What is a tax group?

Point of Sale (POS) Glossary

A tax group facilitates collecting more than one set of taxes under a single set of rules. For example, many retail items are subject to a state sales tax and a local sales tax. A ruleset can be defined in a point of sale system to apply to these items. This makes it easier to calculate the correct tax uniformly.

Some items may have different tax rules and tax rates, depending on a merchant’s physical location. Unprepared food may not be taxed at the same rate as prepared food, while restaurant food would require the business to collect the full tax. Taxes in a smaller area may be lower than those in a metropolitan region. These rules all vary locally and statewide. POS systems must accommodate all of these different tax rates, and tax groups simplify the process.