Ecommerce: Value-Added Taxes (VAT)

Many countries charge value-added tax (VAT) on products. If you are a VAT-registered business, you are likely required to pay this, but you can make the process of charging and tracking VAT simple by setting up your store with the appropriate VAT information. You can:

  • Enter prices with VAT included
  • Create tax invoices
  • Display your VAT ID number on invoices

Note: this feature is only available for Ecommerce Standard and Ecommerce Pro plans.

Enter Prices with VAT Included

When you open your store within your site editor, you will see two options to enter prices: with taxes included (gross) and without taxes included (net). This may be set by default depending on your location.

Note: All new stores will have a tax type based on the country and the corresponding tax system. Some countries use a gross tax system by default and some – all EU countries, Canada, Australia, Russia, and others – use a net tax system. All existing stores use a net price that can be changed manually.

To select the gross price option, open your site editor and click the Ecommerce tab. Click “Manage Store,” then select “Settings” and click “Taxes.”

Scroll down to the section that states “All prices do not include taxes. Click “Change Pricing Settings.”

Select “Enter Prices with Taxes (Gross Prices). Click “Save.” This will allow customers to see the price, as well as all fees (e.g. shipping) in your store with taxes included.

Note: After switching from net to gross prices (or vice versa), the prices in your store will not convert automatically; these need to be changed manually or in bulk using CSV import.

Collect Individual Tax Codes or Business VAT IDs

You may ask customers in Italy and Brazil to enter tax information during checkout. This feature may be used to collect additional tax-related information such as individual tax codes or business VAT IDs.

To use this feature, go to Settings > Taxes & Invoices. Enable the  ‘Ask for buyers’ tax information at checkout’ option.

Note: This feature is available on Ecommerce Pro and Ecommerce Unlimited plans.

Create Tax Invoices

You can generate legally compliant tax invoices, which meet the standard EU requirements. There are two options available: regular invoices for sales and cancellation invoices for refunds.

To preview an invoice that can be produced in your store open your site editor and click the Ecommerce tab. Click “Manage Store,” then select “Settings” and click “Taxes.” Under “Tax invoices,” click “Contents of tax invoice.” This preview is available once invoices are enabled.

To create a tax invoice for an order, click “My Sales” and select “Orders.”

All invoices that have been created are available in the Tax Invoices section of a particular order. You can also download all invoices in bulk for a specific time period.

You can turn off tax invoices by click “Settings” and clicking “Taxes.” Then select “Display Buyer’s VAT ID in Admin Email Notifications.”

If the “Ask for buyers’ VAT ID at checkout” option is enabled, the order details should include the customer’s VAT ID number, and this should automatically display in the admin email notifications as well. In some instances (e.g. if you customized your email template), this ID may not be displayed in the admin email notifications. To add this manually, click on “Settings” and select “Notifications.”

Under “Admin Notifications” locate “New Order Placed” and click “Edit.”

Scroll to the Billing info section.

Enter the following code:

  1. <#if order.customerTaxId?has_content>
    <tr>
    <td align=”left” valign=”top” style=”font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;line-height: 18px;color: #333333;padding-top: 5px;”>
    <b>VAT ID: ${order.customerTaxId}</b>
    </td>
    </tr>
    </#if>