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.

[Ruby_Honnor]

An integration between Shopify and Taxamo is so necessary right now to help small businesses navigate the new VAT changes. Please add this feature Shopify! 

[SMU]

If anyone on here has already signed up to crossborder it please can you let us know how easy it was to do and if you came across any initial issues with it?

Thank you

[Christian48]

I signed up yesterday and got my IOSS number from the Swedish Tax authority today. So far so good 🙂

[SMU]

I have just signed up to crossborderit. 

I am unsure what the update from Shopify will look like with regard to the automatic tax update. My only hope is that they do not apply VAT to ALL countries as it isn't applicable to ALL countries when selling from the UK. We shall have to wait and see what this looks like after July 1st. Perhaps shopify could hop back in here to let us know about the automatic tax update for the VAT in the EU?

[Boo14]

Thanks for all of the info on this thread. This whole thing is just so frustrating! I just thought that I would add that I have just got off of a call with HMRC and was told that they have been advised that there should be a way to register for IOSS on the gov.uk website tomorrow! Apparently it can't go live until the new tax arrangement does! Here's hoping! If not, Crossborderit sounds like a good option in the meantime.

[prispuddings]

Hi there

I just saw your comment about the crossborder it solution and whether it factors into account different vat rates for different countries, as vat isnt due in some countries and some goods have reduced vat rates. Is this all factored into account with the tax calculator provided by shopify or crossborder?

Thanks,

Pri

[LauraECY]

I have to disagree with you here. From my initial research into CBIT the
19.99 EUR per month subscription plus the 1EUR per transaction was very
clear. That was back in June and I have to admit I haven't looked at the
website since.

[Boo14]

I agree, @LauraECY . When researching the various options, I was definitely aware of the monthly fee and the €1 per parcel fee from the outset, too.

[Fanattik]

I am not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to things like this but I was aware of the 19.99 a month, I cant recall if it was said on the contract or on this thread but I remember finding out about it at the very beginning. 

[Nitsa]

Quite a few posts on this thread mentioned it including @LauraECY  " 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"  as well as their response to another user here "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."

I don't think it would have been that easy to miss if you had checked through? I'm no apologist for this company, witness my recent argument here with them about their support, and I still find the reply inadequate. However, noticing that people are now saying they are being invoiced without signing up for it would cause me to have further doubts about their operation.

I'm not shipping to the EU because if you look outside this forum you'll find so many problems with the IOSS not working correctly, people being charged twice and very long customs delays. Authorities arbitrarily deciding that the VAT is underdeclared and adding charges etc. It's a minefield.

[LauraECY]

The registration process for Cross Border IT was really quick and easy! Now
we just have to wait for our IOSS number and then see what happens after
that.

[Kirsty_Thomas]

Can I ask how that will work with Shopify - is there an integration at checkout or do you need to file a daily/weekly report?

Thanks

[SMU]

I have just spoken with Damon at crossborderit. Extremely helpful and it seems very straightforward so I am going ahead with this. Thank you Damon for the clarity, really appreciate it!

[amanda_drury]

for the record - I don't accept the solution the member of the Shopify Staff has given to this issue

[Hermine_Makangu]

This is so important i need Taxamo too. 

I had contacted taxamo over the whole month of June. But i found that after i set up an account with them they did reply to me saying that i needed a developer.

We are VAT registered and have distributers in France who are also VAT registered but the IOSS is changing the filing from the quarterly to the monthly which my distributers do not want to be an intermediary for.

I am so shocked that Paypal, Stripe or Paypal themselves have not thought of an alternative to help their customers.

[OtwayOrford]

Hello Amanda,

I would very much like to support your Feature Request as it seems to be the only way to escape the Catch 22 of IOSS as a small e comm player selling from the UK to the EU.

Thanks

Mark

Otway & Orford

www.otwayorford.co.uk

[KarenG1]

Hi there, really keen for this to happen too!

[ShirleyScott]

Really basic question here but can someone tell me how we register for an IOSS number? Do we have to do it through a third party? We are based in the UK, with no subsidiaries in the EU but we ship to the EU.

[Boo14]

@ShirleyScott Check out https://www.crossborderit.com/ It's what a lot of us are using and they have been really helpful and we were set up with a number really quickly too.

[leathersatchel]

Here's a current summary of the situation as of early March 2022;

You can't register as a UK company at the time of writing, you have to use an intermediary.

Most intermediaries are £1000s per month to use and are not suitable for SMEs due to price.

Taxamo Assure seems to be the best solution for SMEs in the UK as they only charge £2 per item, in addition to the actual duty and tax fees for import.

Implementation of Taxamo Assure by Shopify is only available to Shopify Plus accounts.  

Shopify informs non-plus clients to enable International tax collection on all normal accounts and modify the invoices, etc. to include your intermediaries' IOSS details.

