The quick answer
Preview Tax calculates the current order, but the saved order’s Tax Details is where you check its selected Nexus, registration, tax point date, and item-linked tax rows. Follow each Tax Details Reference, sum Tax Amount rather than repeated bases, and reconcile the rows to Tax Total. Review overrides and address inputs before explaining an unexpected result.
The screens use sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional; use your own records and values.
Before you start
Use a SuiteTax sales-order form with Preview Tax and Tax Details, an assigned tax engine, the relevant effective subsidiary registrations, and provisioned tax records. The customer and items must have taxable classifications with no applicable exemption in this example. The role needs sales-order, Preview Tax, and Tax Details access. Header Location supplies the origin; this example has no line locations, drop shipment, or multiple shipping routes. Redstone Facilities has a Texas receiving address; West Distribution is the California origin. The example order has three items totaling $1,297.00, with no discount or extra charges.
01. Check the order inputs
Create a sales order for Redstone Facilities under US Operations, dated 10/01/2026. Select West Distribution as Location and confirm its complete California address. Add Valve housing: 2 × $430 = $860; Mounting bracket: 4 × $85 = $340; and Sensor cable: 5 × $19.40 = $97. Confirm the $1,297 subtotal.
02. Confirm the destination and preview
On Shipping, choose Texas Receiving and check its full structured state and ZIP. Click Preview Tax. Read the Summary and Tax Total after the calculation finishes. This is still an unsaved preview; a populated amount alone does not establish the final transaction.
03. Read the saved nexus and rows
Save the order, reopen the saved result, and open Tax Details, and read Nexus, Subsidiary Tax Reg. Number, and Tax Point Date. Confirm the overrides are clear. Follow a line’s Tax Details Reference through its tax rows. Compare Tax Basis × Tax Rate with Tax Amount, allowing for rounding, then sum Tax Amount by tax type to reconcile the Summary. Do not add repeated Tax Basis or Net Amount as additional sales.
04. Compare the prepared Ohio order
Open SO-NX-204. Confirm the same subsidiary, date, currency, basket and clear overrides, plus complete Akron origin and Dayton destination addresses. Inspect its saved Tax Details and local tax code. In this configured intrastate Ohio example the local code follows the origin. That is an observed engine result, not a rule to apply to every tax engine. If your result differs, check addresses, registrations, effective tax rules, and overrides.
Product reference: Tax Details on Transactions in SuiteTax.
Common questions
What does Preview Tax prove?
It shows a calculation for the order’s current inputs. Save and inspect Tax Details before treating the result as the persisted transaction.
Why are there several tax rows for one item?
A single item can have multiple jurisdiction components under one Tax Details Reference. Sum the tax amounts, but do not count the repeated basis as separate sales.
Should I override an unexpected nexus?
First check the effective origin and destination, subsidiary registrations, tax point date, engine assignment, and existing overrides. Investigate the inputs before changing the result manually.