Tax Calculation

The service can calculate the following types of taxes:
  • US sales and sellers use tax
  • Canadian sales tax (GST, PST, HST, QST)
  • International (non-US/Canadian) and Value-Added Tax (VAT)
The calculation is based on the location of the customer’s taxing jurisdiction, your nexus locations, and the product codes that you provide. The order price and quantity are included in the calculation.
The tax calculation service is not recommended for merchants conducting business with unsupported countries. See Supported Countries and Regions.

US and Canadian Tax Calculation

The tax calculation service uses the same request to calculate US and Canadian sales tax due to their similarities, but there are some distinguishing factors that should be known.

US Sales Tax

Sales tax is imposed on a transfer of property. Some states do not have sales tax. For US orders, the tax calculation service includes the total tax value for the transaction and tax values and rates per jurisdiction, divided into national, state, county, city, and special taxes. Some states do not have sales tax.

Canadian Taxes

The same procedures apply to calculating taxes for Canada as for the United States. Use only Canadian dollars for all Canadian taxes. The tax calculation service returns:
  • GST as a country-level tax
  • PST and QST as state-level taxes
  • HST as the sum of GST and PST
If you want the tax calculation service to return HST as one field, contact customer support to configure your account accordingly.

International Taxes and Value-Added Tax (VAT) Calculation

International taxes are calculated for countries other than the US Specifically, some countries have a VAT, which is sales tax chargeable on most goods and services. A VAT seller registration number is assigned to sellers and required to calculate international taxes in most countries. International and VAT calculation is supported in specific countries. See Supported Countries and Regions.
When you request the tax service and the product is being shipped to or consumed in one of the following countries, tax is calculated by default. The seller registration number is not required in order to calculate tax in these locations:
  • Canada
  • China
  • Congo, Republic of the
  • Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
  • Lake Lugano, Territorial Waters of
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • Macedonia, Republic of North
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • United Kingdom
  • United States