Information
What Shopify plan do I need?
Currently, our Duty and Tax Calculator App only works with Shopify Plans, that include the Shopify carrier-calculated shipping feature, the duties and taxes calculated will be added to the shipping cost. With ShopifyPlus, the duties and taxes are a separate line item under shipping.
You need to be on a Shopify Plan that does support the carrier-calculated shipping feature. The CarrierService API can be booked in the Shopify plan, but this is associated with additional costs. The CarrierService API is automatically included in the Advanced Plan and Shopify Plus Plan.
With the Basic Plan, no CarrierService API can be booked in addition; you can only increase the plan.
To increase a plan or to book the service additionally, please contact support@shopify.com .
How many shipping zones can I have?
The Duty and Tax Calculator has a maximum limit of 20 shipping zones. Countries can be present in more than one shipping zone, but only active in one.
How does the app work with my current payment gateway?
We support whatever currency your store is in. If you send in the request in USD, we will return values in USD, if you send it in EUR, we will return a calculated response in EUR.
How accurate are the calculations?
The calculation’s accuracy directly depends on the merchant setup using the inputs the calculator needs— the HS code provided, country of origin of the goods, freight value, insurance and if other optional parameters are included, such as weight. The calculator will only return a duty and tax amount if applicable i.e. the de-minimis value for the importing country has been reached and either taxes, duties or both are due.
Are duties and taxes calculated on the product price?
Yes, but there are other components that go into calculating duties & taxes depending on the country. For example, Liechtenstein calculates based on weight, Canada calculates based on cost, and France calculates based on cost, insurance and freight. Basically, will depend on the country it is going to.
de-minimis
Each country typically has a minimum value below which taxes, duties or duties AND taxes are not assessed, called the de-minimis value. If your shipment’s value is below this threshold, taxes, duty or both may not apply. For example the de-minimis for both duties and taxes in the United States is $800 US (with certain exceptions), but in Canada, the tax de-minimis is $40 CAD if shipping from US or MX. So a retail shipment from Spain valued at $700 and shipped to the US may not be subject to import duty & tax, but it would be in Canada.
HS Code
The HS Code system is a way of identifying commodities by group. It's also referred to as a "Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, and is used by more than 200 destination countries and economies as a basis for their Customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics.
Over 98 % of the merchandise in international trade is classified in terms of the HS. Each HS Code is 6 digits long, arranged in a legal and logical structure, and is supported by well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification.