# Understand jurisdictions

Source: https://developer.avalara.com/products/communications/integration-guides/communications-integration/kvu8173486425980/

Guide: Communications

# Understand jurisdictions

Jurisdictions determine the tax calculation rate for locations. When running AFC transactions, AvaTax will look for the following jurisdiction information:

-   **Bill to location**: Location used to specify where the transaction is to be billed. This is required within the `inv` model, but it can also be set in the `itms` model (line level). If specified at the line level, this overrides the bill to location set on the invoice.

-   **From location**: This specifies the point of origin for a line item. This defaults to the bill to location.

-   **To location**: This specifies the point of destination for a line item. This defaults to the bill to location.

In AFC, a jurisdiction is set using one of the following jurisdiction types:

-   PCode (`pcd`): Persisted numeric identifier for a taxing jurisdiction.

-   Address: Specify a Country (`ctry`), State (`st`), County (`cnty`), City (`city`), and/or Postal Code (`zip`). Set the Street Address (`addr`) if you want to geocode the address (`geo = true`).

    -   The more complete the address information provided, the more accurate the results are.

    -   Country ISO is sufficient for taxation purposes for most foreign nations other than the USA, Canada, and Brazil.

    -   Country (`ctry`), State (`st`), and Postal Code (`zip`) are required for USA and Canada (at a minimum).

-   FIPS (`f``ips`): A standardized set of numeric or alphabetic codes issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies.

-   NPANXX (`n``pa`): A 6-digit number consisting of the location's 3-digit area code along with the next 3 digits of a North American dialing plan phone number.

The sections that follow describe AFC behavior when specifying jurisdictions, including how to obtain PCodes, a zip-only fallback feature, and an option to geocode a location.