Taxes

Brainerce works out tax from rates you define, based on the customer's address. You manage everything under Settings → Tax.

There are two decisions to make:

1. Inclusive or exclusive pricing. Are your displayed prices tax-included (VAT style) or is tax added on top (US sales-tax style)?
2. Which rates to collect, and where, for example 17% VAT in Israel, or a state sales-tax rate in the US.

Tax rates are entered manually. There's no automatic tax service to connect, Brainerce does not update a rate when a jurisdiction changes it, it does not register you for VAT, GST or HST anywhere, and it does not file your returns.

Two taxes on the same sale (Canada GST plus PST, RST or QST)

Where two taxes apply to one purchase, add them as two rates and mark both Charge together with other rates. Canada is the case merchants hit: GST 5% country-wide, plus PST in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, RST in Manitoba, or QST in Quebec. Those four provinces need two rates each. The customer sees a line for each. The five HST provinces (Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) need a single combined rate instead, with the toggle left off, because HST already contains the federal part. Use a country preset on the Tax page creates all ten Canadian rates in one click. Do not enter a single blended rate like 14.975%: it collects the right total but shows one tax line.

Both rates must have the same Tax Class, or only one of them is charged. The Tax Class dropdown lists Standard (all products) first and then any class you created, and a class you happened to name "Standard" is not the same thing as Standard (all products). Two rates split across those never combine, even though both still show the Stacked badge on the Tax page. When they are split, the other rate is ignored rather than added, so a Quebec order can show QST alone with no GST beside it. Put every rate you want charged together on the same Tax Class. The country preset puts all ten Canadian rates on Standard (all products) for you. Full detail in Only one of my two taxes is charged.

Both taxes are worked out on the pre-tax amount. Brainerce never charges one tax on top of another, and there is no compound-tax setting.

The delivery charge is taxed too by default, but only by the rates whose Tax Class is Standard (all products). Rates you put on a class of your own never tax delivery, so if every rate you have sits in your own class the delivery charge is silently untaxed. To exempt postage on a shipping rate deliberately, set its Tax Status to No Tax under Shipping → Zones & Rates. See Is VAT charged on the delivery charge?.

In this section

• Set up taxes to turn on tax collection, choose your pricing model, and add rates.

Questions about tax setup? Email [email protected].