When to Calculate Taxes

You can calculate tax at these times during the order process:
  • When the customer prompts for a subtotal or total.
  • When the customer performs a final check out.
  • When the order ships, which ensures that the current tax rate is applied to the order.
As you determine how and where to implement the Tax Calculation Service on your website, consider that the Global Tax Calculation Service is billable for each request. To offset your costs and optimize your pricing, consider waiting to request a tax calculation until after your customer has entered their shipping or billing address on the checkout page. This minimizes the number of tax calculation requests for a single transaction. To ensure that your business complies with tax laws, work with a tax advisor to determine when to calculate tax.
For more information on when to calculate US and Canadian taxes, see Step 4: When to Calculate Tax.