When Squarespace tax is not showing at checkout, the cause is almost always one of four things: an unfinished automated tax setup, no registration or rate for the customer’s region, a conflicting tax tool such as TaxJar or PayPal settings, or “Include in price” hiding the tax inside the product price. Check which tax setup is active in the Taxes panel first, then fix that one.
A customer reaches your Squarespace checkout, and the tax line is missing. Or it shows for one country and not another. Or the total looks right but nobody can see where the VAT went. These are three different problems, and the fix depends on which one you have.
We’ve worked through this kind of checkout mismatch on client stores, and the pattern is consistent: people change settings in the wrong tax mode, because Squarespace lets you keep both sets of settings but only one is live. This guide walks through the checks in the order that finds the cause fastest. Every setting name below comes from Squarespace’s own Help Center, which we checked in October 2026.
Why Squarespace tax is not showing at checkout
Start by matching what you see to the likely cause. This table saves a lot of clicking around.
| What you see | Most likely cause | Where to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| No tax line for any customer | Automated setup not finished, or the wrong mode is active | Commerce > Taxes |
| Tax shows for some countries or states only | No registration (automated) or no rate (manual) for that region | Add Registrations, or Add Rate |
| Tax was working, then stopped after connecting a tool | TaxJar still connected, or tax settings left in PayPal | Disconnect TaxJar, clear PayPal tax settings |
| Prices look right but no VAT line | “Include in price” is on, so tax is built into the price | Taxes panel > How tax is added |
| Tax is $0.00 on a taxable-looking order | Tax holiday, threshold or exempt product tax code | Usually expected, check the product tax code |
| Digital product or service has no tax | Services and digital products toggle is off for that location | Manual rate settings |
Fix 1: Check which tax setup is actually active
Squarespace has two built-in ways to handle tax: automated and manual. Squarespace states that you can’t use both at the same time. Your settings for the inactive one are saved, so it is easy to edit a manual rate while automated taxes are the live setup, and then wonder why nothing changed.
- In your site dashboard, open Commerce and then Taxes.
- Look at the top of the Taxes panel. It shows whether you are on Automated or Manual Setup.
- If the wrong one is active, use Switch to automated tax, or switch back to manual under the additional tax settings in the same panel.
- Edit only the setup that is live, then run a test order (see the last section).
Product tax codes only work with automated taxes. If you assigned codes to products but manual tax is active, those codes do nothing.
Fix 2: Finish the automated tax setup
Automated taxes calculate sales tax, EU and UK VAT (including the EU One-Stop Shop) and GST at checkout. They are available on the Core, Plus, Advanced, Business, Commerce Basic and Commerce Advanced plans. The most common reason automated tax is not showing is that setup was never finished.
- Go to Commerce > Taxes and click Automated.
- Under Tax defaults, click Add next to Tax address and save your head office tax address.
- Under Product tax code, click Add and pick a default code. Only one default code can be set.
- Click Add Registrations and select every location where you are registered, along with the registration type.
- Check for the green Collecting message in the Taxes panel. Squarespace treats setup as complete only when that message appears.
Squarespace is clear about one point: you register with the tax authorities yourself. It can’t help with registration, and it won’t charge sales tax for an address outside the regions you have registered. So if a customer in a state or country you haven’t registered in sees no tax, that is the system doing what it was told, not a bug.
Do not add a registration just to make the tax line appear. Registering is a legal step with filing duties. Talk to a tax advisor first. Squarespace says you are responsible for collecting, filing and paying the correct taxes.
Remove anything that competes with automated tax
Two things block automated taxes. First, TaxJar: Squarespace says to disconnect it before using automated taxes, because they cannot run together. Second, connected seller accounts such as PayPal: remove any tax or shipping settings you added there, since they can conflict with what Squarespace calculates.
Check the product tax code
If one product charges the wrong rate or none, open Inventory, click the product, scroll to Organization and look at Product Specific Tax Code. A code on the product overrides your default. Pick a closer category, save, and test again.
Fix 3: Add the missing manual tax rate
With manual taxes, you control every rate, so a missing rate means no tax for that place. This setup suits stores where one rate applies to everything. Squarespace notes that manual taxes can’t vary by product.
- In Commerce > Taxes, under Manual Setup, click Add Rate (or the + if you already have rates).
- Choose the country. For the United States you add a state, because you can’t create a national US rule.
- For non-US rates, enter a tax name such as “VAT”. This is the label customers see at checkout, in order summaries and in notifications.
- Enter the rate.
- Turn on Charge taxes on services and digital products if you sell them.
- Turn on Charge taxes on shipping if tax applies to shipping where you sell.
- Click Save.
Two details catch people out. Shipping tax follows the items in the order, so an exempt item does not carry tax on its share of shipping. And state and local US rates stack, so a state with variable local rates needs several local rules rather than one state rule.
