New CereTax SmartResearch. AI tax research. Cited answers. SmartResearch. Cited answers. SmartResearch. Learn more
New CereTax SmartResearch. AI tax research. Cited answers. SmartResearch. Cited answers. SmartResearch. Learn more
Construction
Materials bought in one state and installed in another. Lump-sum and separated contracts. Exempt owners, self-performed work, prefabrication, and vendor invoices that arrive with the wrong tax or none at all. CereTax calculates sales and use tax on every purchase and every billing line at the job site's exact location, so contractors accrue the right use tax, apply project exemptions correctly, and keep a record an auditor can trace.
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Give each job its state, its job site address, its contract type, and its owner's exemption status. CereTax applies those rules to every purchase and billing line on that job, so the accounts payable team stops making the call invoice by invoice.
CereTax checks each vendor invoice line in accounts payable, compares the tax charged with the tax owed, and accrues use tax where the vendor charged none. Overcharges get flagged before you pay them.
CereTax sources every transaction to the parcel where the work happens and applies the city, county, and special district rates in force there. One ZIP code can cross several taxing districts, and auditors now check rates with parcel-level mapping tools.
Separated contracts, pass-through exemptions, materials fabricated in one state and installed in another. Bring the scenario to a CereTax tax professional and get an answer with the rule behind it.
In most states the contractor is the end user of the materials it installs, so tax falls on the purchase, at the rate in force where the materials are used. When the contract type, the owner, or the state changes that rule, the answer changes with it. CereTax applies the right rule to each line and keeps the record.
Connect accounts payable to CereTax through the API or a batch file. Each vendor invoice line comes back with one of three answers: the vendor charged the right tax, the vendor charged tax that was not due, or the vendor charged no tax and use tax accrues to the project's general ledger account.
CereTax calculates the tax due where the materials are used and applies any credit for sales tax already paid to the state of purchase. The result shows at the time of purchase, so the project team sees the cost before it reaches the budget, and no one finds it in an audit a year later.
Store the owner's exemption certificate once in SmartExempt and link it to the project. In states with a pass-through exemption, CereTax treats the project's material purchases as exempt; where a state has no pass-through, it applies that state's rule for contractor purchases on exempt jobs. Every exempt transaction keeps the certificate that supported it.
Resources
Read how contractors handle sales and use tax across contract types, states, and job sites.
Questions
Here are the questions we hear most from businesses like yours.
In most states, no. The contractor is the end user of the materials it installs, so it pays sales tax when it buys them or accrues use tax, and the charge to the owner carries no tax. A few states tax construction work itself, including Washington, Arizona, and, for nonresidential repair and remodeling, Texas. CereTax applies the rule in force for the state and the kind of work.
A lump-sum contract prices materials and labor as one amount. In most states the contractor pays tax on the materials it buys and charges the owner no tax. A separated contract states materials and labor as separate charges. In states such as Texas, the contractor then buys materials for resale and collects tax from the owner on the materials charge, which lets an exempt owner's exemption pass through. CereTax applies the treatment that matches the contract type on each project.
Use tax is owed when a contractor buys taxable materials without paying sales tax, such as from an out-of-state vendor, and uses them on a job. The rate is the one in force where the materials are used, and most states credit sales tax already paid to another state. CereTax checks every vendor invoice line in accounts payable, accrues use tax where the vendor charged none, and records the credit where one applies.
Yes. CereTax sources each transaction to the rooftop, so the rate reflects the city, county, and special district where the job site stands. One ZIP code can cross several taxing districts, and auditors now check rates with parcel-level mapping tools.
Store the owner's exemption certificate in SmartExempt and link it to the project. In states with a pass-through exemption, CereTax treats the project's material purchases as exempt. In states without one, it applies the state's rule for contractor purchases on exempt jobs. Every exempt transaction keeps the certificate that supported it, so the certificate is on file when an auditor asks for it.
CereTax calculates the tax due where the materials are used and applies any credit for sales tax paid to the state of purchase. If the destination project is exempt, the engine applies the exemption and records the reason. The result shows at the time of purchase, so the project team sees the cost before it reaches the budget.
Yes. CereTax connects through its API or batch upload to purchasing, accounts payable, and ERP platforms, including Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, and QuickBooks, and returns the result to the record your team already works in. Construction-specific ERPs connect through the same API or a scheduled batch file.
Yes. Each project carries its state, job site address, contract type, and owner exemption status. CereTax applies those settings to every purchase and billing line on the project, through the API at invoice time or through a scheduled batch feed.
Every calculation is stored at the transaction level with the jurisdiction, the rule applied, the rate, and the certificate if one applied. An auditor can trace an accrual back to the invoice line, and your team can export the record by project, state, or period.
Most deployments take less than 90 days, and prebuilt integrations connect in days. A common starting point is use tax on purchases, where the volume is, with sales tax on billing added afterward.
Sales tax automation for complex, high-volume transactions.
Complex tax. Calculated correctly.
