Feature Request: Integration of Taxamo assure into the checkout for UK companies selling to EU

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1

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.

2

This would be really useful for us as well!

3

I have contacted Taxamo Assure and they have been hopelessly unhelpful!

They keep fobbing us off with links to ‘guides’ but cannot give any specific information about how to integrate with Shopify - it feels like Royal Mail have recommended them without actually checking that they can deliver the service/solution.

It would be AMAZING if the Shopify technical team could simplify this and help their users integrate Taxamo Assure - ultimately having this integrated will ensure sales to Europe don’t drop!

4

We’d also find this really useful. Without it we will have to switch off EU sales.

5

Yup i just only started reading up on how we will need IOSS from july and wanted to use Taxamo since i dont have an EU established intermediator but alas i cannot find out how to connect to my shopify, and so i stumbled upon this post. How annoying! I alrEady have a bunch of EU pre orders i cannot send until Late july or august so i am just going to have to send them and the customer will be forced to pay DDU :disappointed_face:

6

Agreed, this is something we really need. Royal Mail are pushing it in the UK as a suggested route but whats the point if it doesn’t integrate with the largest eCommerce platform around.

Does any one know any pay as you go alternatives to Taxamo? I only sell a few products abroad and it is not viable for me to subscribe to a service which is going to cost thousands a year.

Many thanks
David

7

Hi David,

Taxamo is a pay as you go service - £2 per transaction, no subscription but I do not know of any others. I guess if an integration app is developed then that will be another monthly fee… A developer has contacted me regarding this post and I’ve asked them to have a closer look at how it can be integrated with shopify, they are suggesting it may not need access to the checkout so fingers crossed. I will update this thread once I have heard back from them,

cheers Amanda

8

I found taxamo ridiculously unhelpful as well when I contacted them, it’s like they’ve invented a car but there’s no fuel to put in it

9

Update on TAXAMO - 21 June 2021

I kept on asking Taxamo for specifics on integrating their solution - this is their latest response to my questions in case of use to anyone? They don’t really say much of use, but someone technical might understand their response??

What isn’t clear is HOW we integrate or HOW we use your service?
First you need to register and create an account. This will give you access to the Taxamo dashboard. Then you can integrate with Taxamo’s service, either by coding directly to our API, or by using a plugin that connects your platform to our service.
https://docs.assure.taxamo.com/docs/configuring-taxamo-assure

We’d like to work with you but we can’t see how we can do that…it’s not clear anywhere how you integrate with Royal Mail? Is there an automatic integration in Click & Drop?
There’s tons of technical information but it’s not clear how your system and Royal Mail work together and how we as customers can use your service when shipping with Royal Mail.
Taxamo does not integrate directly with Royal Mail or other carriers as this is not necessary. You can continue with your existing connections to Royal Mail, and whichever payment processor that you use, and simply integrate with Taxamo for your tax calculation and reporting. In other words, you simply need to insert calls to the Taxamo service into your existing process. Taxamo will determine when we can take the liability (generally this is for parcels with a value under €150 within the EU). If we can then you will supply Taxamo’s IOSS number to the parcel carrier.
https://docs.assure.taxamo.com/docs

SHOWING ‘LANDED’ COSTS

In addition, in case of use to others (UK based businesses) we have taken the decision to hold off registering for for IOSS in an EU member state in the short term. This is largely because we don’t want to deal with an intermediary to file tax returns on our behalf and we want to see if HMRC go ahead with a UK IOSS portal (which the HMRC website hints is in the works but won’t be ready by July 1st). We’re also trying to workout how our accounts system can manage yet another VAT scheme on top of UK VAT and VAT MOSS.

If HMRC do have an IOSS portal then it may be possible to file our own returns in the UK etc. So, we have decided to go ahead and in the short term ensure that EU customers can see the extra import/VAT costs at checkout in the short term so they are fully informed and no nasty surprises, returned parcels etc. We’ll also create a short video letting EU customers know, lots of signposting on the store etc. and update all T&C’s to make sure people know about extra costs.

We currently use a combination of Easyship (a Shopify app) for our UPS shipping management and also Royal Mail Click & Drop.

Easyship integration helpfully provides a dynamic checkout for ‘landed’ costs and shows extra VAT/duty/import costs on all our UPS shipping options.

