Shipping, Payments, & Taxes
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      Tax rates, classes, & rules

      Set up and manage tax rules for your Shopgate mobile shop.

      For specific rules for Germany, please read Steuern einrichten.

      Get started

      Understanding tax rules

      Taxes in your Shopgate mobile shop are controlled by tax rules. There are three important variables that define a tax rule:

        Description Example
      Tax Rate A number displayed as a percentage, with which taxes are calculated. 8.25% for the sales tax in California
      Product Tax Class An identifier that is assigned to a product. This defines the tax class for a product.

      "Taxable"

      "Tax-free"
      Customer Tax Class An identifier that is assigned to a customer. This defines the tax class for a customer.

      "Retail"

      "Wholesale"

      When you have all of the three variables above, you can define a tax rule which makes actions happen. Think of it like this: a tax rule is a logical combination of the tax rate, product tax class, and customer tax class you are working with.

      Check your shop system

      If you use one of the following shopping cart systems, your tax rates, tax classes, and tax rules can be imported from your desktop shop automatically.

      Magento PrestaShop Shopware 3.5+4 Plentymarkets GambioGX
      xt:Commerce 3+4 Shopify Oxid Modified eCommerce OsCommerce
       3dCart  Open Cart  Zencart  WooCommerce  

      After all the tax settings have been imported, please make sure to verify if all settings have been imported correctly.

       If your shop system is not listed above, and your tax information is not imported after a product import, please read on to learn how to configure your taxes manually.

      Configure tax rules manually

      Follow the steps below to go to your tax configuration page:

      1. Log in to your Shopgate Admin and navigate to Settings → Taxes.
      2. The Taxes page will open. We will explore how to add tax rates, product tax classes, customer tax classes, and configure tax rules below.

      Taxes_1

      Tax rates

      To create a tax rate, follow and repeat these steps until you have created all tax rates necessary:

      1. Click +Add in the "Tax Rates" section.
      2. A pop-up (shown right) will open. Configure it to match the tax rate in your shop.
      3. Click Save.
      		 2015-03-11_1155

      This table will help you understand the options shown above:

      Name Assigned to a tax rate to configure tax rules. Make sure to use the same name as configured in your desktop shop. This is not visible to your customers.
      Tax (%) The actual tax rate in percentage form. For example, enter 8.25 for a rate of 8.25%.
      Display name The tax rate name displayed on your Shopgate Admin page. This name is not visible to your customers.
      Country

      Select a country in which this tax rate will apply. More options may show according to the country selected.

      Note that you can only select countries that your shop delivers to. To add a country, please go to your Shipping page and select it from the delivery countries.
      State This option can be different according to the country selected. When the United States is selected, you will be asked to select a State for this tax rate.
      Zip code Choose all, pattern, or range from the list. How do I configure zip codes in a pattern or a range?


      Product tax classes

      To create a product tax class, follow and repeat the following steps until you have created all product tax classes necessary:

      1. Click +Add in the "Product tax classes" section.
      2. A pop-up (shown right) will open. Enter a name it to match the product tax class in your shop.
      3. Click Save.
      		 2015-03-11_1134

      This table will help you understand the options shown above:

      Name Please enter a product tax name to assign to a product. Make sure to use the same name as configured in your desktop shop. This name will be used to configure tax rules. Where can I see a product's tax class?


      Customer tax classes

      To create a customer tax class, follow and repeat these steps until you have created all customer tax classes necessary:

      1. Click +Add in the "Customer tax classes" section.
      2. A pop-up (shown to the right) will open. Enter a name to match the customer tax class in your shop.
      3. Click Save.
      		 2015-03-11_1152

      This table will help you understand the options shown above:

      Name

      Enter a customer tax name to assign to a customer. Make sure to use the same name as configured in your desktop shop. This name will be used to configure tax rules.

      Note that a customer tax class will only work if your shop system supports this feature. If not, you only need to define one customer tax class (e.g. Retail).


