Understanding Taxability Information Codes (TICs)

A Taxability Information Code (TIC) is how you tell the TaxCloud tax engine exactly what your product or service is so it can apply the correct tax rules. The more specific the TIC, the more accurately TaxCloud can calculate and apply the correct tax rate.

When you assign a TIC to an item, our tax engine uses that code to determine:

• Sales and use tax rates for each jurisdiction
• Product or service exclusions (items that are partially or fully exempt)
• Special tax rules, including sales tax holidays and reduced rates for certain types of products

If You Don’t See a Matching TIC

If your product or service isn’t covered by an existing code, you have two options:

1. Request a new TIC: We strongly recommend that you request a new TIC for long-term accuracy and compliance. It ensures the TaxCloud tax engine knows exactly what the product is and can apply all current and future tax rules.
2. Use TIC 0 (“General Merchandise”): Use only as a last resort if the product is always fully taxable in every state. This provides no product-specific details, so no special rules, reduced rates, or future law changes for certain types of products will ever apply. Avoid TIC 0 if the item might ever qualify for exemptions or special tax rates.

By selecting a specific TIC —and reserving TIC 0 strictly as a backup or default for the full sales tax rate for that jurisdiction —you give the TaxCloud tax engine the information it needs to calculate the right tax rate now and as tax laws evolve.

:::info Can’t find a TIC code that fits? Request one by contacting your Onboarding Specialist or Customer Support.

:::

When to select a TIC

If your products are not fully taxable in all 45 sales tax states all the time (for example, they have some tax exclusion in one or more states, or qualify for reduced rates or Sales Tax Holidays), then select the TIC from the catalog that most closely matches your product.

This tells the TaxCloud system to tax that product appropriately based on the destination address of the sale.

:::info Note: While we can’t advise you on which code your product or service should use, if no code exists and the item isn’t taxed at a special rate, you can leave the TIC blank. In that case, the item will be treated as fully taxable goods, always taxed.

:::

Where Do I Set My TICs?

How you set Taxability Information Codes (TICs) depends on your integration and whether your catalog fits into one category or requires product-level detail.

:::info Note: I**f you have any TIC set for a specific product, that product will use that TIC and not what is set at the integration level. The integration default TIC setting only applies when there's no TIC in the individual product level.

:::

What TIC(s) are currently available on TaxCloud?

You can explore available TICs and look up codes for specific products directly in TaxCloud:

1. Access the TIC Lookup Tool: From the Integration Details screen under the Overview tab, locate the TIC field and click the link labeled Need help finding your TIC? Click here….

   

   This action opens the Taxability Information Codes reference directory in a modal.

   

2. Search for Specific Categories: Enter a category name (e.g., "jewelry") in the search field to filter the catalog or if you want to confirm if a TIC fits your product category, enter the code here.

   

Alternatively, the nested articles below list all of the TICs available to be used for an item/service that you sell based on their categories.