How is address validation handled differently between a Validate and GetTax method?

Overview

You want to know the what's different in an address validation via an API Validation and GetTax method.

Environment

AvaTax - API, SDK

Resolution

• Resolution of addresses during Validation
  • Explicit address validations are standalone address validation calls (meaning address validation only – no tax calculations) that are passed to AvaTax.
  • During the same call (or port opening), results are returned with a success and a corrected address is returned, if no ambiguous address information was passed.
    • 900 winslow way, bainbridge island, 98110 returns a correct address of 900 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110-2450
  • Otherwise, an error message (i.e. AddressRangeError) indicating the problem and summary details related to the address submitted, is returned.
    • Address validation results is a difficult process to pin down, as we're guided by addresses that appear in the United States Postal Service database. For example, if a new address (new construction within the past 6 months) hasn't been updated in this database, AvaTax can't return a corrected address (below) because it simply doesn't exist.
    • A typical validate address error results message:

Name: AddressRangeError
Severity: Error
Summary: The address number is out of range
Details: The address was found but the street number in the input address was not between the low and high range of the post office
database.
Source: Avalara.AvaTax.Services.Address
RefersTo: Address.Line1

• Resolution of Addresses during Tax Calculation: 
  • When you make a GetTax call to AvaTax, the tax calculation engine attempts to resolve the address with the best possible address data that can be gleaned from the address data that was provided.
  • If an address doesn't pass an explicit address validation, it may still be usable in a GetTax calculation.
    • The GetTax method doesn't require a full street address to be able to determine taxing jurisdictions.
    • While a fully validated street address is always better and more accurate, taxing jurisdictions can usually be unambiguously determined if, at a minimum, city, state and zip code are provided (and at least 2/3 are valid). This is called an implicit address validation.