Sales Tax with GnuCash

[Zhang Weiwu]

Sorry for my top posting.

Thanks for explaining me the Sales Tax is a liability, and such in time!

Ironically, 3 years ago I choose to use GnuCash to manage both of my
personal accounting and business accounting, and found GnuCash too
troublesome for my personal accounting, and switched to use a
mobile-phone based accounting software for personal accounting, keeping
GnuCash only for business. In the intention gnucash want to be personal
account, perhaps I should add in 2.4 wish list that at least I
personally want to see mobile phone integration. I know this might be
opposite to the direction gnucash 2.4 is heading, because it feels to me
mobile application tends to be lighter where gnucash is moving heavier.

Under your description I see Tax is reasonable to be of Expense type,
however in such case it cannot be credited. Thus it makes sense that IF
Tax Table is used, user should not choose Sales Tax as Tax Account
unless it is of Liability type. Do you agree with this? If you agree, it
makes it a valid request for feature to prevent user choose an Expense
type account as Tax Account, unless Tax Table offer to debit (instead of
credit) tax if user choose an Expense account for Tax Account.

在 2009-12-31四的 17:20 -0800，Pablo Francesca写道：
> Its my understanding that Gnucash is primarily a personal accounting
> software, albeit one capable of handling most business accounting
> needs.  The Sales Tax issue you raise arises-at least if I understand
> you properly-because Sales Tax from a personal accounting perspective
> is an Expense account.  If you pay for something, you may wish to
> record its actual cost as separate from its total cost.  Most/some
> people won't do this.  If you are not interested in recording how much
> sales tax you pay as a consumer each year, it seems mostly
> unnecessary.
> 
> From a business perspective, Sales Tax (at least as far as I
> understand it) is a liability.  You are collecting assets which are
> not owned by the business, they are claimed by the government.  An
> Accounts Payable situation seems best described as the transfer of
> assets for which you do control and own, but for which you have yet
> paid.  Since Accounts Payable is still a liability, I dont think it
> matters to which account you post your Sales Tax; thus, as long as the
> account is a liability, the point is moot or pedantic.
> 
> Again, if Gnucash is designed primarily for personal accounting, it
> seems that Sales Tax should indeed be an expense.
> 
> --- On Thu, 12/31/09, Zhang Weiwu <zhangweiwu at realss.com> wrote:
>         
>         From: Zhang Weiwu <zhangweiwu at realss.com>
>         Subject: Re: Sales Tax with GnuCash
>         To: "Pablo Francesca" <rshgeneral at yahoo.com>
>         Cc: gnucash-user at lists.gnucash.org, "J. Anthony Hertzler"
>         <plant.sequoias at gmail.com>
>         Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 5:38 PM
>         
>         在 2009-12-12六的 19:14 -0800，Pablo Francesca写道：
>         
>         > This next step is crucial. Select an account from the
>         Account list box.  This is the account where the sales taxes
>         will  be posted. This is usually Liabilities: Sales Tax. After
>         you click OK, it will show up in the Tax Table Entries side of
>         the window for editing later if you need to do this.
>         
>         Your explanation enlightened me too, someone lurking in the
>         list.
> 
>