Skip to content
Create account or Sign in
The Stripe Docs logo
/
Create accountSign in
Overview
Versioning
Upgrade your API version
Essentials
Tools
Stripe for Visual Studio Code
Features
Stripe health alertsFile uploads
AI solutions
Model Context ProtocolBuild agentic AI SaaS Billing workflows
Security and privacy
Stripebot web crawler
Extend Stripe
Partners
Partner certification

Install and configure the Stripe Tax app

Use the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce to automatically calculate and collect.

Use the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce to automatically calculate and collect sales tax, VAT, and GST. The app applies the accurate tax rate for all your transactions in your BigCommerce store. After you install the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce, you can configure your tax settings.

Install the Stripe Tax app

  1. Verify you or someone on your team is an admin user. Only admin users can install the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce.
  2. Open the Stripe Tax app in the BigCommerce marketplace, and click Install > Confirm to install the app.
  3. Within five minutes after installing the app, click Connect Stripe. You must have an active Stripe account.
  4. After you connect your Stripe account, you can configure your tax settings.

Configure your Stripe Tax settings

Complete steps 1 to 4 in the Stripe Tax setup guide. You can skip step 5 because you don’t need to enable tax in your Stripe integration or use the Stripe Tax API.

In the Stripe Dashboard:

  1. Set your head office address.
  2. Select your preset tax code.
  3. Select whether or not prices include tax by default.
  4. Add registrations.

Configure your BigCommerce store to use the Stripe Tax app

Next, configure BigCommerce to set up Stripe Tax as a tax service:

  1. In your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Settings > Tax.
  2. Under Configured tax services, click Edit next to Stripe.
  3. Click Test Connection to verify that your app is correctly installed.

Set up the head office address

In your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Settings > Shipping > Edit. Set your shipping origin address, if you haven’t already.

You must update the head office address in the Stripe dashboard and origin address in BigCommerce. These settings don’t sync automatically. Tax calculations through the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce always use the BigCommerce origin address, while tax monitoring and tax registration availability use the Stripe head office address.

Configure the countries to use Stripe Tax

In your BigCommerce dashboard, update the Provider targeting to choose the countries where you want to use Stripe Tax.

Set the provider options

In your BigCommerce dashboard, under Provider Options, select Please submit my order data so that I can use solution tax reporting and returns features.

Configure the tax treatment for your store

In your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Settings > Tax > Store tax settings. Click Edit and then set the Prices entered with tax to one of the following:

  • Yes, I will enter prices inclusive of tax
  • No, I will enter prices exclusive of tax

The value that you configure in the BigCommerce dashboard takes precedence over the value configured in the Stripe Dashboard. These values don’t sync automatically between Stripe and BigCommerce.

Test with Sandbox Mode

You can test your tax configurations for your BigCommerce StripeTax app in Sandbox Mode to make sure it’s working properly before going live.

Benefits of Sandbox Mode

  • Simulate transactions without affecting real orders or customers.
  • Test different tax scenarios and configurations.
  • Ensure accuracy and compliance before applying changes to your live store.
  • Transition from testing to production without code.

Use Sandbox Mode

  1. In your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Apps > My Apps > Stripe Tax.
  2. Toggle the Sandbox Mode switch to “On” and connect to your Stripe account.
  3. Finish the App installation connecting to your Stripe sandbox account.
  4. Run test transactions to verify your setup.
  5. When satisfied with your configuration, switch to your live account using the Switch to live button.

Note

Sandbox mode doesn’t process real transactions or apply tax calculations to actual orders. Use the Switch to live button when you’re ready to process real transactions.

Troubleshooting

To troubleshoot the Stripe Tax app for BigCommerce, add a product to the shopping cart and then start the checkout process.

If you don’t see a tax amount displayed, do the following:

  • Verify that you installed and connected the Stripe Tax app correctly. Follow the installation steps again.

  • Verify that the customer you added is in a market configured in the Provider targeting tax setting.

  • Verify that the customer’s address is correct.

  • Verify that the customer’s address is located in one of the registered locations. Many businesses miss or skip this step.

  • Verify your tax registrations in the Stripe Dashboard.

  • Verify that the customer isn’t tax-exempt.

  • Verify where your tax is calculated. Some product tax codes might use the seller’s address instead of the shipping address for tax calculations. Check the Dashboard logs to determine the exact location where your taxes are applied. We recommend that you select a product tax code with a description that closely matches your product. This is important because incorrect tax calculations often occur when selecting a general product tax code instead of a specific one. For example, selecting General - Services when a more specific category applies can result in taxes calculated based on the seller’s location. Selecting the most accurate tax code ensures taxes are calculated correctly.

For more information about why Stripe Tax applies zero tax to some calculations, see Zero tax amounts. If you’re still experiencing issues after following these troubleshooting steps, contact us.