Can I set up different shipping tax rates on products in the Netherlands?

Topic summary

Issue: Dutch (and broader EU/India) VAT rules require shipping VAT to match the product VAT; if an order mixes rates, shipping VAT must be split proportionally. Merchants need shipping tax to follow product tax (e.g., 21% vs 9% in NL) within Shopify.

Initial guidance: Set product tax via “tax overrides” by collection and enable “Charge tax on shipping rates.” Expected: shipping VAT mirrors product VAT; for mixed carts, majority rate applied.

Findings: Real orders show mismatches (e.g., product at 21% but shipping taxed at 9%). Shopify replicated the issue. Merchants provided official guidance from the Dutch Belastingdienst and Sweden’s Skatteverket supporting proportional shipping VAT.

Shopify status: Automated tax system cannot currently implement different or proportional shipping VAT per order. Feature request logged; no ETA, and no confirmation it will be implemented. Images/screenshots were shared to demonstrate the issue.

Workarounds: Only manual, per‑order refunds; no bulk correction. No reliable third‑party app identified in the thread.

Scope/impact: Similar legal requirements reported in NL, SE, BE, IT, and India. Merchants cite compliance risk and margin loss.

Current state: Unresolved and ongoing. Key open question: when/whether Shopify will support shipping VAT that follows product VAT, including proportional splits for mixed-rate orders.

Summarized with AI on December 14. AI used: gpt-5.

Two years further now, and this problem is still not solved. Selling shops is what you do, but you are unable to get us a feature that allows us to follow OBLIGED by GOVERNMENT TAX REGULATIONS… Shame on Shopify!

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