How a shipment check works
Every order Pinrates sees goes through the same checks before it ships, and the check is free. Here is one California order, from the moment it's placed to the record it leaves behind.
1An order comes in
A customer in California buys a bottle. The order, with the delivery address, the wines and the quantities, reaches Pinrates through our API when it's placed, or with your next order import. Nothing has been checked yet.
2The license check
Can this winery ship to this state, and is the business shipping it licensed there? Pinrates checks the licenses on file. If your fulfillment partner's license is what covers the shipment, it confirms that license is current.
With no license in force, the order is stopped and doesn't ship.
3The product and buyer check
Is the wine allowed in this state, can the address receive it, is the buyer 21 and verified, and is the order within the state's yearly limit for this buyer? This buyer has received 4 of their 12 bottles this year, so the order is clear, and it is counted.
At 12 of 12 bottles, the order is stopped: the buyer has reached the yearly limit.
4The tax check
Tax is calculated from the delivery address itself, not just the ZIP code. The state, county and district rates in effect on the order date are added together, and the excise rate follows the wine's alcohol content. Each rate used is recorded with its date and its source.
If the address can't be placed, Pinrates says what it needs instead of guessing.
5The record
Pinrates saves the result and the tax, line by line, with the rates it used. Those are the figures your return is built from, so every line on it can be traced back to the orders.
Each figure links to the rate and source in effect on the sale date.
6Two years later, a state asks
A notice questions the tax on this order. You look the order up in Pinrates and get the same answer it gave the day it shipped, with the same rates and their sources, ready to send to the state.