How to charge EU VAT on your checkout with Swipefast and Stripe Tax
Step by step: turn on Stripe Tax, add your head office and VAT registrations, pick what you sell, and test consumer and business addresses before you publish.
Swipefast never hard-codes a VAT rate. Stripe Tax works out the right amount for each buyer, and it needs three things from you to do it: where your business is based, where you're registered to collect tax, and what you're selling. Leave one out and buyers either pay no VAT at all or see an error instead of a total. This guide sets up all three.
Before you start
- Stripe must be connected and able to take cards. Open Integrations, then Stripe. If it says Stripe needs a little more, click Finish Stripe setup and complete what Stripe asks. Until Stripe switches card payments on, buyers can't pay at all, with or without tax.
- Know where you're registered for VAT. Usually that's your own country, and if you sell to consumers elsewhere in the EU, the EU One-Stop Shop (OSS). If you're not sure which applies to you, ask your accountant before you go live.
Step 1: Turn on tax for the checkout
- 1. Open Checkouts, choose the checkout, then click Edit checkout.
- 2. On the checkout preview, click the Payment section. Its settings open alongside.
- 3. Switch on Calculate tax with Stripe Tax.
Tax is set per checkout, so a free lead magnet or a product sold outside the EU can stay tax-free. With tax on, the checkout asks buyers for a billing address automatically, because location decides the rate.
Step 2: Say what you're selling
Under What are you selling?, pick the closest match, such as Live online training or webinar, Online course, Coaching or consulting, or E-book. The category matters: for most digital products and live online events, EU VAT follows the buyer's country, not yours.
- Address to ask for: Short (country and postcode) is quicker for buyers and enough for Stripe Tax. Choose Full billing address if you want a complete address on the receipt.
- How should tax be applied?: EU buyers expect prices that already include VAT. Include tax in the displayed price keeps a €100 price at €100, with the VAT shown inside it. Add tax at checkout adds the VAT on top.
- Except in these countries: flips that choice for the countries you list. For example, include VAT for Europe, but add sales tax on top for US.
If you leave the category on Use my Stripe Tax default and your Stripe account has no default category, Swipefast uses Other digital product or service.
Step 3: Add your head office
Scroll to the Stripe Tax status box in the same Payment panel. If you connected with the Connect with Stripe button, your checkout charges a Stripe account that Swipefast set up for you. That account has no Tax page of its own, so you set its tax up right here. Tax you set up in any other Stripe account you own doesn't apply to it.
- 1. Under Head office address, choose your country and enter your street, city and postal code.
- 2. Click Save head office.
- 3. The badge at the top of the box changes from Needs setup to Ready.
Step 4: Add where you're registered
Ready means Stripe can calculate tax. It doesn't mean it will charge any. Stripe only collects VAT where you have a registration. With none, every buyer pays 0% VAT, and the box says No tax registrations yet.
- 1. Under Add a place you're registered to collect tax, choose your country.
- 2. A second menu appears. Choose Registered for VAT here, then click Add registration.
- 3. If you use the EU One-Stop Shop, choose your country again, then EU One-Stop Shop (OSS), then click Add registration.
- 4. The box now reads You collect tax in, followed by your registrations.
The Add registration button stays grey until both menus are chosen. The same form covers the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Canada and US states. Choose Remove next to a registration to stop collecting under it; past orders keep their tax.
Step 5: Test with addresses you know
Open the checkout, enter a few billing addresses, and check the Tax line before paying. Here's what a seller based in mainland Portugal, registered at home and for OSS, should see on a digital product:
| Buyer | What the checkout should do |
|---|---|
| Consumer in Portugal | Add Portuguese VAT (23% on the mainland) |
| Business in Portugal, with a Portuguese VAT number | Still add Portuguese VAT: same-country sales keep VAT |
| Consumer in Belgium | Add Belgian VAT (21%), declared through OSS |
| Business in Belgium, with a valid VAT number | No VAT: reverse charge, so the buyer accounts for it |
| Buyer outside the EU | Usually no EU VAT |
EU VAT numbers are checked against the EU's VIES register at checkout. A number that isn't in the register is refused, so the buyer either fixes it or pays with VAT. If VIES is down, VAT is added and the buyer is told to try again in a few minutes.
Step 6: Publish
Swipefast won't publish a checkout with tax on until its Stripe Tax status is Ready. That way a buyer never meets an error where the total should be. Click Publish to open the page, and you're live.
If something goes wrong
- The card form says Card payments aren't available: Stripe hasn't switched cards on for your account. Open Integrations, then Stripe, and click Finish Stripe setup.
- Publishing says Stripe Tax isn't active yet: add your head office (Step 3).
- The Tax line always says 0: there's no registration for that buyer's country (Step 4), or a business entered a valid VAT number from another EU country, which correctly removes the VAT.
- You use your own pasted Stripe keys: head office and registrations live in your Stripe dashboard under Tax. The Stripe Tax status box links straight there.
What it costs
Stripe charges its own fee for Stripe Tax. Swipefast adds 0.2% on each order where it calculates tax, including upsells and renewals on those orders. Checkouts with tax switched off stay at 0%.
Questions people ask before choosing
Do I need the EU One-Stop Shop?
If you sell digital products or live online events to consumers in other EU countries, their VAT rate usually applies, and OSS lets you declare it all from home. Small sellers under €10,000 a year of cross-border EU sales to consumers can often charge their own country's VAT instead. Your accountant can tell you which applies to you.
Why does a business in my own country still pay VAT?
Reverse charge only applies across borders. A business in the same country as you pays your VAT, and can usually reclaim it.
I set up Stripe Tax in my Stripe dashboard. Why doesn't the checkout use it?
If you connected with the Connect with Stripe button, your checkout charges a separate Stripe account Swipefast set up for you. Set its head office and registrations in the Stripe Tax status box under Payment in the checkout editor.
Can I turn tax on for one checkout and not another?
Yes. Tax is a setting on each checkout. The head office and registrations belong to your Stripe account, so you only add them once.