      Tax rules

      After you have entered all tax rates, product tax classes, and customer tax classes for your shop, please follow the steps here to configure a tax rule. Repeat the steps until you have created all tax rules necessary.

      1. Click +Add in the "Tax rules" section.
      2. A pop-up (shown to the right) will open. Configure it to match the tax rule in your shop.
      3. Click Save.
      		 2015-03-11_1157

      This table will help you understand the options shown above:

      Name Please enter a name for the tax rule. Make sure to use the same name as configured in your desktop shop. This is not visible to your customers.
      Priority Enter an integer number here. For example: 0. The lowest number represents the highest priority and vice versa. How is tax calculated if multiple tax rules apply?
      Product tax class Select one or more product tax class(es) for this tax rule.
      Customer tax class

      Select one or more customer tax class(es) for this tax rule, if applicable.
      Tax rate Select one or more tax rate(s) for this tax rule.


      Set tax rule on shipping costs

      If you don't charge additional taxes on top of the shipping costs you configured in the Shopgate backend, please read this chapter to set a tax-free rule on shipping costs.

      Create tax rate for shipping

      Create a tax rate according to the steps listed above.

      • Enter 0 as your tax rate.
      • Select all states in the US.
      		 2015-03-11_1508


      Create product class for shipping

      Create a product tax class according to the steps we listed above.

      • Use a unique name such as "Tax-free."
      		 2015-03-11_1510


      Configure tax rule for shipping

      Create a tax rule according to the steps listed above.

      • Set the same priority as the normal rules.
      • Select the tax rate you created above.
      • Select the product tax class you created above.
      		 2015-03-11_1503


      Verify your tax settings

      After your tax settings have been imported or manually created, please make sure that the rates and rules are configured exactly the same as in your desktop shop backend.

      To test your tax rules on products and shipping, go to your mobile website or apps and follow these steps:

      • Test if taxes are added correctly to the products.
        Put a few products in the cart, enter all necessary data, and go to the checkout page. See if taxes are calculated to the same amount as in your desktop shop.
      • Test if taxes of each state/country are calculated correctly.
        Put a product in the cart and try to change the delivery address to a different state or country.
      • Test if shipping costs are taxed correctly.
        Verify that the taxed amount is correct for different shipping costs.

      That's it! If your tax settings are verified, you have successfully set up your tax rules for your Shopgate mobile shop.

       

      Frequently Asked Questions

      How do I configure zip codes in a pattern or a range?

      To configure a series of zip codes in a pattern, use the Wild-card * to substitute single or multiple numbers, characters, spaces, etc. For example, "12*54D" stands for all zip codes that begin with "12" and end with "54D". These also include "1254D" (nothing in between) and "12 54D".

      To configure a series of zip codes in a range, enter the start and end zip codes in integers. For example, enter 35810 and 35819 to include all zip codes between "35810" and "35819".

      Where can I find a product's tax class?

      On your Shopgate Admin page, find a product's detail page. The product's tax class will be displayed like this:

      2015-03-11_1557

      How is tax calculated if multiple tax rules apply?

      If multiple tax rules apply to one product, taxes are calculated based on the priority of each rule.

      This happens in two steps:

      1. If two or more tax rules have the same priority, the tax rate of this priority is the sum of all tax rates of the same priority.
      2. Rates of all priorities will be multiplied. The result will be the tax on this product.

      For example, all following tax rules apply to one product:

      • Tax rule 1: rate = 20%, priority = 0
      • Tax rule 2: rate = 5%, priority = 1
      • Tax rule 3: rate = 8%, priority = 1
      • Tax rule 4: rate = 12%, priority = 2

      Tax rates will be calculated in 2 steps:

      1. Tax rate (priority 1) = 5% + 8% = 13%
      2. Tax rate (of this product) = Tax rate (priority 0) x Tax rate (priority 1) x Tax rate (priority 2) = 20% x 13% x 12% = 0.312%