Understanding affidavits in CertCapture
Affidavits are used to provide your customer with temporary exempt status when they cannot immediately provide an exemption certificate. A signed and submitted affidavit is saved and associated with your customer's account, and serves as a placeholder document granting temporary exemption to the customer for the period defined in your CertCapture settings. Once the customer sends you an exemption certificate, it is associated with the customer's account and the exemption is active for the period defined by the exemption matrix.
Unlike certificates and affidavits, document requests do not exempt purchases. Instead, send a request to a customer to outline the state or federal documents you need to grant an exemption. Requests may be presented to customers as part of in-store or eCommerce transactions. Unless otherwise mapped, exposure zones in the exemption matrix default to the Request form type.
Differences between affidavits and exemption certificates
Question | Certificate | Affidavit | Document request |
---|---|---|---|
Does the document grant tax exempt status in CertCapture? | Yes, if valid. | Yes, temporarily. Expiration period is determined by your settings. | No |
Is the document defensible in an audit? | Yes, if valid. | No | No |
Is the document saved with the customer record? | Yes | Yes | No |
Does the document receive a Certificate ID? | Yes | Yes | No |
Is the document stored in customer history? | Yes | Yes | No |
Can the document be validated/submitted to Stack? | Yes | Yes | No |
Does the document require a signature for submission by CertCapture for Retail or API? | Yes | Yes | No |
Is this template available in the exemption matrix? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Can the document be attached to a single request/campaign? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Is the document available in API, CertCapture for Retail, and CertExpress? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Is the bar code functionality required for this document? | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Does this document require two or more interactions with my customer? | No, unless the certificate is invalid. | Yes. Requires follow up documents. | Yes. Requires follow up documents. |
Does the document have information on next steps? | No | Yes | Yes |
What settings govern the exemption period? | Exemption Matrix settings. | Company Settings. | None. Doesn't act like a certificate. |