What is NetSuite SuiteTax and how it works with Ramp: A complete guide

Dealing with tax requirements across different countries and states can feel overwhelming. Between VAT calculations in Europe, sales tax rules that vary by U.S. state, and constantly changing regulations, many businesses find themselves dedicating significant resources just to stay compliant.

NetSuite SuiteTax tackles these challenges by automating tax determination and compliance management. When you pair it with Ramp's expense management platform, you get complete financial automation that handles everything from capturing transactions to generating tax reports.

This guide walks through how NetSuite SuiteTax works, what it can do for your business, and how it integrates with Ramp to make financial operations smoother for international companies.

What is NetSuite SuiteTax?

NetSuite SuiteTax is a tax management solution built directly into the NetSuite ERP platform. Think of it as your automated tax calculator that works behind the scenes, handling tax calculations, ensuring compliance, and generating detailed reports with line-item tax breakdowns.

SuiteTax works as a built-in tax system that automatically figures out what taxes apply and calculates them for every transaction down to individual items. It handles tax requirements for over 110 countries, automatically applying the right tax rates based on each jurisdiction's specific rules.

• Monthly updates and accuracy: The system gets monthly tax rate updates for all supported countries and keeps track of historical rate changes. This means every transaction gets the correct tax treatment no matter when it happened or which jurisdiction's rules apply.
• Tax code structure: In NetSuite, "Tax Codes" are used to determine which type of tax applies and the amount to be charged. When you select a tax code, the system automatically calculates the correct tax, but you still have the option to override it manually if necessary.

Key capabilities of NetSuite SuiteTax

Automated global tax determination

SuiteTax handles automated tax processing across different tax types and locations. The system manages local taxes across subsidiaries, including GST, VAT, withholding taxes, and U.S. sales and use taxes. This includes:

• Geographic coverage: The platform handles tax calculations for more than 110 countries with location-specific rules. For U.S. transactions, it includes ZIP+4 accuracy for precise tax determination and supports both origin-based and destination-based tax calculations.
• Cross-border transactions: For European Union transactions, SuiteTax validates VAT registration numbers through the VIES system and calculates appropriate taxes for cross-border goods and services. It handles complex scenarios like intra-EU transactions, reverse charges, and third-party logistics arrangements.

Automated VAT and GST calculation

The tax engine eliminates manual calculations by automatically determining what's taxable for every transaction and item in your accounts. The system validates customer and vendor VAT registration numbers to ensure accurate tax calculations across all cross-border transactions.

SuiteTax includes both VIES validation for EU tax registration numbers and format validation for non-EU tax registration numbers, keeping your data accurate across all international transactions.

U.S. sales tax management

For U.S.-based operations, SuiteTax handles the complexity of multi-state sales tax compliance through automated monthly rate updates for all jurisdictions. The system includes exemption certificate management and lets you set custom item taxability rules.

The platform accommodates special tax situations like sales tax holidays and gives you the flexibility to override tax details on individual transactions when needed.

Audit and compliance features

SuiteTax keeps comprehensive audit trails with tax calculations documented by line item. Each calculation includes the reasoning and country-specific compliance text, available in multiple languages for inclusion on invoices.

The system includes configurable roles and permissions throughout NetSuite, so only authorized users can make changes like overriding tax jurisdictions. All rate changes and customer and vendor detail modifications get recorded for audit purposes.

Reporting capabilities

The platform gives you real-time visibility into sales tax and VAT positions through automated summaries and transaction-level subsidiary rollups. You get out-of-the-box localized reports for many countries, with configurable options for custom reporting needs.

You can define and apply tax codes and transaction types to any field on tax forms through NetSuite's configurable reporting framework. This includes creating custom reports for any country's specific requirements.

Benefits of NetSuite SuiteTax for businesses

Operational efficiency

SuiteTax eliminates manual tax calculations while ensuring accuracy across all transactions. Your accounting, purchasing, and sales teams can process taxes confidently, knowing that country-specific laws get applied automatically.

