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4.1. Separate tax between materials and labor?

In my location I need to tax materials only as opposed to taxing materials and labor directly. What do I do?

A sign is composed of the materials that comprise the sign and the labor that is involved in making the sign, so the logic of EstiMate is to tax materials and labor together for the actual production of the sign itself. This is commonly considered a "composite product" which is why EstiMate operates this way.

An example of a type of service where materials and labor would be separate would be a visit from a plumber.  The reason materials and labor are separate is because you already own the "product" -- the toilet -- which you paid full sales tax on when you purchased it (even though labor had gone into its assembly!).

If, on the other hand, your plumber had hand crafted a DynaFlush 3000 with titanium and flush rockets, then sold it to you as a completely new toilet, he/she would have been bound to charge you sales tax on the whole thing.

Note that installation labor would not be taxed, which is why you have the "Free Form" and "Labor Items" plugins available, which is where installation should be charged.

One final note: do not confuse the use of the word "installation" in this article -- intended to mean the affixing of a sign to a wall, or a DynaFlush 3000 to the floor (bad things have happened when that's been forgotten) with the putting of vinyl onto the sign face -- which is not "installing" the vinyl, it is part and parcel of creating a composite product, namely, the sign.