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Tally-Up! Tips and Tricks
Maintaining Tally-Up! Local Taxes
Many folks have asked about managing their Tally-Up! Local
tax codes. Unlike Federal taxes, which are included in
the Tally-Up! program, and State taxes, which we maintain
for you, the Local tax codes and rates have always been
maintained by the user. This is because many users prefer to
name and code their localities themselves.
If you need help in maintaining your Tally-Up! Local taxes,
feel free to call us, and we will "walk you through
it." If you want to do it yourself, here is a detailed
set of instructions you can use.
There are two Tally-Up! menu items used to manage Local
taxes. They are found under Housekeeping --> Tax Tables.
The first menu item is "Local Codes and
Specifications." This is where your local taxing
authorities are defined. Most of the time, this menu item is
the only one you will need.
The second menu item is "Local Tax Rate Tables."
This item is not necessary for most localities. This item is
covered below.
Adding A New Locality
Let's assume that Guilford County, NC,
adopted a new income tax, with a flat rate of 0.5%, based on
North Carolina income and using North Carolina's tax rules.
Here's how you would set up Tally-Up! to accommodate this
new tax.
Defining The Locality
Select Housekeeping --> Tax Tables --> Local Codes and
Specifications
from the main Tally-Up! menu. You will see this screen.
This is the Local Tax Code List, where the Local tax sets
are created and named.
Click Add to bring up this "Local Tax Names" screen:
The "Code" field:
Enter the code that Tally-Up! will use to identify the tax
rate set. The code will appear in the Local tax "SmartList"
on the General Information page in the edit screens. The
code can be up to fifteen characters long, must be unique,
and can be made up of letters and/or numbers. This field
must be answered.
Let's enter GUILFORDNC.
The "Name" field:
Enter the name of the taxing authority associated with this
locality. This field also must be answered. It is used
in Table Reports and on the Summary Tax Report.
Let's enter Guilford County, NC.
The "Default State" field:
This field is optional. If a Default State code is entered
here, the Local ASB (Amount Subject Base) field in the
General Information Page of the Edit Screens will default to
this state code, if the To-State or From-State field
contains the default state before the local code is entered.
Even if the default state is loaded, you can change it.
This field can be useful if your company option is set to
"Allow From-State Grossups." If, for example, the
transferee is moving from Missouri to North Carolina, having
NC in this locality's Default State field will automatically
ensure that the correct state base is used.
The "SalBase" field:
You may enter either F, S, C or U in this field. "SalBase"
is short for Grossup Salary Base. It defines the total
income to consider when calculating the tax. Even though
this field must be answered, it is important only if the
locality has a graduated tax table based on the employee's
income.
Nearly all localities use state income for
this purpose. S causes this locality's Grossup Salary Base
to be calculated using the State Grossup Salary Base, F uses
the Federal Grossup Salary Base, C uses a Calculated field,
and U uses a User-defined field. Typing C or U will allow
you to select from a list of either Calculated or
User-defined fields. F, C and U are used rarely and
only under special circumstances. For example, if the
locality levies a tax based on Federal income, you would
enter F.
In this example, you would enter S.
The "AmtSb" field:
You may enter either F, S, C or U in this field. "AmtSb"
is short for Amount Subject to Grossup. It defines the
amount Tally-Up! will consider as taxable for Grossup
purposes. Nearly all localities use State tax rules for this
purpose. Like the SalBase field above, S uses State tax
rules, F uses the Federal tax rules, C uses a Calculated
field, and U uses a User-defined field. Typing C or U will
let you select from a list of either Calculated or
User-defined fields. F, C and U are used rarely and
only under special circumstances.
If, for instance, the locality exempts some income from
taxes, you would have to create a Calculated field
specifying the local rules, enter C, and select the
Calculated field from this list.
Again, for our example, you would enter S.
The "Table" and "FltRate" fields:
Use these fields to tell Tally-Up! what rate to use to
calculate the correct tax for this locality. You will use
either the "Table" or the "FltRate"
field, but never both.
Most localities tax at a flat rate, regardless of income.
However, some use tax tables that vary the tax rate based on
income. In order for this locality to calculate a tax,
you must either 1) enter a flat rate in the "FltRate"
field, or 2) specify one of the 108 possible tax rate tables
while the cursor is on the "Table" field.
If this locality uses a flat tax rate, leave the
"Table" zero, and type the tax rate in the "FltRate"
field as a percent (e.g., 0.5, not 0.005).
If this locality uses tax tables, you must leave the "FltRate"
zero and specify one of the 108 possible tax rate tables in
the "Table" field, and ensure that the table is
properly loaded through Housekeeping's "Local Tax Rate
Tables" option. To select a Local Rate table, you may
either enter a number from 1 to 108, or you may double-click
or type ? to select from the tables on file.
For our example, we would enter 0.50 in the "FltRate"
field.
Now, the "Local Tax Names" screen should look like
this:
When all fields have been filled, click the OK button to
save the data and bring the Local Tax Code List back.
Adding A New Local Tax Table.
As mentioned previously, most localities tax at a flat rate,
regardless of income. However, some use tax tables that vary
the tax rate based on income. This step is necessary only if
the locality uses tax tables.
Let's assume that our example Guilford County, NC, decided
that instead of a flat rate, the tax rate should be indexed
based on the taxpayer's income. They decide that people with
annual incomes under $10,000 would pay no tax, but all
others would pay 0.5%. In that case, we would need to create
a table and associate Guilford County, NC with it.
Here's how:
Select Housekeeping --> Tax Tables --> Local Tax Rate
Tables
from the main Tally-Up! menu. You will see this screen:
The left half of this screen has 108
numbered dots. The numbers will be in brackets (i.e., [1])
if the table is being used by one or more localities. Also,
if the table is being used, the localities using it will
appear at the lower-right corner when the dot is clicked.
Note that, although it is not recommended, more than one
locality can use the same table, if the table brackets and
rates are exactly identical. The reason we don't recommend
it is that if one locality changes its rules, it is easy to
forget that the table is used by another locality, and you
can unintentionally change both localities' rules.
Since we are adding a new table, we need to select an unused
table by clicking a dot with no brackets around the number.
Click the Edit button. The screen will change to look like
this:
Our example will need two brackets; one from $0 to $10,000
with no taxes, and one from $10,001 and higher with a 0.5%
tax rate.
The "Bracket Low" fields are loaded automatically
and cannot be changed.
At this point, the cursor will be on the top "Bracket
Low" field.
a. Tab to the "Bracket High" column and
type 10000
b. Tab again to the "Percent" column and
type 0.0
c. Tab again to the "Bracket High" column
and type 99999999
d. Tab again to the "Percent" column and
type 0.05
Now the table should look like this:
Click the Save button and confirm the
save.
You have created the local table. Note the table number,
click the Close button and go back to "Local Codes
and Specifications." Find the locality in the
list, and either double-click the line or click the Edit
button to bring up the "Local Tax Names" window.
Either:
Change the "FltRate" field to
zero, and type the number of the table you just created in
the "Table" field.
or
Double-click the "Table" field,
and select the table from the window that appears. The
selected table number will be loaded in the
"Table" field and the "FltRate" field
will be set to zero automatically.
That's it. Give it a try. If you have
any questions, just contact us.
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