Within the Marketplacer system, there are several ways to set a tax rate on items. This document will detail the options available. There are multiple fields that can be changed or updated via GraphQL, RestV2 API or the Marketplacer UI.
Available tax rates
There are 5 tax rates in Marketplacer, listed below:
Default Platform Tax Rate
This rate is configured as part of the creation of your Marketplacer instance, it is not able to be changed. You can see this rate in the finance settings section of the configuration menu in the Operator portal
Configurable Rate Type
You can configure a fixed tax rate per line item type, these types are; Item, Postage, Merchant Fee and Commission. These can be configured via the finance settings section of the configuration menu, within the Operator portal.
Taxonomy Rate
You are able to set a rate per taxonomy as well, with this rate applying to all items mapped within the category, this can be done via the category configuration options with the Operator portal, an operator check “override sales tax” and is able to enter a tax rate as shown below. When there are multiple tiers to your taxonomy, the most granular tier will be used eg in "Mens" - "Shoes" - "Boots" The "Boots" sales tax rate will be used.
Advert Rate
Sellers are able to set tax rates when creating adverts, this can be done via the Rest API, the CSV uploader or via the UI when either editing, or creating a product by updating the “Item Tax Percentage Field” in the product details.
Variant Rate
Sellers are able to set tax rates when creating variants, this can be done via the Rest API, the CSV uploader or via the UI when either editing, or creating a product and updating the “Item Tax Percentage” field
Tax Rate Hierarchy
Tax rates are calculated by Marketplacer at the time an order is submitted, we attempt to use the most granular level of detail possible, if a field is left “null” or blank the tax calculator will move one step down the sequence below until a tax rate field is found.
- Variant Tax Rate
- Advert Tax Rate
- Taxonomy Tax Rate
- Item Tax Rate
- Platform Default Rate
For example, if the below rates are provided:
Platform Default - 10%
Item Tax Rate - 15%
Taxonomy Tax Rate - 8%
Advert Tax Rate - 4%
Variant Tax Rate - Null or blank.
When an order is placed, the full value is submitted inclusive of taxes, and a rate of 4% will be applied to that line item.
Additional Notes
Tax rates are applied to line items in close to real time when orders are submitted and cannot be changed after the fact. Note that adding a variant tax rate for example, will only apply that rate to orders placed after the rate is entered and saved.
The rate used will be stored in the Marketplacer Database and is displayed on the all sales report.
Currently, the tax rate fields on products and variants are not available via the advert vetting feature.
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