A merchant wants to prevent international purchases of a digital ebook to avoid Value Added Tax (VAT) obligations for UK/EU buyers. VAT on digital products applies even when no physical shipping occurs, and the merchant refunded a UK order and seeks a way to block such purchases.
Shipping zones are not the issue: the store has no international shipping zone, but digital products bypass shipping restrictions and were still purchasable abroad. The merchant notes VAT registration requires two proofs of customer location, adding administrative burden.
Proposed actions: the merchant changed the product to “requires shipping,” hoping this will force country-based shipping limits to apply and block international checkout. This is a workaround, not a built-in digital product control.
Suggested solution: use Shopify’s free Fraud Filter app to create rules (e.g., block IPs or regions) that prevent international orders for digital items. Link provided to the app.
Shopify staff submitted feedback to developers to consider adding location-based restrictions for digital downloads or in fulfillment settings. No definitive native feature exists yet; the solution remains a workaround and the discussion is not fully resolved.
I no longer ship outside the US and Canada due to VAT (and outrageous shipping charges).
I recently started offering a digital product as part of an online class. Someone in the UK purchased the digital ebook that goes with the class and they were ALLOWED to purchase it because it is a digital product! That charged them VAT and made me have to go down a rabbit hole to find out that yes, you DO have to charge VAT on digital products and UGH I DO NOT want to deal with that (I immediately refunded her order).
SO, how do I turn OFF the option for people to purchase this product? Is it just a matter of saying it’s a physical product that requires shipping (even though it is not?) I mean, hello, if I don’t ship to the UK/EU/VAT countries, why would I still want to sell them products that I have to pay VAT for?
(If the process to register for a VAT license was easier, I would consider it but now it says that you have to show TWO forms of proof of location for the person, what a PAIN!)
I don’t have an international shipping zone because I don’t ship internationally. The only reason the order went through is because it’s digital so didn’t require shipping.
I want to disable the purchase for international orders because I don’t have the ability to pay VAT for those orders.
I made my item a “requires shipping” item and I think that will resolve the problem.
I definitely understand the desire to restrict orders from countries that require additional taxes, etc. I took a look on my own test store and I can suggest using the free Shopify Fraud Filter app to block IP addresses, etc.
I have also submitted feedback on this to our developers to consider adding into our own digital downloads app, or within the fulfillment options within the store.