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Sales (877) 282-5585
Chapter 4.3.7 - Safe Harbor Override
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Use the Safe Harbor Override (sovr) to apply traffic study TAM overrides to the CalcTaxes request.

The Safe Harbor Override allows you to adjust Federal traffic study percentages for:

  • Cellular
  • VoIP
  • Paging

Provide the following information for a Safe Harbor override:

  • Safe Harbor Type (sh)
  • Original Federal TAM (old)
  • New Federal TAM (new)

The Original and New Federal TAM values are decimals. For example, a 64.9% Federal TAM value is entered as “0.649”. The State TAM is calculated automatically (State TAM = 1.0 - Federal TAM).

Note

We recommend using a client profile with a custom configuration applied even though the CalcTaxes request gives you the flexibility to input Safe Harbor Override information for each transaction. This results in better performance from the AFC Tax Engine because your override settings are cached before tax calculation begins.

Why use a Safe Harbor Override?

Default federal safe harbor percentages are used by the AFC Tax Engine:

  • Cellular: 37.1%
  • VoIP: 64.9%
  • Paging: 12%

Override the federal safe harbor percentage based on the result of a traffic study. The state safe harbor percentage is calculated automatically based on the overridden federal percentage.

Safe Harbor Override Example

The VoIP safe harbor type (sh) is being overridden from the original Federal TAM (old) of 0.649 (64.9%) to your calculated Federal TAM (new) of 0.250 (25%).

{
"cmpn": {
"bscl": 0,
"svcl": 0,
"fclt": false,
"frch": false,
"reg": false
},
"inv": [
{
"doc": "TEST-VOIP INVOICE",
"cmmt": false,
"bill": {
"cnty": "San Francisco",
"ctry": "USA",
"int": true,
"geo": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"st": "CA",
"zip": "94102"
},
"cust": 0,
"lfln": false,
"date": "2018-04-01T12:00:00Z",
"itms": [
{
"ref": "Line Item 001 - VoIP/Access Charge",
"chg": 100,
"line": 0,
"sale": 1,
"incl": false,
"tran": 19,
"serv": 6,
"dbt": false,
"adj": false
},
{
"ref": "Line Item 002 - VoIP/Lines",
"chg": 0,
"line": 10,
"sale": 1,
"incl": false,
"tran": 19,
"serv": 21,
"dbt": false,
"adj": false
},
{
"ref": "Line Item 003 - VoIP/Equip Rental",
"chg": 25,
"line": 0,
"sale": 1,
"incl": false,
"tran": 19,
"serv": 37,
"dbt": false,
"adj": false
}
],
"invm": true,
"dtl": true,
"summ": true,
"opt": [
{
"key": "1",
"val": "VoIP Sample Line Items with TAM Traffic Study Override Invoice ABC-ZZZ"
}
]
}
],
"sovr": [
{
"sh": 2,
"old": 0.649,
"new": 0.250
}
]
}

Response

The result of the Safe Harbor override can be seen on Federal-level Tax Type IDs (tid) 162, 226:

  • Total Charge (tchg) is 25 based on the requested 100 charge (Total Charge is 64.90 without the Safe Harbor override)
  • Exempt Sale Amount (exm) is 75 based on the requested 100 charge (Exempt Sale Amount is 35.10 without the Safe Harbor override)

State taxes are automatically updated based on the Federal override. The State TAM is 75% (1.0 - new Federal TAM) and can be seen on Tax Type IDs (tid) 161, 217, 450, 452, 453, 454:

  • Total Charge (tchg) is 75 based on the requested 100 charge (Total Charge is 35.10 without the Safe Harbor override)
  • Exempt Sale Amount (exm) is 25 based on the requested 100 charge (Exempt Sale Amount is 64.9 without the Safe Harbor override)
View the Response JSON
{
"inv": [
{
"doc": "TEST-VOIP INVOICE",
"itms": [
{
"ref": "Line Item 001 - VoIP/Access Charge",
"txs": [
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Charge (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0475,
"sur": true,
"tax": 3.5625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 454
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CASF (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0056,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.42,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 453
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CA Teleconnect Fund (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0108,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.81,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 452
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CA High Cost Fund A (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0035,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.2625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 450
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "TRS (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.005,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.375,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 217
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "E-911 CHARGES",
"cid": 7,
"name": "E911 (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0075,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.5625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 161
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "FUSF (VoIP)",
"exm": 75,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 0,
"rate": 0.184,
"sur": false,
"tax": 4.6,
"lvl": 0,
"tid": 162
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "REGULATORY CHARGES",
"cid": 6,
"name": "FCC Regulatory Fee (VoIP)",
"exm": 75,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 0,
"rate": 0.00302,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.0755,
"lvl": 0,
"tid": 226
}
]
},
{
"ref": "Line Item 002 - VoIP/Lines",
"txs": [
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 0,
"calc": 4,
"cat": "E-911 CHARGES",
"cid": 7,
"name": "San Francisco Access line Tax (VoIP)",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 10,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 3.39,
"sur": false,
"tax": 33.9,
"lvl": 3,
"tid": 250
}
]
},
{
"ref": "Line Item 003 - VoIP/Equip Rental",
"txs": [
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "District Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 377200,
"rate": 0.0125,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.3125,
"lvl": 2,
"tid": 4
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "Sales Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 0.0125,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.3125,
"lvl": 2,
"tid": 1
},
{
"bill": true,
"cmpl": true,
"tm": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "Sales Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"min": 0,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 0.06,
"sur": false,
"tax": 1.5,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 1
}
]
}
],
"summ": [
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Charge (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0475,
"sur": true,
"tax": 3.5625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 454
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CASF (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0056,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.42,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 453
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CA Teleconnect Fund (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0108,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.81,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 452
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "CA High Cost Fund A (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0035,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.2625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 450
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "TRS (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.005,
"sur": true,
"tax": 0.375,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 217
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 75,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "E-911 CHARGES",
"cid": 7,
"name": "E911 (VoIP)",
"exm": 25,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 253500,
"rate": 0.0075,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.5625,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 161
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "CONNECTIVITY CHARGES",
"cid": 5,
"name": "FUSF (VoIP)",
"exm": 75,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 0,
"rate": 0.184,
"sur": false,
"tax": 4.6,
"lvl": 0,
"tid": 162
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "REGULATORY CHARGES",
"cid": 6,
"name": "FCC Regulatory Fee (VoIP)",
"exm": 75,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 0,
"rate": 0.00302,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.0755,
"lvl": 0,
"tid": 226
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 0,
"calc": 4,
"cat": "E-911 CHARGES",
"cid": 7,
"name": "San Francisco Access line Tax (VoIP)",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 10,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 3.39,
"sur": false,
"tax": 33.9,
"lvl": 3,
"tid": 250
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "District Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 377200,
"rate": 0.0125,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.3125,
"lvl": 2,
"tid": 4
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "Sales Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 0.0125,
"sur": false,
"tax": 0.3125,
"lvl": 2,
"tid": 1
},
{
"max": 2147483647,
"min": 0,
"tchg": 25,
"calc": 1,
"cat": "SALES AND USE TAXES",
"cid": 1,
"name": "Sales Tax",
"exm": 0,
"lns": 0,
"pcd": 377300,
"rate": 0.06,
"sur": false,
"tax": 1.5,
"lvl": 1,
"tid": 1
}
]
}
]
}

See Also

Input Objects

  • CalcTaxes request
  • Invoice
  • Line item
  • Safe harbor override

Output Objects

  • CalcTaxes response
  • Detailed tax results
  • Summarized tax results

Helpful Pages

  • Client profile
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