Tax
Tax — simple guide for claimed shop owners
Calculate and manage tax obligations (GST / VAT / Sales Tax) — a plain-English owner’s guide to the Tax page in your DialMyStore dashboard.
What this page is for
Use the Tax page to see a clear breakdown of taxes collected from your sales over a date range, split by tax type (GST, VAT, Sales Tax), component (CGST / SGST / IGST for India), rate bands, and time buckets (daily / weekly). It helps you prepare for filings, reconcile collected tax vs receipts, and identify taxable items and exceptions.
Why this matters: accurate tax summaries reduce filing mistakes, speed up reconciliation, and help you avoid late-payment penalties.
Top summary (what you see immediately)
Total sales amount for the selected period.
Total tax collected (sum of all taxes).
Breakdown by tax type — GST (cgst/sgst/igst), VAT, Sales Tax, and untaxed items.
Charts showing tax collection over time (daily or weekly depending on range).
Monthly comparisons (current vs previous month totals).
Paginated sales table — view individual sales records used to compute the summary.
Do this now: pick the filing period (start & end date) you need and run the report; export or copy those totals into your tax return worksheet.
How it works — step-by-step
Open the page: Dashboard → Store Operations → Tax.
Select period: choose
start_dateandend_date. Default is current month.Optional filters: choose
tax_type(gst, vat, sales_tax, none) to focus the report.Run report: the system pulls sales (DailySale entries) and product tax metadata for the shop tenant.
How shop location matters: the report uses your shop’s latitude/longitude to determine your shop state via reverse-geocoding — this decides whether GST is intra-state (CGST+SGST) or inter-state (IGST).
Read results: totals, rate-wise aggregates, charts, and the per-sale table are shown.
Drill down: click a sale row to inspect items, tax lines, and product-level tax settings (if available).
Use outputs: copy totals to your filing template or export if export exists.
Plain formulas (how the numbers are calculated)
Tax amount (general):
tax = item_subtotal × (tax_rate / 100)GST split (intra-state):
cgst = tax / 2sgst = tax / 2
GST (inter-state):
igst = tax
Sale-level totals:
sale.tax_amountis sum of tax for all items in that sale.Report totals: sums of per-item / per-sale tax amounts grouped by rate & tax type.
(When product tax settings exist, the product’s tax_type and tax_rate take precedence over line-level values.)
Examples (practical)
GST intra-state (shop & customer in same state)
Item subtotal = ₹1,000; tax_rate = 18%
Tax = 1,000 × 0.18 = ₹180 → CGST = ₹90, SGST = ₹90
GST inter-state (customer in different state)
Same subtotal & rate → IGST = ₹180
VAT / Sales tax (non-India)
Item subtotal = 500, tax_rate = 12% → Tax = ₹60 (stored under VAT or Sales Tax bucket)
Non-taxable item
tax_type = none → tax = 0; still counted in total sales but not in tax totals
Charts & aggregation logic (what you’ll see and why)
Aggregation period:
If date range > 30 days → data grouped weekly.
Else → data grouped daily.
Chart lines: CGST, SGST, IGST, VAT, Sales Tax plotted over the chosen buckets.
Monthly snapshots: current vs previous month totals to spot changes.
Why this matters: choose the right range to spot trends (e.g., weekly view to see promotion impacts, daily view to trace a single-day spike).
Practical tips for shop owners
Ensure products have tax settings (tax_type & tax_rate) in your product catalog — this makes the tax report accurate automatically.
Record customer state (or shipping state) when selling online — the report depends on customer_state to decide intra/inter-state GST.
Double-check large refunds/credit notes — they reduce net tax due and must be included in reconciliation.
Note timestamps & timezone when reconciling to bank statements — report shows server timestamps.
Use the date-range feature to prepare periodic returns (monthly/quarterly) and compare periods.
Edge cases & limitations (what to watch for)
Shop state undetermined: the controller uses reverse-geocoding (Nominatim) on shop coordinates. If coordinates are missing/incorrect, state detection fails and IGST may be applied by default — verify your shop location.
Missing product records: where a sale line lacks SKU or product mapping, line-level tax_rate/type is used or the item may default to
none. Manually check those items.Refunds / negative sales: the report adds/subtracts tax as recorded; refunds must be recorded correctly in DailySale to reflect reduced tax liability.
Rounding differences: per-item rounding vs. per-invoice rounding can cause small discrepancies — keep original invoices for audit.
Tax rules vary by country: this page supports GST splitting logic for India plus VAT/Sales Tax buckets — consult your accountant for local rules (e.g., exemptions, reverse-charge, composition scheme).
Quick troubleshooting (common issues & fixes)
“Unable to determine shop location for tax calculation”
Fix: update shop latitude/longitude in Shop profile, then re-run the report.
Tax totals don’t match accounting software
Check: date range, returns/refunds, and whether your accounting uses accrual vs cash basis. Export sale rows and reconcile one-by-one if needed.
Some items show as tax_type
noneunexpectedlyCheck: product master (Products collection) — tax_type or tax_rate may be missing or mismatched SKU. Update product tax settings.
Chart shows zeros or missing labels
Check: filters applied (tax_type) and aggregation period — ensure start and end dates are set and valid.
Tax rate looks wrong for an item
Check: product-level tax override; if product exists, its tax fields override line data.
Filing & reconciliation checklist (what to prepare from this page)
Select the filing period and run the report.
Record these numbers for your return:
Total sales (for period)
Total taxable value per tax rate (subtotals)
Total CGST / SGST / IGST / VAT / Sales Tax collected
Number of taxable items / transactions (for internal audit)
Export or copy per-sale records for any entries > threshold or disputed items.
Verify all refunds / credit notes are included and dated within the same filing period.
Save the report snapshot (date/time) and the exchange rate used if any foreign currency amounts are present.
Action plan — 30 / 60 / 90 minutes
30 minutes
Run tax report for the last completed filing period. Note totals.
Spot-check top 5 sales records for correct tax_type and tax_rate.
60 minutes
Fix any product tax configuration errors (missing tax_type/tax_rate).
Re-run report and save snapshot for filing.
90 minutes
Reconcile tax totals with POS/bank receipts and create a one-page summary for your accountant.
FAQ (quick answers)
Q: How does the system decide CGST vs IGST?
A: It compares your shop’s state (reverse-geocoded from shop coordinates) with the customer_state on each sale. Same state → CGST+SGST split. Different or unknown → IGST.
Q: My shop is outside India. Will GST logic affect me? A: For non-India shops, GST logic will not apply — the report will still classify items under VAT or Sales Tax as recorded.
Q: Where do tax rates come from?
A: Preferably from product settings (Products collection). If missing, line-level tax_rate in the sale is used as fallback.
Q: Dates seem off — which timezone is used? A: The report uses server timestamps; confirm timezone settings when reconciling with bank statements.
Q: Refunds not reflected in totals? A: Refunds must be recorded as sales with negative totals or via Credit Notes so they are included in the aggregated totals.
Who should use this page and how often
Shop owner / manager: weekly checks leading up to filing deadlines; monthly reconciliation.
Accountant / bookkeeper: daily/weekly for high-volume shops; monthly for filing and reconciliation.
Store supervisors: spot checks after promotions or return-heavy days.
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