Lack of UK/EU tax setting, is it time to leave Shopify?

[Mark_Thornton1]

I am currently evaluating whether to register for a UK vat number and looking into all the pro's and con's associated with such a change to my Shopify store only to discover that Shopify cannot impliment a tax distinction between exporting to business's in the EU and exporting to private individuals in the EU.

I have read numerous previous post's from other Shopify user's asking for the option that business customers can enter a company vat number at checkout to trigger the deduction of the sales tax but it seems that Shopify do not intend to bring in such a setting.

I know there are third party app's to achieve the tax deduction but as this would incur extra expense it leaves me wondering whether it would be better to close my account with Shopify and move to another company as some of Shopify's competitors already have this setting.

In short, is Shopify too focussed on the US market? if so am i better off moving to a more international looking ecommerce webstore host?

and if anyone at Shopify to would like to give their thoughts to my post please do not start out with that lame line 'thanks for reaching out to us' as that bugs the heck out of me as well 🙂

Mark

[Sufio]

Hi Mark,

I'll jump straight into it then. Shopify alone doesn't have options to capture, validate VAT, and tax-exempt business customers. If you are not willing to pay for an app Mark, I am sorry; stop reading here. Happy Monday! 

If you have spare change for a pizza each month, you might consider our invoicing app for UK Shopify stores!. Use our freshly updated UK tax guide for Shopify stores to check and adjust all your VAT settings correctly. If you're dealing B2C and B2B, you can also VAT-exempt your Shopify EU business customers (as you require Mark). With our code snippet, you can add a VAT field to capture and validate their VAT numbers in multiple parts of your store.

I really hope I helped a bit Mark.

Keep grinding!

Jan, Sufio

[Mark_Thornton1]

Hi Jan

Thanks for taking the time to reply,

Your app has the tax features i require but as it comes bundled with many other features (which i do not require) it is hard to justify $19 just for the added tax settings as once this extra cost is added to Shopify's monthly charge it would be more cost effective to just move to another ecommerce host. (Or you could separate your tax settings into a stand alone app)

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It's a shame a Shopify representative couldn't find the time to reply with their thoughts on this issue, their silence speaks volumes for their couldn't care less attitude.

Mark