When doing this parcels are still being stopped by customs and clients are still being charged VAT and DUTY.

[elioraplans]

so it seems that the only option for those still growing is either cross-border it which will be at least the 19.99euro charge per month, or pay for shopify plus and be able to use taxamo because you can manually apply the info. 

I know I'm from the UK and there will be others that are not in the UK in similar positions so has anyone come up with a resolution that for a business still in its infancy is an affordable option (i.e. not a monthly price fee attached). 

[Rostislav]

After the last Shopify update (yes ! they did finally managed special EU VAT  schemes, even though with some limitations) , UK Shopify customers can use IOSS on basic or standard plans for inclusive and exclusive pricing. I want to summarise limitations: 

- only IOSS or OSS VAT scpecial scheme (not both);

- you will have issues with reduced VAT groups (Shopify does not handle VAT on shipping in accordance with requirements), but in some cases you may have acceptable solution even for reduced rates;

- you will not be able to use Non-Union OSS VAT Scheme (for electronic services);

- and if you do sell electronic services along with goods , the IOSS 150 EUR threshold will not be calculated properly by Shopify (they do not recognise the fact that IOSS  is only for physical goods). 

But for most SME customers it is doable especially if you deliver via Royal Mail. IOSS scheme is not complicated to use and it does not require a lot of investments (certainly not thousands of pounds) .

I never supported using single IOSS number (as is offered by some companies) , since it may lead to considereable issues if that "general" IOSS number is misused and in my educated opinion it is in a very much grey area. 

We at EAS project OY (Finland) are offereing free IOSS registration (you get your own OSS number) and pay-as-you-go approach (1.25 EUR per IOSS transaction) without monthly fees.  IOSS registration can be done within 1 or 2 days with minimum required documents.

In addition,  we will automatically take into fiscal calculation returns and discounts (as made in your Shopify store ) , that you offer to your clients - you do not need to change any Shopify settings for that.  Here is the link to our app at Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/eas-eu-compliance

For more complicated cases we can offer solutions that will always calculate reduced rates where applicable, IOSS and OSS parallel use and B2B landed cost for EU deliveries. 

Our sales team is always eager to talk to potential clients , do book a meeting at  https://meetings.hubspot.com/robert662/30-min-demo or write to us info@easproject.com

Rostislav , EAS project Oy, Finland

[SZeng]

I totally agree with you Amanda. Smaller shops that are not Shopify Plus stores would benefit from this, but is only available to Shopify Plus stores that presumably have enough orders going to the EU to warrant having their own IOSS number. 

[fredhatt]

I’m not an expert, but surely you only need the Taxamo checkout integration if you want to actually calculate the VAT at the checkout? What I mean is could you choose to make your store prices inclusive of VAT (which means your margin will vary by EU country) and just put your IOSS number from Taxamo on your packages?

[GuyWilliams]

@fredhatt 

That's not compliant with Taxamo and (legitimately) exposes them to VAT liability.  You would be using their IOSS number to submit whatever value *you* chose.  They need to calculate it, remit it and then you pay them.

At this point, CBIT is likely the easiest/cheapest solution for low volume.  

[Dbaca]

If you would like to use Crossborderit you can calculate the VAT with the Shopify setting and it will be reported to CBIT. I cannot speak to Taxamo. You really should calculate correctly since this is considered sales tax and really is collected on behalf of the consuming government.

[fredhatt]

Let’s say I have an item in my store costing £50, and I say this includes shipping and UK-EU VAT. In the UK the pre-VAT price of my item is really £41.67, and to a German customer the pre-VAT price would be £42.02 due to the differing VAT rates. If I only wish to pay the VAT for the German customer then why do I need an app to calculate it at the checkout? Surely German customs will evaluate the parcel for taxes, and charge this to CBit who then bill it to me. I don’t see why it’s necessary to use an app there as I assume CBit aren’t actually sending information to EU customs on a per-order basis (maybe I’m wrong). 

The above scenario is basically what I’m doing now with my courier (who support DDP). I just get a bill every month for how much in handling fees and VAT I owe them. 

[Dbaca]

Yes we need to report the VAT to the German customs. This is including some parcel information. Without IOSS there is a charge by German customs because they do not have the info. So you really do need the app.

[Nitsa]

Has something changed with Germany then ? My information was that their IOSS portal would not be ready until 2022 ?

[GuyWilliams]

@Nitsa 
Has something changed with Germany then ? My information was that their IOSS portal would not be ready until 2022 ?

IOSS is "Import One Stop Shop" for *imports* into EU 
OSS is "One Stop Shop" for *in* EU transactions

OSS will be implemented sometime in 2022- don't confuse the two (although I *assume* they will be similar).  For the second, importers need to comply with IOSS with *is* set up across EU, including in Germany

[Nitsa]

@GuyWilliams  Hi, not confusing the two but there are quite a few reports as in the link below and I know a lot of Etsy sellers were having problems as late as last month.

https://www.avalara.com/vatlive/en/vat-news/germany-to-miss-ioss-july-2021-launch-date.html 

[cottonorganic]

I too need Taxamo integration for my basic shopify plan. What's the point of only large companies who use Shopify plus being able to do it as they will have their own IOSS number.

