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.

[Dbaca]

Yes get a hold of info@crossborderit.com and they will work on any credits that need to be made. Basically Shopify is charging for the platform instead of us. They do it in Dollars

[Dbaca]

You will be paying just the $24. The subscription is being paid through Shopify instead of through us directly.

[SMU]

Just heads up for anyone sending mail via Royal Mail. Not all their codes are IOSS approved. The following codes are approved and these are the ones we will be using. They are country prices. 

MTK, MTO, MTG, MP7, MP9 and MTE.  There may be more approved codes available but we only use those listed.

I would suggest calling Royal Mail to double check that these codes are on your account and if they are not get them added by the Business Team. If we do not use IOSS approved codes then we will run into issues with deliveries.

[SarahFB]

@LauraECY it does, thank you ever so much! I will email and get the 60 EUR as credit and hopefully will receive my IOSS number soon and can sort out my postage prices.

Thanks again, you're a star! 😄

[SarahFB]

Thanks @Dbaca for clarifying that.  I think I had to pay the 60EUR invoice, which I did yesterday, to trigger getting the IOSS number, which I am guessing won't be far off now.  I will email to get the 60EUR credited to my account.

[SarahFB]

Hi @SMU , thanks for that, but I think they are the codes for a RM OBA, I use C&D.  I have created a fake order to an EU customer and all the postal options come up with IOSS as an enhancement so I am assuming that they should be delivered with no problems, but that could be wishful thinking!

[LauraECY]

That's right. If you don't have a business account but use Click and
Drop, ISOLP and ITSOLP are both acceptable. You can filter options to show
you IOSS services.

[SarahFB]

Thanks @LauraECY I was hoping that would be the case 🙂

[madkitty]

it's not the 1 euro per item that makes you unaffordable its the 24.99 a month that is a big rip off. Taximo is only £2.00 per item and no monthly fees. maybe you should think about maybe charging 2 euros per item and scrap the $24.99 a month. We only send about 8 a month to the EU so your platform is not an affordable option. And may i note that that is 8 sales a month we cannot afford to lose, so why don't you app developers try and make an honest buck instead of trying to rip everybody off 

[Dbaca]

I appreciate the feedback. Our prices are reflected by our costs. We offer an individual IOSS number per customer and do all of the Compliance for each customer. That is really what is in the cost of the platform. We do our best to be affordable. We also have an automated Shopify App so I do not think the two services are apples to apples but I encourage customers to choose the one that is right for them.

[madkitty]

no mention of 9.99 a month when i signed up for taximo. I signed up then found out it is useless to me as i cannot afford shopify plus to use the api

[madkitty]

i am on the basic shopify plan could you help me use taximo?

[AndrewEvermix]

What a silly, self-centred comment.

[madkitty]

what is silly and self centred about it

[AndrewEvermix]

Silly:
- calling another a business a "rip off" with limited knowledge about their
services
- Signing up for a subscription service without doing proper research
- Advising another business on their pricing model without any knowledge of
the business

Self-centred:
- Assuming your niche needs are the same as everyone else's.

- Calling a service "not affordable" because you can't afford it.

Many (most?) businesses will be sending significantly more than 8 parcels
to the EU each month. Therefore Taxamo's pricing would be more expensive
once you hit around 25orders a month.

The fact you only sell 8 items a month to the EU is your issue, not the
issue of this service provider.

Upgrade your shopify and use taxamo if this is such a ripoff 👍

[SMU]

This forum was designed to help us all navigate this new territory. IOSS has been a headache to say the least. It is new to many, if not all of us.

Personally I have found the forum helpful and Damon and his team from Crossborderit have always answered any emails I have sent across.

We too are only a small UK merchant with a basic shopify plan. We don't do many sales to the EU but we have had to conform to the new IOSS rules as we wanted POS transparency for our EU customers.

I am sure that as we all become accustomed to the IOSS way of doing things there will be more options available to suit our pocket and EU shipping quantity at some point in the future. Until then I am more than happy to stay with Crossborderit. We all have costs and the IOSS has increased our costs as a small business. 

We just need to get on with it, see how it goes and if it doesn't work for you or (me) then we do some research. Until then can we continue to support each other and I appreciate this forum because I have learned alot, so thank you.

[SMU]

@SarahFB Yes they are the codes for OBA, my apologies. I should have specified that.

[SarahFB]

Hi @SMU , it's no problem, I really appreciate you drawing it to my attention regardless.  It's such a big new thing for us small businesses to get our heads around, but I am sure it will get easier. I remembered those codes being posted up on Royal Mail somewhere about them being the business account ones.  I did double check there were IOSS compatible codes for Click and Drop and also remember them adding them in an update a while ago!

[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.