cases. Your vendor shouldn’t only come into the picture when things break. Instead, they’ll equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to make sales tax simple for non-sales tax experts. 

Inaccurate rates and calculations

With thousands of sales tax jurisdictions across the US, the best sales tax solution seamlessly provides real-time, rooftop-level rates at checkout. Part of this means dedicating resources to keeping sales tax rates across states and localities up to date, which is challenging without a system or strategy in place. Additionally, a fully dedicated research team provides product tax code content to help you determine the taxability of your products – this ensures you’re charging the most applicable tax rates at checkout.

Imagine your customers seeing the wrong sales tax calculations at checkout or not being able to checkout if the tax calculation times out your checkout page. A poor sales tax experience at checkout could lead to lost revenue for your business. 

The TaxJar API and calculation engines apply rooftop-accurate rates, including state, county, city, and even special jurisdiction rates. Tax data is applied in real time, ensuring a smooth transaction for your customers. We stay abreast of tax rate changes on your behalf and implement these changes quickly. 

Find the right partner for your business

Don’t let your sales tax solution slow down your growing business. When evaluating new providers, doing your homework now will save you time and the switching costs of selecting the wrong vendor. Of course, no two paths towards sales tax compliance are identical, so your sales tax vendor should help you navigate your unique journey to compliance. 

TaxJar works with many growing SMB and mid-market companies across all industries. With innovative technology and award-winning support, we simplify sales tax compliance so you can grow with ease. If you want to learn more, start a free, 30-day TaxJar trial today.

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