Watch: How to set your sales tax rate in SalesThumb (0:46)
SalesThumb calculates sales tax with one manual rate you set — there's no automatic jurisdiction lookup. Here's how to set it up and how the tax-exempt customer roster works.
Set your rate, label, and registration ID
Go to Settings → Sales Tax. Under "Tax rate & label," enter your Default tax rate as a percentage (e.g. 8.25). Up to three decimal places are kept (8.375% saves as 8.375%), and the rate is capped at 20%. Just type the percentage you charge.
This rate applies to new quotes and invoices going forward, and can still be overridden on an individual quote if a specific job needs a different number. The page also lists a few reference rates (NV 8.375%, CA 7.25%, TX 6.25%, NY 4%) as a sanity check — it doesn't detect your actual jurisdiction for you.
Tax label controls what the tax line is called on the in-app quote, invoice, and Quick Sale screens — leave it as "Sales Tax" or change it to something like "GST," "VAT," or "TVQ." (The downloadable invoice PDF currently prints a plain "Tax" line either way.) Tax registration ID is saved with your tax settings but does not currently print on invoice PDFs.
Click "Save Tax Settings" at the bottom to apply changes. You'll see a brief "Saved" confirmation.
Managing tax-exempt customers
The "Tax-exempt customers" table on this page is a roster, not where exemptions get created. To add someone, go to their customer profile and toggle "Tax-exempt" there — they'll then appear here. This page is where you maintain the supporting details afterward: click the pencil icon on a row to edit the Reason (Resale, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Government, Out-of-state, or Other), enter the Certificate number, attach a Certificate URL — a link to wherever you've stored the signed exemption form (R2, Dropbox, etc.; SalesThumb doesn't host the file itself) — and set an expiration date.
Exempt customers get a $0 tax line only while their certificate is current: a certificate number must be on file, and the expiration date (if you set one) must not have passed. Without a current certificate, tax is charged at your normal rate. The customer's Sales tax card, this roster, the web Quick Sale and Package Builder screens, and the mobile app's Quick Sale, new-quote and new-invoice screens show "Tax-exempt certificate missing or expired — tax charged" so you can collect a renewed certificate. Each invoice that was zero-rated records the certificate number and expiration that covered it. Rows with no certificate number or link show a warning, and certificates are flagged as they approach expiration — amber once you're inside 30 days, red once the date has passed — so you can catch lapsed paperwork before it costs you.
To remove someone's exemption, either open their row's edit dialog here, uncheck "Tax-exempt customer," and save, or go back to their customer profile and switch off the "Tax-exempt" toggle there — both immediately clear the exemption and its supporting details.
Memberships and services
Memberships (Pro plan) aren't billed by SalesThumb — it tracks members and their benefits, and there is no recurring membership charge. Anything you charge for a membership goes on a regular invoice and is taxed like any other line (switch that line's Taxable toggle off if your state doesn't tax it).
For a breakdown of tax collected over time, use the "View sales-tax reports" link on this page.