When expanding into new states, it is standard practice to set up additional sales tax nexus locations in your system.
After importing the relevant state tax codes and groups (SAID: 8045 Importing the State Sales Tax Table), everything may seem correctly configured. However, if tax still is not applying on transactions, there is one commonly overlooked step: assigning the new nexus states to the appropriate subsidiaries.
In systems like NetSuite, newly added nexus states are not automatically linked to all subsidiaries. Each nexus must be manually assigned to the specific subsidiaries that operate in those states. Without this link, the system doesn’t recognize that the subsidiary has tax obligations there and as a result, no tax will be applied on transactions.
How to Fix It:
1. Navigate to Setup > Company > Subsidiary.
2. Click Edit to modify the subsidiary.
3. Go to Nexus sub-tab.
4. On the dropdown list, Add the newly created nexus applicable to that subsidiary.
5. Click Save to apply the changes.
After this step, create a transaction (e.g., sales order) in one of the newly added nexus states. The appropriate sales tax item should now populate as expected.