Collecting international duties and import taxes at checkout

To collect duties and import taxes in your store's checkout, your store needs to meet the following requirements:

• is on the Advanced Shopify or the Shopify Plus plan
• uses a shipping service other than Shopify Shipping
• does not use the Shopify Fulfillment Network
• has Harmonized System (HS) codes applied to products
• uses registration-based taxes

If your store doesn't meet the requirements to charge duties and import taxes at checkout, then you can use a third-party app to calculate duties and import taxes.

Pricing

A transaction fee applies to orders that have duties and import taxes calculated. The amount of this fee depends on whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider:

• A 0.85% transaction fee applies to orders that have duties and import taxes calculated at checkout in stores that use Shopify Payments as their gateway. The 0.85% transaction fee also applies to orders that use a third-party payment provider, such as PayPal, as long as Shopify Payments is the primary gateway.
• A 1.5% transaction fee applies to orders that have duties and import taxes calculated at checkout in stores that use other payment providers as their gateway. The 1.5% transaction fee also applies to stores that use Shop Pay as an accelerated checkout if Shopify Payments isn't the primary gateway.

The transaction fee is applied for every order that has duties and import taxes calculated at checkout, even if the calculated amount is zero. Transaction fees aren't charged in the following cases:

• Orders that are shipped to the same country or region as where the store is located.
• Orders that are shipped between EU member countries.
• Abandoned checkouts.

Collect duties and import taxes at checkout

Caution

Charges for duties and import taxes are estimates based on the available information at the time that the customer places an order. Inaccurate product information, such as a missing country or region of origin or an incorrect Harmonized System (HS) code, might result in additional duties being charged to the customer upon delivery.

When you activate collecting duties and import taxes at checkout, duties and import taxes are charged on international orders. Orders that are placed from regions where you have a fulfillment location aren't affected.

Steps:

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.
2. In the Duties and import taxes section, click Set up.
3. Confirm that your shipping carriers and third-party integrations support delivered duty paid (DDP).
4. Select the shipping countries or regions where you want to collect duties and import taxes at checkout.
5. Review products that have been flagged as missing HS codes and a country or region of origin and add the missing information to ensure that duties and import taxes are calculated accurately.
6. Confirm that you've updated your store policy and notifications for international sales.
7. Review the terms and conditions for calculating duties and international taxes at checkout.
8. Click Agree and activate.

Note

You can also access your duties and import tax settings by going from the Shopify admin to Settings > Markets.

When the duties and import taxes at checkout setup is complete, review the additional tasks to complete to set up your store for international sales.

Add HS codes and the country or region of origin to your products

Note

HS codes are required for all international orders. Some countries, such as Switzerland, also require a product weight to calculate duties and import taxes at checkout.

To display a duties estimate to international customers in your checkout, you should edit your product details to include the country or region of origin and the HS code for better accuracy. If a product is missing an HS code, then calculations are based on the product's description and product category instead. If a product doesn't have an HS code, description, or category, then duties and import taxes aren't calculated for that order even if you've set orders from a country or region to collect duties and import taxes at checkout.

The country or region of origin (COO) is where a product is created or assembled into the form in which you sell it, and where it takes on its HS code classification. For example, you sell a table. The table is made of wood from Canada, glue from Mexico, and screws from China. The table is assembled from these materials in the United States. In this case, the country or region of origin is the United States because that's where the materials are used to create the table.

The HS code is used in international trade to describe what a product is. Typically, the HS code is six digits long. Learn more about HS codes from the World Customs Organization.

To add an HS code and a country or region of origin to products, choose one of the following options:

• Import the information with a CSV file.
• From the Shopify admin, add the information on the product's page.
• Use the bulk editor.

Add HS codes and the country of origin by importing a CSV file

If you have a lot of products to update and you already know your product HS codes, or if you aren't sure which of your products are missing codes, then you can use a CSV file to update your products.

Note

The intended use for the duties and import taxes CSV file is to update HS codes and the country of origin for your products. If you want to change values other than HS codes and the country of origin, then update your products with the inventory CSV instead.

