Feature Request: Integration of Taxamo assure into the checkout for UK companies selling to EU

[amanda_drury]

I'm not sure how to put in a features request - please can someone tell me if this way doesn't work.

I have been looking into how as a small business I can improve the experience for my EU customers of purchasing from myself, post Brexit as a UK business.

Royal Mail have recommended a company called Taxamo assure which acts as a IOSS. They calculate and charge the customer VAT and pay it to the EU on our behalf without us having to fill in the VAT return. They charge £2 for each transaction. It sounds like the perfect solution but unless you are a shopify plus business one cannot get access to the Shopify checkout and do the API integration. The irony is if you are a shopify plus customer you will be big enough and it will be more cost effective to set up your own IOSS.

I have spoken to support about this who have suggested that I put in a feature request. So here it is. If more people can also express an interest in this feature it may have more chance of being implemented and go somewhere to ease the Brexit headache of doing business with the EU.

[Andrei_S]

Echoing the urgent requests by others to have this feature implemented asap !

[MichaelC-C]

And woocommerce are integrating Taxamo



https://woocommerce.com/products/taxamo/#

[JackBlack]

Shopify are lagging far behind other platforms on this. Either they implement Taxamo or they handle the IOSS themselves like eBay are doing.

Shopify you're built on small businesses, we need help with this!

[TanyaB]

Adding my voice as well. This is a major issue for small shops selling to the EU. Please support us with a Shopify-led service, or with a Taxamo integration.

[Rachel80]

I would almost certainly use the taxamo service if it was integrated with shopify

[HavreDeLuxe]

Thank you for this request. Also here to echo the urgency of this and share the frustrations of so many other small businesses who feel totally unsupported. 

Our web developer has taken a look at Taxamo and has confirmed if Shopify  allowed us access to the checkout the API integration would be straightforward!

Have just contacted Deloitte and asked for further clarification, has anyone else explored this route? 
Will post any potential updates. 

Shopify are set to announce new features on the 29th but no clarification as to what this includes, could this be the news we all need?

[LauraECY]

It appears that more companies are appearing online seeming to offer the intermediary service that is required for small businesses to apply for IOSS. My understanding is that if we have an IOSS number Shopify is set up to calculate the VAT at checkout. 

Most are prohibitively expensive but I did find one yesterday called CrossborderIT. They seem to be offering €19.99/month subscription and €1 per transaction. PLEASE NOTE - I have not been able to find any information about customer experience etc and am definitely not vouching for them just letting you know there are services out there at more affordable prices which don't require integration with Shopify.

[dcbouquets]

Desperately echoing the thoughts of all other posters - the Taxamo integration would be a huge boon and reduce what is currently a massive headache for any Shopify sellers who export from the UK to the EU. We need this soon! 

[Curb_Wear]

Thanks for this!

I have contacted crossborderit and asked them if their solution will work with non-Shopify Plus stores.

I wonder if Shopify has its own IOSS plans? 

[BecNolan]

I just got off the phone with crossborderit and it sounds like a good option:

19.99€ per month + 1€ per order, they handle registration and tax reports. At the moment, the one drawback is that you need to send daily reports to them on your EU sales (if you had any that day). So basically right now they are not integrated with shopify nor do they need to be, however, they do have a Shopify app in BETA which they said will be ready in a few months, which will streamline everything and remove the need for manual daily reporting. For those of us who don't sell a huge amount to the EU this sounds like a great option - I'm going to give it a go. And Shopify as someone else mentioned, it's not only the UK being affected by this - it's anyone outside of the EU. 

[Savvy_Paul]

Shopify - small sellers CANNOT DO WITHOUT this sort of feature.

Either you provide it, or we go elsewhere.

I've been with Shopify for 11 years.

[Curb_Wear]

Same I will also give Cross Border a go. I imagine more of these companies will pop up and probably Shopify will have it's own in-house solution, but for now this ticks the box for me. 

Here is their reply:

"

1. My company is VAT registered but is not a Limited Company / EIN. Can I still register? Yes you absolutely can the EIN is just the US tax number.
2. My website uses Shopify where the checkout coding cannot be altered. Can I still use CBIT IOSS? Yes you can! You will ship with any carrier using your IOSS number.

At close of business, you will upload all shipments into the CBIT systems or integrate our Shopify app or API to streamline this process.

Billing will be pulled directly from your onboarded PayPal account as soon as we know what you send  and what you must pay.

CBIT will reconcile the shipments with the tax authorities and you shipment gets problem free entry into the EU.

"

[SMU]

Deloitte is far too expensive if you only sell a small amount of items to the EU each week. There is a £300 joining fee then a yearly charge from £2000, whilst this  is a good option for larger merchants, it is not really something I would even consider as we are a small business.

