Collect US sales tax

This article is for shops whose business is based in the United States. There is no VAT in the United States: a sales tax is added to the price, depending on the state the customer ships to. Winslor calculates it with Stripe Tax and collects it in your Stripe account.

Winslor calculates and collects sales tax, but does not file or remit it to the states: that remains your responsibility, or your accountant's. This article describes how the tool works; it is not tax advice.

The principle: your prices exclude tax

The prices you enter exclude tax. The cart tells the customer (‘Taxes and shipping calculated at checkout’), then a ‘Sales tax’ line is added at the payment step, calculated from the shipping address. For a pickup, your head office address applies.

Set up sales tax

Before you start: your business country must be the United States in your legal information, and your Stripe account must be connected.

1. Go to Settings → Legal Information, ‘US sales tax’ section.
2. Enter your head office (the state and ZIP code are enough) and your product category, then click ‘Save to Stripe’.
3. Under ‘States where you collect tax’, add each state where you are registered with the tax authority.

As long as no state is declared, no tax is added to your sales. This is intentional: you only collect tax where you are registered.

Which states should you declare?

Only those where you are registered to collect tax. Typically, you register in the state where your business is located, then in each state where your sales exceed a threshold set by that state. Your Stripe dashboard tracks these thresholds and flags the states you are approaching. Your accountant will tell you where to register.

Your product category

The rate depends on what you sell: some states exempt clothing or food, for example. The category you choose applies to all your products. If none fits, choose ‘General merchandise’.

Refunds, invoices and revenue

• A refund also refunds the tax: in full for a full refund, proportionally for a partial refund. Stripe Tax is updated automatically.
• The tax appears on the invoice, the confirmation email and the order details. A credit note shows the share of tax refunded.
• Your revenue (dashboard, statistics) is shown excluding sales tax: you collect it for the state, it does not belong to you.

File and remit the tax

The amounts collected land in your Stripe account. The Stripe Tax reports in your Stripe dashboard break down what you collected state by state: that is the basis for your returns. Stripe charges this service to your account, at its own rates.

Current limitations

• A single category for the whole shop.
• Manual orders, entered from the admin, do not calculate sales tax.
• A taxed order can no longer be edited.