Differences between SuiteTax and Legacy Tax
There are two NetSuite implementations that are currently available for taxes, SuiteTax and Legacy Tax. A new NetSuite implementation can be set up to use SuiteTax. An existing NetSuite implementation that uses legacy tax can be migrated to use SuiteTax.
SuiteTax is an account-level feature that applies to the whole NetSuite account and not to selected subsidiaries.
SuiteTax is a non-reversible feature and when enabled, it cannot be disabled. Please consider any incompatible features before deciding to implement SuiteTax in your account. To learn more about SuiteTax limitations, see Known Limitations of SuiteTax.
The tables below show the differences between legacy tax and SuiteTax in supporting different features. The tables also specify which additional bundles or SuiteApps are needed to use the features in SuiteTax.
Generic features
Feature Name |
SuiteTax |
Legacy Tax |
Required Bundle or SuiteApp |
Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tax registrations at subsidiary level |
Multiple |
Single |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
In SuiteTax, you can associate multiple tax registration numbers to your subsidiary. |
Tax jurisdiction (nexus) – effective dates |
Yes |
No |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Nexus level tax exemption |
Yes |
No |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
In SuiteTax, you can disable tax calculation and skip tax engine setup. |
Tax registrations on customer or vendor records |
Multiple |
Single |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Tax rate change history |
Yes |
No |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Nexus determination |
Considers ship to, location, billing, or subsidiary addresses |
Based on ship to address only |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Nexus and tax details override |
Yes |
No |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
In SuiteTax, transaction nexus and tax details can be overridden by the user. |
Withholding tax |
Yes |
Yes |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
In SuiteTax, withholding tax is supported using the special tax type "Does Not Add To Transaction". The calculation is triggered upon invoice or bill creation. |
Reverse charge with GL posting |
Yes |
Yes |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Non-deductible VAT (Post to Item Cost) |
Yes |
Yes |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Reverse charge – post non-deductible VAT to GL |
Yes |
No |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Tax on sales and purchases summary and detail reports (search-based reporting ) |
Yes |
Yes |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Tax reporting basis |
Accruals only |
Cash or accruals at nexus level |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
— |
Tax reporting basis |
Tax point date, accounting periods |
Transaction date, tax periods |
No bundle or SuiteApp required |
Item fulfillment taken into account in SuiteTax |
Provisioning tax codes, tax groups, tax rates, and tax agencies |
112 countries, including any changes |
40 countries, provisioned at set up |
|
Tax records provisioning:
|
Monthly tax rate updates |
112 countries |
US only (each state manually updated) |
|
Excludes Brazil and India tax rates |
Tax ID format validation (not EU countries) |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax Engine |
Predefined format for more than 20 countries |
Tax determination and calculation |
Yes |
Yes |
SuiteTax Engine |
Supports ZIP+4, origin and destination based tax determination, and intrastate and interstate sale for the USA |
Reference plug-in for generic tax calculation and custom records for tax determination |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax LATAM Engine |
Enables calculation setup for taxes, such as value added tax (VAT), withholding tax, and others. |
Generic VAT Features
Feature Name |
SuiteTax |
Legacy Tax |
Required Bundle/SuiteApp |
Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nexus default tax codes, item tax schedules |
Yes |
Yes |
SuiteTax Engine |
Default tax codes for domestic, intracommunity, international transactions |
Prompt payment discounts |
Partial |
Yes |
SuiteTax Engine |
Supports prompt payment calculation and displaying it on the transaction. Tax adjustment for the prompt payment discount is entered manually |
Ability to add compliance text on sales forms |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Reporting – editable VAT country forms |
Yes |
No |
Tax Reporting Framework and Localization bundle/SuiteApp |
See Country Tax Reports in Tax Reporting Framework for a list of available localization bundles/SuiteApps in SuiteTax. |
Commerce Features
Feature Name |
SuiteTax |
Legacy Tax |
Required Bundle/SuiteApp |
Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
SuiteCommerce |
Yes |
Yes |
No Bundle/SuiteApp required. |
SuiteTax for the US and Canada is supported in SuiteCommerce since the 2019.1 release. |
SuiteCommerce Advanced |
Yes |
Yes |
No Bundle/SuiteApp required. |
SuiteTax for the US and Canada is supported in SuiteCommerce Advanced since the 2019.1 release. |
SiteBuilder |
No |
Yes |
No Bundle/SuiteApp required. |
You can only enable SuiteTax if SiteBuilder websites are inactive or their Web Site Scope is set to "Information and Catalog" or "Information Only". |
Country Specific Features
Feature Name |
Country/ |
SuiteTax |
Legacy Tax |
Required Bundle/ |
Details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exemption certificates, item exemption |
USA |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax Engine |
Non-taxability rules for items. Legacy tax only supports general level exemption. |
Tax ID validation EU countries |
EU |
Yes |
Yes |
SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Tax ID with address validation |
EU |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax Engine |
Returns an address linked to its tax ID and consultation number. |
EU One Stop Shop (OSS) |
EU |
Yes |
Yes |
SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Distance selling for B2C |
EU |
Yes |
No |
SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Triangulation |
EU |
No |
No |
— |
— |
GST, TDS, and TCS determination and calculation |
India |
Yes |
No |
India Localization SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Electronic invoicing and E-Way bill |
India |
Yes |
No |
India Localization SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Invoice QR codes |
India |
Yes |
No |
India Localization SuiteTax Engine |
— |
Predefined plug-in and records for tax calculation in Brazil |
Brazil |
Yes |
No |
|
— |
Predefined tax determination rules for specific taxation scenarios in Brazil |
Brazil |
Yes |
No |
|
— |
Predefined plug-in and records for tax calculation in Colombia |
Colombia |
Yes |
No |
|
— |
Predefined tax determination rules for specific taxation scenarios in Colombia |
Colombia |
Yes |
No |
|
— |