Setting up manual tax rates in Squarespace

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Setting up manual tax rates in Squarespace

Last updated July 22, 2026 20:16

Apply sales tax to products sold to customers in specific countries or provinces.

You can set up manual tax rates to choose where you'll collect sales tax. When customers buy products from your store, they pay the tax rates you set. You can collect taxes from your customers who live in specific:

• Countries
• Provinces in Canada
• States and ZIP codes in the United States

For help with setting up manual Value-Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (GST) and tax-inclusive pricing, visit Collecting VAT or GST.

Note: This guide offers useful information, but it isn't legal or accounting advice. Squarespace doesn't provide advice about laws applicable to your site or business, as stated in our Terms of Service. If you have questions about collecting taxes, consider speaking with a tax advisor.

Watch a video

Tip: Register for our Setting up shipping and taxes for Squarespace Commerce webinar where we’ll show you how to set up tax rates and add shipping and pickup options for physical products.

How checkout calculates manual tax rates

Use the table below to learn how manual tax rates are calculated at checkout:

Limitations

• It's not possible to set different tax rates based on the product with manual taxes. To add multiple product-specific tax codes to your store, use Automated taxes instead or TaxJar.
• It's not possible to set different tax rates for cities and regions outside the US and Canada.
• It's not possible to exempt certain customers from paying sales tax.
• You can’t use both automated and manual tax setups at the same time. If you switch between setups, your settings are saved in case you switch back.
• Tax on shipping follows the taxability of the items in the order. If an item is tax-exempt, tax won't apply to its portion of the shipping cost. As a workaround, you can charge a handling fee to cover your shipping costs. Handling fees apply to the order total, though they won't appear as a separate tax line item at checkout.

Step 1 - Add country tax rates

You can add tax rates for the countries where you ship products or sell services. To do this:

1. Open the Taxes panel.
2. If you haven't set up tax rates, under Manual Setup, click Add Rate. If you already added tax rates, you can click +.
3. Select a country from the Country dropdown menu, or begin typing to search for one.
4. If you selected the United States, click Select State, and add a state. It's not possible to create a national tax rule for the United States.
5. Click Next.
6. For non-US tax rates, enter the tax name. This appears at checkout, in order summaries, and notifications.
7. Enter the tax rate for the location.
8. If you're required to charge tax on service products and digital products, switch the toggle on for Charge taxes on services and digital products.
9. If you're required to charge tax on shipping, you can switch the toggle on for Charge taxes on shipping.
10. Click Save to publish your changes.

Step 2 - Add Canadian province tax rates

To add province tax rates for Canada:

1. Click Add province rate.

1. Click Select a province and choose the province.
2. Enter the provincial sales tax rate. The province rate is added to the country rate, and their total is the tax charged for an order.
3. If you're required to charge tax on service products and digital products, switch the toggle on for Charge taxes on services and digital products.
4. If you're required to charge tax on shipping, you can switch the toggle on for Charge taxes on shipping.
5. You can also switch the toggle on for Show as combined rate on invoice.
6. Click Add, then click Save.

Step 3 - Add local tax rates (United States)

Local tax rates can apply to a single ZIP code or a range of ZIP codes in one state, so you can set tax rates compliant with various tax laws within one area. To do this:

1. Open the Taxes panel.
2. Click Add zip code rate.
3. Click ZIP Range or Zip Code and follow the next steps.

State and province tax rates combine with local tax rates. For example, if you charge customers in New York State 10% sales tax and charge customers in New York City 8% sales tax, customers in New York City will pay 18% sales tax. To add tax rates for states with variable local rates, create multiple local tax rates instead of a single, state tax rule.

Single ZIP code

To add a tax rule for a single ZIP code:

1. Click ZIP Code.
2. Add the ZIP code and tax rate.
3. Click Add, then click Save.

Range of ZIP codes

To add tax rates for a region/range of ZIP codes:

1. Click ZIP Range.
2. Add the start and end ZIP codes and the tax rate for that region.
3. Click Apply, then click Save.

Charge sales tax on services and digital products

You can collect sales tax when you sell service products or digital products. With Automated taxes, tax rates are calculated automatically for registered locations. With the manual setup, you can set tax rates for specific locations you want to collect taxes in.

To collect sales tax with manual setup:

1. In the Taxes panel, under Manual setup, click an existing tax rule or create a new one by clicking Add Rate.
2. Switch the toggle on for Charge taxes on services and digital products.

To disable manual tax collection for services and digital product, switch the toggle off for each location.

Edit a tax rule

You can edit or remove a tax rule by clicking the rule in the Taxes panel.

• Removing a country tax rule removes all state and local tax rates that apply to it.
• Removing a state tax rate removes all local tax rates for the state.

Switch to manual tax rates

If you’re currently using automated tax rates and want to calculate taxes manually:

1. Open the Taxes panel.
2. Under Additional tax settings, click Switch to manual tax.
3. Choose Manual.
4. Click Update.

To have your taxes update automatically, switch to automated tax rates.

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Setting up manual tax rates in Squarespace