Risk reduction

The automated system significantly reduces compliance risks by staying current with tax law changes across all supported jurisdictions. Monthly rate updates and built-in validation processes help prevent errors that could lead to penalties or audit issues.

Integrated approach

As part of the NetSuite platform, SuiteTax integrates tax determination and reporting functionality within the same system you use for sales, billing, revenue recognition, and payment processing. This unified approach eliminates the need for separate tax management systems.

Scalability

The platform supports businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises operating across multiple countries. As your company expands into new markets, SuiteTax automatically provides the necessary tax logic for new jurisdictions.

How Ramp integrates with NetSuite SuiteTax

Ramp is a comprehensive expense management platform that helps businesses control spending, automate accounting processes, and get better visibility into financial operations. The platform combines corporate credit cards with expense management software to provide real-time spend controls and automated accounting workflows.

The integration between Ramp and NetSuite SuiteTax creates a comprehensive solution for international businesses managing complex tax requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

Tax code synchronization

Ramp pulls tax codes configured in NetSuite SuiteTax and presents them as selectable options for transactions, bills, and reimbursements. This creates a seamless connection between expense capture and tax determination.

This integration also includes automated filtering. The system automatically filters available tax codes based on subsidiaries and countries where they apply, so users only see relevant options for their specific transactions.

Automated tax calculations

When users select tax codes in Ramp, the system automatically retrieves the corresponding tax rates from NetSuite and calculates tax amounts. This eliminates manual tax calculations while maintaining accuracy across all expense types. While calculations are automated, users can still edit tax amounts when necessary, providing flexibility for unique circumstances while maintaining audit trails.

International transaction support

For international businesses, the Ramp-NetSuite integration handles multiple currencies and automatically manages foreign exchange implications.

• Currency management: When transactions happen in currencies different from the NetSuite subsidiary's functional currency, Ramp converts amounts appropriately and syncs transactions in the correct currency format.
• Vendor currency support: If a vendor doesn't accept a transaction's currency, Ramp automatically adds the new currency to the vendor's supported currencies in NetSuite as long as the Currency is set up under List > Accounting > Currencies.

Some entities can be marked as tax-exempt, while others may still charge tax.

Bill processing automation

The integration includes specialized handling for bill processing that optimizes tax management workflows.

• OCR tax handling: When tax codes are enabled and international bills are processed through optical character recognition (OCR), Ramp automatically removes OCR-detected tax line items. This allows for manual tax code application on a line-by-line basis, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Default tax coding: You can establish default tax codes at the vendor level, automatically applying appropriate tax treatments to new bills from specific vendors while allowing manual adjustments when needed.

Line-level tax details

When transactions sync from Ramp to NetSuite, tax information gets posted at the line level in NetSuite's Tax Details tab. This granular approach ensures that complex transactions with multiple tax treatments are properly documented and reported.

Setting up the Ramp-NetSuite SuiteTax integration

To enable tax code functionality in Ramp:

1. Navigate to the Accounting tab in Ramp
2. Access Accounting settings through the menu options
3. Select Accounting fields
4. Enable the Tax Code accounting field

Once enabled, tax codes become available as accounting options across all transaction types within Ramp. You can require tax code selection through expense policies, ensuring compliance with internal controls while providing user-friendly aliases that make tax codes easy for employees to understand and select.

Simply NetSuite SuiteTax with Ramp

NetSuite SuiteTax provides comprehensive automated tax management for businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions. When you integrate it with Ramp, you get an end-to-end solution that captures expenses, applies appropriate tax treatments, and maintains compliance with local regulations.

For businesses managing complex international operations, this integration can improve accuracy, reduce compliance risks, and free up resources for strategic activities rather than administrative tasks.

Ready to streamline your expense management and tax compliance? Learn how integrating Ramp with NetSuite can transform your financial operations.