California Sales Tax Calculator

Calculates the numbers that you need for filing your California quarterly sales tax return (CDTFA-401) on the state web site, calculated from two basic Shopify reports. No apps or subscriptions are needed. Everything runs in your browser. Your CSV files are never uploaded anywhere; you can read this page's source code to confirm this.

The important part is the list of your total sales in each California taxable district, for example:

• $138 in San Diego County - Escondido
• $40 in Santa Clara County - San Jose
• $82 in Alameda County (outside of any city's tax district)
• ...

There's no single Shopify report that gives you this information, so it must be calculated by combining two reports.

What it calculates

• Line 1, Total (gross) sales
• Line A8, Sales in interstate or foreign commerce
• Line A9, Sales tax included in gross sales
• Line A10, Other deductions: shipping and delivery charges, plus sales through Shopify's Shop channel (where Shopify, as marketplace facilitator, collects and files the tax)
• Line B3, Returned taxable merchandise
• Taxable California sales for each district tax jurisdiction (county and city)

Getting the reports from Shopify

Both reports must cover the same date range: the calendar quarter you're filing for. Shopify changes its report menus from time to time, so names may differ slightly.

1. Sales report

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Analytics → Reports and open Total sales over time.
2. Set the date range to the quarter. Turn off the comparison period if one is selected.
3. Under Dimensions, add Sale ID, Order name and Shipping region. A time dimension such as Day or Month can be removed.
4. Under Metrics, make sure these are included: Gross sales, Discounts, Returns, Net sales, Shipping charges, Taxes, Total sales, Shipping returned, Taxes returned and Total returns. The three "returned" metrics are usually not there by default, and returns can't be handled correctly without them.

2. Tax report

1. Go to Analytics → Reports and open Taxes.
2. Set the same date range.
3. Under Dimensions, add Order name. Check that Tax name, Tax rate, Tax region, Tax country, Sales channel and Filed by channel are present (they normally are by default).

Tip: use Save as to keep each configured report, so next quarter you only need to change the date range.

3. Export each report

1. Click Export (it may be under the … menu).
2. Choose CSV.
3. Select All results from the data query.

4. Run it

Drag and drop both CSV files onto the box below.

Disclaimer

This is a calculation aid, not tax advice. Review the results, and the warnings it shows, before filing.