Tax and shipping

You can add special rules for tax and shipping.  To begin, go to the admin section > More options (upper right) > Commerce > Tax and shipping. 

NOTE: You must first set the Preferences tab > Checkout via option to Shopping cart.

Add tax

There are several options for calculating tax.

By default rate
This tax rate will be will be applied to every order.

For example: If the default rate is 8.75% and the order is $1000, the tax will be $87.50 regardless of the buyer's location.

By US state
This rate will only be applied if the buyer is located in a particular state.  You must add each state and its tax rate separately.

By Canadian province
This rate will only be applied if the buyer is located in a particular Canadian province. You must add each province and its tax rate separately.

By custom tax zone
If you need to charge tax for a location that is not a US state or Canadian province, you can consider creating custom tax zones. 

For example: You could create two custom tax zones like so:
* United Kingdom, Tax rate: 18%
* All other locations, Tax rate: 0%

By shipping zone
If your tax zone(s) exists within your shipping zones, you can choose this option.

For example: You could have four shipping zones like so:
* United Kingdom, Tax rate: 18%
* United States, Tax rate: 0%
* China, Tax rate: 0%
* Australia, Tax rate: 0%

For this option, you must check Add shipping and set Calculate the shipping using... to Multiple zones.
 

Add shipping

There are several options for calculating shipping.

Calculate shipping using...
This option can be set to Single method or Multiple zones. 



Single method may be a good option if you want the same cost calculation for every destination.  However, if you wish to calculate shipping per country or region, select Multiple zones, and then create the zones to which you will ship by clicking Adding shipping zone...

Shipping rules can be created like so:

Use base rate...
When checked, you can enter a base rate for an order.  Any other costs are added to the base rate.

Rate per item
This adds a fixed amount per item in the cart.

Per unit of weight
This is calculated based on the total weight of items in the cart, multiplied by your Per unit of weight setting.

For example: If the buyer purchases a 5 lb item and 10 lb item, and your Per unit of weight setting is 3, the additional shipping cost would be $45.  This is based on (5 + 10) x 3 = 45.

Percentage of total order
This adds a calculated amount based on the cost of the whole order. 

For example: if the total order amount is $1000 and the Percentage of total order setting is 9.2%, the total shipping cost would be $92.

No additional cost
If this is checked, only the base rate (if entered) is charged.
 

Other options

Shipping zones are countries
When checked, this will not display a country drop down next to the buyer's shipping address.  Instead, you are responsible for creating shipping zones that match up to country names.

For example: You can create the following shipping zones:
* United States of America
* Canada
* Mexico

In this case, your buyer will be required to select their location as one of these countries.

Do not check this option if you are adding any non-country shipping zones, for example:
* North America
* Europe
* Asia

Limit shipping to a single country
You may wish to only ship within the United States, for example.  To do this, go to Add shipping > Calculate shipping using..., and set this to Multiple zones. Make sure you have only created a single shipping zone named something like United States.  This will force the visitor to confirm they are located in the United States prior to checkout.

Using mals-e.com for tax and shipping
If you need special tax and shipping rules that cannot be created within the Icompendium shopping cart, you may be interested in using mals-e.com to add tax and shipping.