Options for exempting customers from tax
There are different ways to manage tax-exempt customers and exemption certificates depending on how many exempt customers you have. If your business application doesn't provide a way to manage exempt customers, consider these options:
Avalara Exemption Certificate Management (ECM)
ECM is a subscription-based service in the Avalara platform.
- Exempt purchases from sales tax by associating exemption certificate information with your customers.
- Request updated exemption certificates from customers.
- Contact your Account Manager to discuss pricing tiers if you'd like to use ECM to store images of the exemption certificates you collect.
CertCapture
CertCapture is the most comprehensive solution for managing exemption certificates. However, it is an additional product that must be purchased separately.
- Use CertCapture with or without AvaTax.
- Store exemption information and official copies of exemption certificates for each customer.
- Collect, validate, and manage compliance documents in the cloud.
- Create campaigns to request missing certificates from customers in bulk and proactively prepare for audits.
- Collect certificates at checkout, through a secure web portal, or using a mobile app.
- Subscription includes access to the CertCapture REST API, the CertCapture eCommerce integration, and CertCapture Retail.
- Manage product-level exemptions with an active AvaTax subscription.
- Contact your Account Manager for more information.
Exemption certificate numbers or entity use codes
Keep track of tax-exempt customer purchases on a case-by-base basis. This works best when you have only a few tax-exempt customers and you're not using ECM or CertCapture. If you choose this option, it's up to you to keep organized records of all exempt purchases, including physical or digital copies of exemption certificates you collect from your customers.
- Enter your customer's exemption certificate number in the transaction you send to AvaTax.
AvaTax exempts the customer purchase from tax. - Enter an entity use code in the transaction you send to AvaTax.
AvaTax exempts the transaction as long as the code is valid for the region where the transaction takes place.