We have closed our store as we are re designing it and we may have to close our orders to EU customers when we re launch, this is not ideal, but if customers are having to pay the VAT and any customs duty to have their £25 tee shirt released from customs, we will have a great many items returned to us. We had hoped by now that Shopify would have catered for all its UK merchants so that we can simply integrate an affordable system where EU customers can pay for their goods, including the VAT at POS to avoid extra charges at customs and delays in delivery.

As a platform that provides a base for merchants I am so suprised nothing has been done and we only have 6 days until the new regulations are implemented.

If shopify do not act on this they will lose many of their UK merchants who will have no choice but to move to a platform that has the seamless requirements in place already.  

Taxamo is only charging £2 per parcel sent to the EU, they file the VAT to the EU on your behalf AND you use their IOSS number, sounds very simple and affordable to UK merchants.

shopify you really need to get your developers on this pronto please.

[SMU]

Avalara sounds far too expensive for smaller UK merchants..

[MichaelC-C]

Even those inside the EU have to comply with Import Vat, eg selling from
Sweden to France (same problem) and some I spoke to, don't know they have
to do it or how. I bet some of them use Shopify too and will be thinking of
going elsewhere soon!!

[SMU]

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Crossborderit.

I have asked them for a demo and they sent me some info.

I have asked more questions as I am unsure if this is an integration or if you simply input their IOSS number so it displays on the CN22. If this is the case then do we know that the correct VAT amount for each EU country will be properly rather than us having to do this manually?

Fee is 19 per month and £1 per item posted. Not as cheap as Taxamo but if Crossborderit provide their IOSS, collect and file the VAT for you without the need for an expensive intermediary then this may be the only solution. However, again, I am perplexed that as a merchant using such a huge e-commerce platform, I am having to scour the web myself for some assistance on how to get this started rather than there be an affordable seamless solution from shopify itself.

Do we yet know if the correct VAT charges will be applied to each EU country automatically by Shopify?

[MichaelC-C]

It seems CrossBorderEdit is a new Swedish company with a proposal that may
work with any online platform (including entry level Shopify), I found this
about them:

STOCKHOLM, 2021-Mar-25 - /EPR RETAIL NEWS/ - Bring Ventures, Norway Post
venture arm, invests in Crossborderit (CBIT). Other investors participating
are such as Per Victor founder of Firstvet, Clover Hill Holdings LTD. and
MEI Invest... Crossborderit (CBIT) offers a simple solution to postal
services with minimal integration that can guarantee real time payments of
taxes and duties as well as easy low-cost clearances. And this is a solution
we believe will make commerce easier across borders and solve a painpoint in
global trade," says Siri Marie Hagen, Investment Manager Bring Ventures.

[SMU]

Some answers to my questions to Crossborderit

We are UK merchants selling on Shopify.

We sell to the EU, but they all have different VAT charges. Is there anything you have integrated with Shopify for this purpose? -Shopify has a calculator that can be used, or you can simply get a spreadsheet and calculate from there.

Is that charge £1 or 1 Euro per item posted to the EU. We charge one EURO per IOSS shipment we also provide DDP solutions for above 150€ but for the sake of this just 1€ per shipment into the EU we don’t have anything to do with your other shipments.

Do we have to provide monthly reports based on EU sales? The 19.99€ a month is for access to our system which will have all reporting. This fee also is for your compliance filing with the tax authorities.

Do we get to use your IOSS number? You will get a VAT number of your own that is files under ours and an intermediary.

Do you act as intermediary and file and pay the VAT owed This is what we do. We do all payments and compliance in real time.

How long does it take for it all to be set up and where on my shopify admin would I need to make changes?

Just some questions initially

You started the process of registering for an IOSS number with Crossborderit.com/IOSS

Please let me know if there are any questions, I can answer to help you finalize.

Step 1: Register for IOSS on our site, you will receive this number within 3 to f5 days. You will also receive a letter from the Swedish tax authority where you are registered.

Step 2: You will receive an onboarding from  PayPal for payment we charge 1€ per shipment and 19.99€ Euro per month for access to our platform.

Step 3: You will receive instructions for uploading  shipments into our system or integrating an API within our system.

We will manage the rest from compliance to reporting.

[MichaelC-C]

Shopify seem to have a detailed way of charging the correct VAT but I
haven't tried it yet as I have suspended all sales to EU until we can get an
affordable DDP solution

[Christian48]

It's good that companies are coming forward to help with IOSS, but unless Shopify implements a feature that allows for VAT to be charged to customers on orders under €150, I don't see how we can sell to the EU. Am I missing something?