Taxes, store policies and legal pages

Before you start

This guide covers two jobs that sit side by side before launch: charging the right tax, and publishing the policies customers read before they buy.

Tax is your responsibility. Shopify doesn't file or remit tax for you unless you use Shopify Tax with automated filing¹. Shopify suggests you check with a local tax authority or a tax accountant that your rates and filings are correct¹. Where you must collect tax, you must first register your business with the tax authority¹.

Which tax service you get depends on your country¹:

• United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada: Shopify Tax, or Manual Tax if you set rates yourself.
• Norway, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore: Basic Tax.
• All other countries and regions: Manual Tax.

Policy templates are English only. Shopify can generate policy templates only in English, for checkouts set to English. For other languages you write your own². You are responsible for following what you publish, so read every template before you save it².

Worked example: a candle shop selling 40 products in the US and Canada, registered for sales tax in one US state.

Steps

1. Work out where you must collect tax. This usually starts with where your business operates and your default location. Register with each state or country where you are liable³.
2. Open your tax settings. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties³.
3. Start collecting US sales tax, if you sell in the US. In the Manage sales tax collection section, click United States. In Regional settings, click Add new state, select a state where you are registered, and enter your Sales tax ID. Click Collect taxes⁴. Click Collect sales tax to add more states⁴.
4. Set rates for other regions, if you use Manual Tax. In the Tax regions section, click the region. In Base taxes, enter rates or click Reset to default tax rates, then click Save⁵. Default rates don't update by themselves when the law changes, so click Reset to default tax rates again later⁵.
5. Decide whether prices include tax. By default, Shopify shows prices without tax and adds it at checkout⁶. To include tax, select Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate on the Taxes and duties page and click Save⁷. This is set per market⁷.
6. Decide whether to tax shipping. In the Global settings section, select Charge tax on shipping rates and click Save⁸. In the US, Canada, the EU, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, shipping is taxed where it applies regardless of this setting⁸.
7. Open your policy settings. Go to Settings > Policies².
8. Add each written policy. In the Written policies section, click a policy: return, privacy, terms of service or shipping. Type your text, or click Insert template and fill in the placeholders. Click Save to publish it².
9. Check the automated privacy settings. New stores have automated privacy settings turned on by default. On older stores you can turn on automated updates for the privacy policy, cookie banner and data sharing opt-out page².
10. Add a contact page. Go to Online Store > Pages and click Add page. Enter a title such as "Contact us" and your content, keep Visible selected, and click Save⁹.
11. Link your policies in the footer. Go to Content > Menus and open your footer menu. Click Add menu item, enter a Name, choose the policy or page in Search or paste a link, click Add, then Save menu¹⁰. Footer menus show only top-level items¹⁰.

Check your work

• Open each policy at your domain: /policies/refund-policy, /policies/privacy-policy, /policies/terms-of-service and /policies/shipping-policy².
• Start a checkout and look for your policy links in the checkout footer. Shopify adds them there once published².
• On Settings > Taxes and duties, confirm each place you are registered is listed as collecting tax⁴.
• Add a taxable product to a cart with an address in a registered state and confirm tax appears at checkout⁶.

Common problems

• Customers see a different total at checkout than on the product page. Prices exclude tax by default, so tax is added at checkout. Turn on tax-inclusive pricing if you want the final price shown up front^6,7.
• Tax-inclusive pricing doesn't work for some customers. Including or excluding tax by country isn't supported with post-purchase upsell apps, and accelerated checkout buttons aren't supported with this feature⁷.
• A product isn't being taxed. Open the product and make sure Charge tax on this product is selected⁷.
• Shipping tax isn't charged under Manual Tax. Manual Tax doesn't calculate shipping tax automatically. Set shipping tax rates for each region⁵.
• There is no template in my language. Templates exist only in English. Write your own, and Shopify suggests contacting a local law expert for help².
• Tax rates are out of date. Manual rates don't update automatically. Click Reset to default tax rates to load current defaults⁵.