Steps:

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.
2. In the Duties and import taxes section, click Manage.
3. Export a CSV file of products with missing information.
   1. In the Product information section, click Update with CSV.
   2. Click Export.
   3. Select your preferred file format and click Export products. A CSV file is sent to you in an email.
4. Edit your CSV file by using a spreadsheet program such as Google Sheets.
5. Import your edited CSV file.
   1. In the Product information section, click Update with CSV.
   2. Click Import.
   3. Add your file for import, either by clicking Add file or by dragging and dropping your file to the import window.
   4. Click Upload.
   5. Click Import. An email is sent to you when the process is complete.

Note

You can also access your duties and import tax settings by going from the Shopify admin to Settings > Markets and clicking Manage > Duties and import taxes for the specific market that you want to update.

The duties and import taxes CSV file is similar to other CSV files that you use with Shopify, but has different columns. The following columns are used in the duties and import taxes CSV:

• Product Handle - Handles are unique names for each product. They can contain letters, dashes and numbers, but no spaces. A handle is used in the URL for each product.
• Product title - The Title column is optional, and can be blank.
• Variant SKU - The stock keeping unit (SKU) of the product or variant. This value is used to track inventory with inventory tracking services.
• Option1 Name - If a product has an option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Color. For products with only a single option, this value should be Title.
• Option1 Value - If a product has an option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Black. For products with only a single option, this value should be Default Title.
• Option2 Name - If a product has a second option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Size.
• Option2 Value - If a product has a second option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Large.
• Option3 Name - If a product has a third option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Material.
• Option3 Value - If a product has third option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Cotton.
• Country of origin - The country of origin is where the product was created or assembled into the form that it is sold in. The value in this column is used to estimate duties and import taxes for international customers.
• HS code - The HS Code is a number that classifies a product for international trade. The value in this column is used to estimate duties and import taxes for international customers.

Add HS codes and the country or region of origin on the product page

If you don't have many products to update and you don't know your product HS codes, then you can add the HS code and country or region of origin directly on a product's page.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Click the name of the product that you want to change.

3. In the Customs information section, change the product details.

   1. Select a country or region of origin.
   2. Enter an HS code. If you don't have an HS code for your product, then start entering a description of your product to search for the appropriate code.

4. Click Save.

Add HS codes and a country or region of origin using the bulk editor

If you don't have many products to update and you already know your product HS codes, then you can add the HS code and country or region of origin using the bulk editor.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Check the products that you want to modify.

3. Click Edit products.

4. Click Add fields.

5. In the Shipping section, click HS code and Country of origin.

6. Edit your products as necessary, and then click Save.

Stop collecting duties and import taxes at checkout

You can stop the collection of duties and taxes in your checkout for individual countries or regions at a time, or you can entirely deactivate the feature to completely stop the collection of duties and taxes for all countries and regions.

Deactivate collection of duties and import taxes for individual countries or regions

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.
2. In the Duties and import taxes section, click Manage.
3. In the Countries/regions section, click Manage.
4. Uncheck the country or region where you want to stop collecting duties and import taxes.
5. Click Save.

Deactivate collection of duties and import taxes for all countries and regions

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.
2. In the Duties and import taxes section, click Manage.
3. Click Deactivate.
4. Confirm your choice and click Deactivate.

Use a third-party app to calculate duties and import taxes at checkout

If your store doesn't meet the requirements for charging duties and import taxes at checkout, then you can use a third-party app from the Shopify App Store to display an estimate at checkout of the duties and import taxes for the order. These apps use your product details, such as the country or region of origin and HS code for a product, to calculate duties and import taxes. Third-party apps might charge you additional recurring or transaction fees.

Steps:

1. Add a country or region of origin and HS codes to your products.
2. Install an app from the Shopify App Store that calculates duties and import taxes.

Some apps might require additional setup steps. If you need help getting started, then refer to the app's page in the Shopify App Store, or contact the app's developer for assistance.