Some states place a tax on vessels called an "Excise Tax", and that tax must be paid before applications involving that vessel can be approved. We can show an indicator if any tax still needs to be paid on the vessel. This tax can be paid through Online Mooring if desired.
Configuration > Settings
There is a section of the settings page with the heading "Tax Setup"
Tax Application Type
If you do not want to show a tax status indicator, leave this field blank.
If you do want to show a tax status indicator, then you'll need to create an application type that can be used by boaters to review and pay their excise tax. This is doesn't mean that your boaters need to use this online application to pay their excise tax, nor does it mean that this application needs to be even visible to boaters. But we'll use this application type to store information about excise tax charges and payments about each vessel that is subject to excise tax.
Tax Registration Prefix
If the excise tax is only applicable to vessels that are registered in a specific state, then enter the registration prefix for that state. For example, in Massachusetts, you'd enter MS to let us know that excise tax is only due on boats where the registration starts with MS.
Tax Month
If you want to indicate that no excise tax is due on vessels purchased after the tax bills went out, fill out the month number when the bills go out. For example, if your excise tax bills go out on July 1st, enter 7 in this field.
Import/Export
If excise tax charges and/or payments are recorded in another system, you can import that information. If you allow boaters to pay their Excise tax using Online Mooring, you can export that information.
For now, you'll need to import the information in three steps:
1) Use an "Application" import to record the vessel that is being taxed.
2) Use an "Action" import to record the tax amount and tax date, using the "Renewal Submitted" action.
3) Use a "Payment" import to record any payments received, specifying the date and amount.
To export, you can likely export in one step:1) Use a "Payment" export to record any payments received for
Paying Excise Tax in Online Mooring
You have two option:
Don't allow
If you don't want boaters to pay their excise tax through Online Mooring, make the Tax application hidden, by going to Configuration > Applications > Application Types.
Allow
If you want to allow boaters to pay, make the Tax application visible.
Boaters can then go to the Online Mooring home page for your harbor, and bring up their information in the My Applications area. The boater can view the tax bill in the My Applications area by entering an access code (provided by you), entering the e-mail or mobile number you have on file, or entering the registration number. Then they can click the Pay button to pay the bill.
If you have an e-mail address on file with the tax bill, you can generate e-mails that include a Pay button to take the boater directly to PayPal.
Preventing Applications when Tax is Due
If you'd like, you can prevent boaters from submitting an application for a vessel that has an outstanding tax.
Be aware that unless all payments go through Online Mooring, the tax payment status may be slightly out-of-date. For example, if the tax was paid directly to a tax collector, and entered into the tax collector's database, Online Mooring will not know about that payment until the information from the tax collector database has been imported into Online Mooring.
If you want to do this, you can specify in Configuration > Actions > Validation which actions on which application types require the tax to be paid. For example, you might want to indicate that a Renewal Submitted action on a Mooring Permit will generate an Error if the Tax Payment Status is red.