🔓Tax Exempt for Eligible Customers & Orders
Tax Exempt adds a tax ID field to your cart page. When a customer enters a valid tax ID, they check out without tax. You can also remove the tax included in your prices for these customers, and exempt existing customers in bulk.
Before You Start
Go to B2B tax & currency › Tax Exempt and turn on the switch next to the Tax Exempt title.
Tax Exempt has no rule list. Its home page is Settings. The header shows Storefront setup and Translations; Bulk tax exempt is under More actions. See Navigate the app.
Configure Tax Exempt
Settings is one page. Change the options, then click Save in the save bar.
Apply to customers
Choose All (logged-in and not-logged-in customers), Logged-in customers, Not-logged-in customers, Specific customers or Customer tags. Customer tags or specific customers keeps the field to your B2B buyers.
With All and Require valid tax IDs both on, every shopper needs a valid tax ID to check out. Click Apply to customers with tags in the warning to limit it.
Tax ID field on cart page
Show tax ID validation box on cart page
On / Off
Shows the tax ID field on the cart page. If it is off, the field is hidden and IDs are not validated.
Tax IDs customers can use
Tick EU VAT number, UK VAT number, Australian Business Number (ABN), India GST number (GSTIN) or US Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Cart page behavior
Automatically exempt tax for valid tax IDs
Customers with a valid tax ID pay no tax, and every tax ID entered is saved on the order.
Require valid tax IDs
Customers must enter a valid tax ID to continue to checkout.
Automatically redirect customers to checkout
Customers with a valid tax ID go straight to checkout instead of clicking Checkout twice.
Order tag
Use Add tag to tax-exempt orders to select or create order tags.
Advanced
Click Show on the Advanced card ("Most stores can leave these settings as they are").
Add discount to exclude tax from prices (under Prices that include tax): use only if your prices include tax. Exempt customers get a checkout discount equal to the tax in the price. It works when, in Shopify Taxes and duties, Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate is on and Include or exclude tax based on your customer's country is off. The discount is named Excluded VAT; rename it in Translations under EU VAT-related texts.
Limit to selected countries (shown when EU VAT is ticked): only EU VAT numbers from the countries you pick get an exemption. The app decides by the country code at the start of the VAT number, not by the address.
Sync from Shopify: click it after you change Settings › Taxes and duties in Shopify so the app uses your latest tax rates.
Add the Field to Your Cart Page
Click Storefront setup.
Turn on the module and the app embed if they are not on yet.
Click Add app block in the Tax ID field in your theme row and save in the theme editor. The Tax Exempt block is only available while the module is on.
Cart drawer or a theme that doesn't fit the block? Chat with us and we'll set it up for free.
What Customers See
On the cart page, customers enter their tax ID:
When they click Checkout, the app checks the ID. A valid ID shows a success message and the customer clicks Checkout again (unless the redirect option is on). An invalid ID shows an error; the customer can still continue and pay tax unless Require valid tax IDs is on. Tax is removed from the order for valid IDs:
EU VAT numbers are checked with the EU VIES service, so they must start with the two-letter country code (for example DE123456789). UK numbers go in the UK VAT field.
Autofill from Registration Forms
When a customer applies through your Registration Form with a tax ID and you approve them, the verified ID is saved to their profile. The field on their cart is then filled in automatically; they still click Checkout so the ID is checked.
Bulk Tax Exempt
Use it to exempt existing customers.
Open More actions › Bulk tax exempt.
Under Exempt existing customers from tax, choose Specific customers or Customer tags and pick them.
Click Save, then confirm with Exempt customers.
Tax exemption is applied only when you click Save. Customers who get the tag later are not exempted automatically; click Save again. Selected customers are set to "Don't collect tax" in Shopify on all orders, including orders placed without this app. To charge tax again, edit each customer in Shopify. Bulk tax exempt does not remove tax included in prices.
Translations
Open Translations to edit Texts on cart page, the tax-ID texts per type (EU VAT-related texts, UK VAT-related texts, ABN-related texts, India GST-related texts, US EIN-related texts) and Texts on order details page (the same in every language).
FAQ
Customers can't see the tax ID field. Check the app block is on your cart page, Show tax ID validation box on cart page is ticked, at least one tax ID type is ticked and the customer matches Apply to customers.
A valid ID still paid tax. Check Automatically exempt tax for valid tax IDs is on, the country is selected if Limit to selected countries is on, and tick Add discount to exclude tax from prices if your prices include tax.
Where is the tax ID saved? On the order note and the order attributes.
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