How Tax Rates Work
Access requirements. You'll need edit access to "Settings" to create or change a tax rate or category — view access alone lets you see them.
New rates are percentage-based and apply per item, not per order. Older accounts may still have flat fixed-amount or whole-cart rates from before this changed, but you can't create a new one of those types going forward.
Changing or deactivating a rate updates any of your own pending orders right away, but never touches one that's already complete. A sale that's already been rung up keeps the tax it actually charged.
A tax rate can't be deleted, only deactivated — and deactivating it can't be undone. If you create one by mistake, it sticks around in an inactive state rather than disappearing outright, and there's no way to turn it back on afterward.
Deleting a tax category can silently clear it from any department that was using it as a default — with no warning. Double-check whether a category is still in use as a department's default tax category before deleting it.
A tax-exempt customer pays no tax on their whole order, no matter what rate is configured. This is set from the customer's own record, but staff can also turn it on or off for one specific order.
Where to Access Each Feature
To… | Go to |
View or manage tax rates and categories | Settings → Taxes |
Create a new tax rate | Settings → Taxes → "Tax rates" → "Create tax rate" |
Create a new tax category | Settings → Taxes → "Tax categories" → "Create tax category" |
Deactivate a tax rate | Tax rates table → "⋮" → "Deactivate" |
Delete a tax category | Tax categories table → "⋮" → "Delete" |
Creating or Editing a Tax Rate
Step 1
Click on "Settings" in the left-menu bar, then click on "Taxes."
Step 2
Under "Tax rates," click "Create tax rate" — or click an existing rate to edit it instead.
Step 3
If you have multiple stores in different tax zones, choose which "Stores" this rate applies to. Leave it blank to apply to your default zone. (This field only shows up at all if your account has more than one tax zone.)
Step 4
Enter a "Name" (this is what customers see) and, if you want a separate label for your own reference, an "Internal name."
Step 5
Choose the "Rate type." New rates are always "Percent."
Step 6
Enter the "Rate."
Step 7
Choose the "Application level." New rates are always "Item."
Step 8
Click "Create."
Creating a Tax Category
Step 9
Under "Tax categories," click "Create tax category."
Step 10
Enter a "Name" and a "Tax code." Add a "Description" if you'd like one.
Step 11
Choose which "Tax rates" belong to this category.
Step 12
Click "Save."
Deactivating a Tax Rate
Step 13
On the Tax rates table, click "⋮" next to the rate and click "Deactivate."
Step 14
Confirm.
Important: there's no way to turn a deactivated tax rate back on. If you're not sure you want to deactivate it, double-check first.
Troubleshooting
You want to remove a tax rate entirely and don't see a delete option: that's expected — tax rates can only be deactivated, not deleted, so their history stays intact.
You deleted a tax category and now a department's tax setting looks blank: that's expected if that department was using the deleted category as its default — you'll need to set a new default tax category for it.
A completed sale still shows the old tax rate after you changed it: that's expected — rate changes only apply going forward, never to orders that are already complete.
A customer isn't being charged tax and you're not sure why: check whether they're marked tax-exempt on their customer record, or whether "Tax exempt" was turned on for that specific order.
You don't see a "Stores" option when creating a rate: that only appears for accounts with more than one tax zone — on a single-zone account, a new rate applies to your one zone automatically.