Tax Overrides Should Support Automatic Collections to Prevent Tax Errors
Please submit a feature request to allow automatic (smart) collections to be used for product tax overrides.
We sell lodging products that all carry a Room tag and require the same Minnesota tax override. An automatic collection can reliably identify every applicable product based on that tag, but Shopify requires tax overrides to use a manual collection. This creates a tax-compliance risk: every time a new lodging product is created, someone must remember to manually add it to a separate tax collection. If that administrative step is missed, Shopify collects the wrong tax.
Automatic collections are particularly appropriate for tax overrides because membership can be based on explicit product attributes such as tags, product type, or category. Please allow automatic collections as the target of a product tax override, or provide another rule-based mechanism for automatically assigning products to tax overrides.
I have a Flow workaround, but it’s fragile and I don’t entirely trust it. Allowing tax overrides to use smart collections would give me a LOT more confidence that it actually works.
You are already using Flow, so until shopify fixes it, focus on why it feels fragile and how to fix that.
Why a tag-based Flow misses products
Flow only fires on Product created.
There is no “tag added” or “product updated” trigger.
So a Room product that is tagged after it is created (a later edit, or a CSV/app import that creates first and tags second), or one that existed before you built the Flow, never fires it and never reaches the tax collection.
How to make it reliable
Sweep in what is already there, once: Products, filter by tag Room, select all, then Add to collection > your tax collection. Re-adding a product that is already in it does nothing, so this is safe to run any time.
Do the above monthly/weekly. Or create a separate. Flow just for it
Tag at creation so the create trigger always catches new products. Easiest: duplicate a template “Room” product that already has the tag, rather than tagging after saving. Now edit that.
The setup, for reference
Your override attaches to the manual collection here: Settings > Taxes and duties > United States > Product overrides > Add override.
Before relying on this approach for compliance, do a quick test: create a new Room product with the tag applied before saving it, then verify it lands in your tax collection within a few minutes. If it does, the flow is working as intended.
Do a monthly spot-check of your tax collection afterward. The product count should grow steadily with new Room inventory. If it stalls, something in your workflow has drifted (someone tagging after save, or a new import) and you’ll catch it before tax errors compound.
