POS system for California businesses
Every California sale carries the 7.25% statewide base, and most addresses add one or more district taxes on top. SeroPOS keeps each part as its own rate inside one tax group, so the till charges the right total and your return can be checked line by line.
California in SeroPOS
State plus district group
Add the 7.25% base and each district tax as rates, then combine them into one group named for your location.
Exempt food at 0%
Most cold grocery food sold to go is exempt, so give it a 0% rate and keep hot and prepared food on the full group.
One edit when rates change
District rates change when local measures pass. Edit the rate once and every product using it follows.
Prices with or without tax
Each product has a "price includes tax" setting, so tax-in pricing at a bar or event works without manual maths.
Global Payments or Gravity
Take card and tap payments on terminals that get the amount straight from the till, with tips coming back to the receipt.
Tax collected by period
The Tax Report shows tax on sales, purchases and expenses for any date range and location, with the invoices behind it.
California sales tax at a glance
California's statewide sales tax rate is 7.25% as of 2026, and it is administered by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). Most cities and counties add district taxes approved by local voters, so combined rates commonly run from about 7.75% to over 10%, depending on the exact address.
District rates change more often than people expect, usually on the first day of a quarter. Look up the rate for your business address on the CDTFA website rather than going by city name alone, because district boundaries don't always follow city limits. Confirm the rate before you open and whenever a local measure passes.
Building your tax group in SeroPOS
In the back office go to Settings, then Tax Rates, and add the state rate of 7.25%. Then add each local rate that applies at your address, such as a county transportation district tax and a city district tax, ticking "for tax group only" so they can't be picked alone. In the SeroPOS app the same screens are under Admin, then Taxes.
Open Tax Groups and combine the rates into one group named after the place and the total, for example "Los Angeles combined". Make it the default tax so new products pick it up, and add a 0% rate for exempt items. If you have stores in two district areas, create a group for each and give each location's products the right one.
Restaurants, to-go food and the 80/80 rule
California taxes food differently depending on how it is sold. Hot prepared food and food eaten on your premises is generally taxable, while most cold grocery food sold to go is exempt. Restaurants where more than 80% of sales are food and more than 80% of those are taxable may have to tax cold to-go food as well, under what is known as the 80/80 rule.
Because the tax sits on each product in SeroPOS, you can set cold to-go items to 0% and keep prepared food on the full group. If the 80/80 rule applies to you, keep everything on the group instead. Check CDTFA's guidance for restaurants and confirm with your accountant which approach fits your sales mix.
Cards on Global Payments or Gravity Payments
SeroPOS sends the amount straight to the card terminal, so nobody keys the total twice. With Global Payments you can use Global Pay Cloud, which needs no cable or IP address, or run SeroPOS on the Global Payments T650P handheld itself through Terminal Plus. With Gravity Payments you enter your account details and device name in Gravity Pay Settings.
A tip entered on the terminal comes back and prints as Tip / Gratuity. Partial approvals ask for the balance on another card or in cash. If a card is approved but the sale doesn't save, SeroPOS keeps the approval in an outbox and records it again, and a duplicate-charge guard warns before the same card is charged twice.
Already have a merchant account? Keep it if your processor is supported. If you want to compare costs, send us a recent statement and we'll quote a rate. Card processing is arranged separately from your SeroPOS plan. Tell us your monthly card volume and the terminals you use today, and we can say which setup fits your counter before you commit.
Tax reports and QuickBooks Desktop
The Tax Report in the back office shows tax collected on sales, tax paid on purchases and tax on expenses, with an overall figure and the invoices behind each number, filtered by location and date range. Run it for your filing period, and use the Product Taxes section of the daily sales summary to see which products the tax came from.
On the Pro plan SeroPOS sends sales, payments, customers and items to QuickBooks Desktop, US edition 2021 or later (Pro, Premier or Enterprise on Windows), through the Web Connector. It can build your sales tax items, groups and tax agency in QuickBooks for you, matched by rate rather than by name. The QuickBooks Online connection is set up for Canadian companies today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the sales tax rate in California?
The statewide base is 7.25% as of 2026, administered by the CDTFA. Most areas add district taxes, so the total at your address may be higher, commonly between about 7.75% and over 10%. Look up your exact address on the CDTFA website before you set up your POS.
How do I combine the California state rate and my local rate in a POS?
Create the state rate (7.25%) and your local rate (each district tax) as separate tax rates, tick "for tax group only" on the local ones, then combine them in a tax group, for example "Los Angeles combined". Assign the group to taxable products. Customers see one tax total, while reports keep each part.
Do I charge sales tax on food to go in California?
Most cold grocery food sold to go is exempt, while hot prepared food and food eaten on site is generally taxable. The 80/80 rule can make cold to-go food taxable for some restaurants. Set each product's tax in SeroPOS to match, and check CDTFA's restaurant guidance.
Are these California sales tax rates current?
The rates on this page are well-known public rates as of 2026. State and local rates change, often at the start of a quarter, so confirm the rate for your exact address with the CDTFA before you open. In SeroPOS each rate is stored once, so a change is a single edit.
How much does SeroPOS cost?
Standard is $30 a month and Pro is $50 a month, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed. Standard covers the full POS for one location and three users. Pro adds the floor plan designer, multi-till, CRM, recipes, advanced reports, QuickBooks and WooCommerce. Extra locations are charged at the plan price.