How to handle USA sales tax for UK-based online sellers?

[Rhiannon]

Hi all! So sorry if I’ve missed the answer to this somewhere else! 
I want to sell from the uk to the USA. Am I expected to charge sales tax my end or does the customer pay when they receive their order? 
if I’m to charge sales tax is there an app that will calculate it for me? Thanks! 

[Nick · Accepted solution]

Hi @Rhiannon,

Nick here from Shopify. Good questions, taxes are difficult to navigate even on the best of days! 

If you are based in the United Kingdom, you will need to set your store taxes from there and my advice is always to check with a local tax representative on if you need to charge taxes on your end or your customers if you're selling to the USA. Once you have the tax settings set up in Shopify, it will charge the tax accordingly, but what that tax is, I cannot say exactly. Shopify has an extensive help guide going into detail on all things to do with setting up UK taxes which you can read here. But I can't stress enough for you to talk to a local tax representative to know exactly which tax you need to charge. 

Any other questions, let me know!