Fix 4: Check which address decides the tax
Tax is worked out from a different address depending on what the customer buys. If your test order uses the wrong address type, you can wrongly conclude tax is broken.
| Product type | Tax is based on |
|---|---|
| Physical products | Customer’s shipping address |
| Local pickup | Customer’s taxation address |
| Digital products and Member Sites memberships | Billing postal code tied to the payment method |
| Donations and gift cards | No tax applies |
Donations and gift cards never show tax, so do not use them as a test product. For services, Squarespace falls back to the customer’s billing address if the service location is missing or invalid.
Fix 5: Understand “Include in price” before you call it a bug
This is the cause behind most “Squarespace VAT not showing” reports on tax-inclusive stores. When Include in price is selected, tax is built into the product price instead of being added on top. Listed prices do not change.
On the VAT side, Squarespace documents the setting like this: open the Taxes panel, go to Settings, click How tax is added, choose Include in price and save. In its own example, a 100 euro product with 10% VAT for a customer in Spain stays at 100 euro at checkout, with a VAT portion of 9.09 euro and a subtotal of 90.91 euro. On automated taxes, the same choice appears under Applying tax as Add at checkout or Include in price.
So a missing tax line may just be a hidden one. Switch to Add at checkout if you want tax shown as a separate amount. If you prefer tax-inclusive prices, make the VAT visible on the receipt instead.
- Open the Checkout panel and scroll to Receipt details.
- Turn on Show Tax for Each Item to show the rate and amount per item.
- Turn on Show a Tax Breakdown Table to add a table of rates and amounts below the Order Summary.
- Optionally add your VAT number under Customer Notifications > Business settings > Tax Registration ID (Optional) so it prints on receipts.
Preview the result without placing an order: in Customer Notifications, scroll to Customize Emails and open Order Emails. The confirmation preview includes the tax breakdown.
Fix 6: Run a test order to confirm
After any change, test with the exact situation that failed. A test only counts if the address and product type match the customer’s case.
- Add a taxable physical product to the cart, or the product type that failed.
- Enter a shipping address in the region where the tax was missing (use the billing address for digital products).
- Check the order summary for a tax line, or the included VAT portion if you use Include in price.
- If the rate is wrong on automated taxes, try a similar product tax code and test again.
- Open the order confirmation email to make sure the breakdown reads the way you want.
A zero amount is not always a fault. Squarespace says a $0.00 tax result with a fee can come from US tax holidays, jurisdiction thresholds or an exempt product tax code in the cart.
What costs extra, and what Squarespace can’t do
Automated taxes carry a per-transaction fee, which is worth knowing before you switch. Squarespace lists the rate by plan.
| Plan | Automated tax fee |
|---|---|
| Business, Core | 0.15% |
| Plus, Commerce Basic | 0.10% |
| Advanced, Commerce Advanced | 0.05% |
The fee is capped by currency. The fee applies when a product has a tax code and the address matches an active registration, even if the tax comes to zero. It does not apply when there is no active registration for the address.
Two limits are worth knowing. You can’t exempt individual customers from tax, and you can’t set different manual rates for different products. If you need product-specific rates, use automated taxes or TaxJar. Running a WooCommerce store too? Our guide to WooCommerce showing the wrong currency covers the matching store location problem, and Shopify’s automated policies are worth a look for store legal pages.
Open Commerce > Taxes and confirm whether automated or manual is live. For automated, get the green “Collecting” message, add the right registrations and remove TaxJar or PayPal tax settings. For manual, add a rate for the customer’s region. If prices look right but no tax line appears, check “Include in price” and turn on the receipt tax breakdown. Then place a test order with the right address type.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Squarespace not collecting sales tax?
On automated taxes, Squarespace only charges sales tax in regions where you have added a registration, and setup must show the green “Collecting” message. On manual taxes, there must be a rate that matches the customer’s address.
Why is VAT not showing at Squarespace checkout?
If “Include in price” is selected, VAT is part of the listed price. It appears as a line item only in the checkout and confirmation email, and you can add a tax breakdown table under Receipt details.
Can I use automated and manual taxes together in Squarespace?
No. Only one setup can be active. Switching between them saves your settings, so you can switch back later.
Does Squarespace charge tax on shipping?
It depends on the items. Shipping follows the taxability of the products in the order, and with manual rates you also need to turn on “Charge taxes on shipping” for the location.
Can I exempt a customer from tax in Squarespace?
Not with the built-in tools. Squarespace states that it is not possible to exempt certain customers from paying sales tax.
Sources: Squarespace: Setting up automated tax rates; Squarespace: Setting up manual tax rates; Squarespace: Collecting VAT or GST; Squarespace: Collecting taxes for your online transactions. Checked October 2026.
More in How-To & Fixes
WordPress REST API Returning Old Data? Fix the Cache
WordPress REST API returning old data? Find the cache serving stale JSON, then bypass /wp-json/ in Cloudflare, LiteSpeed or WP Rocket and purge it.
WooCommerce Showing Wrong Currency? 5 Fixes That Work
WooCommerce showing wrong currency? Find the setting, plugin, code snippet or cached page behind it and fix the symbol, prices and store location.
How to Check if Googlebot Can Crawl a Page
Not sure Google can reach your page? Run five free checks, from robots.txt to the Rich Results Test and server logs, and learn what each result means.