Sales tax should be by City

In California, sales tax is determined by the city, not the ZIP code. Because of this, setting up sales tax by ZIP code becomes extremely difficult—especially when rates change. A single ZIP code can cover multiple cities, which creates even more inconsistencies. As a result, we’ve essentially had to abandon the idea of configuring an automated sales tax setup.
We’re currently applying sales tax manually, but this creates the risk of forgetting or entering the wrong rate.
A better solution would be the ability to assign a sales tax list by city that auto‑applies based on the city field. Ideally, the system could even integrate directly with the state tax agency to maintain an up‑to‑date list of cities and their corresponding tax rates.

Shinelyn Manzano

March 06, 2026 09:24

I completely agree that relying on ZIP codes can lead to inaccuracies, especially when one ZIP code covers multiple cities. Applying sales tax manually is a practical temporary workaround, but it creates the risk of human error and missed taxes. Same thought with the suggested solution, a city-based tax configuration that automatically applies based on the city field would be a far more dependable approach. Direct integration with the state tax authority to maintain the current city tax rates would provide the most accurate and sustainable solution.

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