[GNC] Accounting for GST in Australia

[Stephen M. Butler]

On 7/7/21 8:33 AM, Michael or Penny Novack wrote:
> On 7/7/2021 7:41 AM, flywire wrote:
>> GST is only really supported if it's auto-calculated otherwise a user 
>> has
>> to enter twice the splits with the associated logic and keying 
>> errors. I've
>> only been using the Account Register for data entry.
>
> But GST in Australia appears to be a simple problem compared to "sales 
> tax" here. Which not only varies by state (with respect to rate) but 
> on what is or is not subject to the sales tax.

Here in Washington of the USA, sales tax is based on your address. I've 
seen houses sitting next to each other that are in different tax 
districts with different rates.  Most POS systems just go down to the 
zip code level so I have to pick the "most popular" tax rate for each 
zip code.  <<sigh>>
> This may be too much to expect from an ACCOUNTING system like gnucash 
> if we expect automation. Usually this sort of thing is handled by what 
> is called a POS system (point of sales) which builds the invoice of 
> sales receipt << it will have the total sales tax attributed to this 
> sale figured by adding up the sales tax on each item since whether 
> taxable or at what rate depends on the item >> Such systems also need 
> to make provision of "no tax" sales where the buyer has a certificate 
> of exemption on file with the vendor.
>
> Typically a POS system is paired with an accounting system. The latter 
> has only to be able to accept the transaction as created by the POS, 
> not figure it out.

Yes.  Now if I would only take the time to figure out the multi-split 
import.  But not enough sales to force me into making that effort!!  So 
far I just dump a report for the daily deposit showing the half-dozen 
amounts (splits) that make up the transaction and manually enter them.  
Usually I can take the last sale and duplicate it for the next one (with 
minor changes for the local tax and net deposit).
>
> Michael D Novack
--Steve