Shopify Sales Tax and VAT Compliance Specialists

Separate tax work from store builds. Plenty of agencies set up tax settings while building a store. That's useful, but it isn't registration or filing. Ask how many registrations they've filed this year, which states and countries they file in today, and whether they've dealt with a state's follow-up letter.

Ask how they'll establish nexus. A good answer covers physical presence and each state's economic threshold, tested against your sales from every channel. Shopify Tax's threshold alerts count only sales made through Shopify, so anything sold elsewhere has to be added before the picture is complete.

Get filing responsibilities in writing. Who prepares each return, who submits it, which account pays, and who answers when a state writes to you. Some specialists file on your behalf; others hand you a schedule and you file. Both work if everyone knows which it is.

Ask about product categories and exemptions. Shopify Tax sets rates from your product categories and the buyer's address. A specialist should check those categories and set up exemptions for B2B buyers who give you resale certificates.

Match the specialist to where you sell. A US sales tax firm may not handle EU OSS or UK VAT, and a VAT agent may not know US states. If you sell into both, ask whether one team covers everything or you'll need two.

Be wary of three things. A plan to register in every state before anyone has looked at where you have nexus, since each registration brings returns to file. An assurance that Shopify files for you. And a quote that says nothing about reconciling what you collected against what you filed.

Shopify Tax calculates US sales tax at checkout from product categories and buyer addresses, and shows states where you may be approaching an economic nexus threshold. It's free until $100,000 in US sales, then 0.35% per order (0.25% on Plus) in states where you collect. It doesn't register you, file returns or remit, and Shopify's own automated filing is closed to new enrolment. You file yourself, use a filing service or hire a specialist.

The work runs in this order:

- Find where you have nexus, through physical presence or each state's economic threshold.

- Register in those states before you start collecting there.

- Switch on collection in Shopify for each registration, then check product categories and exemptions such as B2B resale certificates.

- File and pay on each state's schedule.

- Reconcile what Shopify collected against what you filed, every period. A difference means something needs fixing before the next return, not after.

Selling abroad follows the same split. Shopify VAT collection runs on the registrations you enter, such as a local EU registration, OSS, IOSS or a UK VAT number, and filing and paying stay with you. Managed Markets is the only route where a partner, acting as merchant of record, remits for you.

Compliance is priced in three pieces: a one-off review of where you owe, a fee per state registration and a fee per return. Typical US ranges:

You can buy each of these separately or as one engagement.