However, with RM Click and Drop we use the static Shopify shipping tables. So, digging into this it turns out that Easyship now integrates with Royal Mail if you are a Royal Mail OBA customer (Online Business Account). (Sorry if everyone knows this already, but we didn’t as it wasn’t available when we set Easyship up a year or so ago!).

The good news about the Royal Mail OBA integration is that Easyship say that once connected, Easyship will also present dynamic landed costs at checkout showing Royal Mail postage plus any additional taxes etc. So we’re going ahead with integrating Easyship and our Royal Mail OBA account in the hope that we can present landed rates and all shipping options going forwards.

We did look at the app ZONOS on the Shopify app store which offers a way to present ‘landed’ costs but we’re not happy about the extra fees - they charge a monthly amount which is fair enough but they also charge 1.9% of ALL your sales based on gross sales including VAT, shipping, products etc. Yes, you read that right - ALL YOUR SALES.

Anyway, just sharing this. info in case helpful in the interim to other stores.

Will update for anyone who’s interested as soon as we get through the joys of RM and their OBA set up process!

10

I am also hoping to use Taxamo but their API option does not look possible with Shopify.

I will wait and see what Royal Mail PDDP cost are and maybe go with that for now - although I think it will be expensive, so EU shipping cost will have to go up until a better solution arrives.

I have been in a panic with the 1st July deadline in my head, but it seems even the EU isn’t ready for the IOSS !:

“Germany has confirmed that its IOSS portal will be delayed until at least 1 January 2022, which may likely cause issues for suppliers, postal operators, express carriers, and customs agents established in the country.”

So until the Royal Mail PDDP option comes up, we will keep EU orders open and just have to email them individually informing them of the cost before their order is shipped - not ideal, but less work then having to deal with refusals and returns.

11

I would also request Shopify to have developers make the Taxamo integration into Shopify.
I use Royal Mail, and they are recommending us Uk sellers to use Taxamo.
but it seems there is no proper integration done between Shopify & taxamo.
I am sure there are many small UK businesses like me, who really need this integration to happen.
please Shopify, can you respond to this demand?

thank you

12

I have also looked into Taxamo and got excited at the prospect that the only cost was £2 per parcel and they filed the VAT for the EU and you got to use their IOSS. However after calling Taxamo i was told they are not yet integrated on Shopify but they are having talks with them. Why on earth has something this important not already been integrated and sorted out for small UK businesses. We dont need an EU intermediary we just need something simplified just as Taxamo are offering. I am preplexed as the prospect of not being able to sell to the EU until this has been sorted out.

13

I am in the same boat as you. Taxamo appears to be the only suitable and affordable option for small UK merchants wishing to continue selling in the EU

14

A really well written request, very clear. We have been investigating this for weeks, got signed up with Royal Mail for Click and Drop, integrated that with Shopify, signed up with Taxamo and we were just looking for someone to add the code to Shopify and came across your request.

Shopify need to do something to integrate with Taxamo otherwise it is going to force a lot of stores to look for other store suppliers.

15

I think all UK sellers need to be posting here to request Shopify act quickly. There is surely more UK sellers on Shopify that this will impact upon? I spoke with someone from Taxamo and they were very helpful and at the moment they do seem to be the only third party company who have tailored something suitable for smaller UK merchants who use Royal Mail.

Can someone from Shopify support please join this thread and update us? Would be useful.

16

I would like to add a vote for this. We are at a loss how to handle EU orders from 1st July if this is not implemented. Hoping for a solution soon! :slightly_smiling_face:

17

We are in the same boat and I’ve explored so many alternatives - all require a significant and disproportionate outlay of a minimum of £2000 per annum for companies to act as EU intermediaries. Taxamo seems like a good idea if they can be integrated to Shopify. Frankly, seems ludicrous that it does not integrate with the UK’s most popular e-commerce platform!

18

@Shopify_77 - this is a problem for virtually every small ecommerce site you are hosting in the UK. Please work with Taxamo to come up with a workable solution and make this a priority. The deadline is a week away

19

@Shopify_77 just to reintegrate what others are saying, if Royal Mail in the UK are pushing Taxamo, then UK businesses really need this as an option in Shopify. However, what would be even better is if Shopify did what Taxamo are doing (ie basically for this purpose acting like a marketplace) and offer a more competitive rate than the £2 per parcel that Taxamo wants to charge.

20

I second this, we too are small UK business needing Taxamo & Shopify to figure out a work around!