Please help Shopify!

[Dbaca]

You can look at Crossborderit. We integrate with everyone. www.crossborderit.com/IOSS

[fredhatt]

Hi,

I’ve been looking into this lately. From some emails with Taxamo, and also reading through their API docs, it’s my initial impression that you don’t really need to integrate their API directly with your checkout. You can use their API at the end of each business day to process all your EU orders that your shop received. Basically as long as you inform the Taxamo backend about the EU orders before they ship it looks like it would be fine. 

The only reason (that I can see) to prefer integrating Taxamo with the checkout would be to get the calculated VAT on each order. But Shopify already calculates the VAT on EU orders if you provide an IOSS number in your store settings. 

The above might be a decent solution - I haven’t tried it yet. The downside is having to remember to put every EU order through their API semi-manually. 

[Dbaca]

Take a look at crossborderit  The app is simple and there are no API's needed. 

[Seanlbow]

is there any actual solid solution for this yet ?

[GuyWilliams]

Sure- scroll up in the thread.  CBIT works fine.  We used it for about 10k transactions before we were able to open a EU 3PL / get our own IOSS number.  

[Seanlbow]

Great , thanks 🙏🏼
.. anybody used eurora as an alternative?

https://eurora-next-js-2021.vercel.app/solutions/pricing/

[Michael161]

Whilst we are waiting for the Taxamo integration for Shopify Basic, which of these solutions is the best for a UK B2C store selling €40 items to the EU:

https://www.crossborderit.com

https://apps.shopify.com/eurora-app

https://apps.shopify.com/eas-eu-compliance

Or any others that are out there?

[madkitty]

Stay away from crossborderit. They are putting their monthly subscription up to 99 euros a month at the end of January. We are leaving cbit and are  in the process of moving to EAS IOSS Service app on the shopify app store. Seems to be no monthly fees and 1.25 euros per transaction. 

[Dbaca]

You get 100 free shipments with that.. so if you ship more than three shipments a day it is free.

[Jazz-in-place]

But you conveniently omit that Crossborderit  will also charge 3 percent on VAT for payments (i.e. from the whole VAT that the shop collects) , so it is not free after 3 shipments a day. Neither EAS (I am sure here) or Evrora (if I remember correctly) charge any percentage fees.   

[TeemuEAS]

Thanks for the good words, we are working hard to provide an even better service to everyone!

We want to automate the whole process for the merchants, from onboarding to daily operating. Our solution handles simultaneously UK sales for non-UK companies, intra-EU, domestic EU and non-Union, which means our solution is usable when business model changes. More functionalities to come,  just watch this space 😉 

EAS pricing is simple:

1,25€ per transaction + 6€ invoicing fee but only once your invoice exceeds 30€.

So 10 transactions per month would mean 12,50€ in fees + VATs, which would likely exceed the 30€ and then we add the 6€ invoice fee. 

No start or monthly fees. No % fee. 

If a % fee is charged, it is by definition not free. 

[SMU]

I am very interested in your services. We have an ioss already and have been with crossborderit without any issues, however, the increase in fees is something, as a small business, we can't justify.  Is there someone available to go through the change over and process with me please? 

[Rostislav]

Hi SMU,

Please, go to www.easproject.com. You can arrange a video meeting with our consultant there via a calendar app. : Meeting with EAS (hubspot.com)

[SMU]

done. thank you

[LauraECY]

As a company that used CBIT from the very start we have also had to move away from them due to the price increase. EAS have been really helpful and have a much more affordable solution for us. We wish we were sending 100 parcels per month to Europe but sadly it is closer to 5-10. 

EAS are also able to handle digital download tax which we are currently in the process of switching to them as well. 
It is still early days with EAS but they have been responsive and helpful with the changeover and all is running smoothly so far. 

[Dbaca]

Those fees are fees charged by the payment processing company we are just clear about it so folks can pass it on to the buyer.. yes those fees exist.

[TeemuEAS]

European companies can take advantage of SEPA payments. This means a bank transfer similar to domestic bank transfer. Which in turn means the cost is minimal to zero in most cases. In case of European transfers paying 3% when there is an actually free solution easily available I don't understand. 

For companies outside of EU especially the new online banking solutions provide additional, cost-efficient global money transfers. 

So yes, a fee is a fee. Necessary or not. 

[Candi_Q]

Thanks for sharing about EAS.

I'm currently with Crossborderit and when I asked them for alternatives to their service once they informed me they were upping their prices they conveniently didn't mention EAS.