tax
Tax information per region. Primarily required for US Merchant Center feeds where sales tax varies by state. Most other regions handle tax via Merchant Center account settings or destination VAT rules.
Also known as: sales_tax
Channel support
| Channel | Status | Field name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Merchant Center | Conditional | tax | Required for US feeds when not covered by account settings. Docs → |
| Meta Commerce Manager | Optional | tax | — |
| TikTok Shop | Not supported | — | — |
| Pinterest Catalog | Optional | tax | — |
| Amazon | Not supported | — | Amazon handles tax at the account level. |
| Bing Merchant Center | Conditional | tax | — |
Why it matters
Incorrect tax data leads to mismatched pricing at checkout, which is a checkout-abandonment driver and a compliance issue. For US-targeting catalogues, tax is one of the few fields where 'leave it to defaults' actively hurts.
Tax-on-feed is primarily a US concern. EU and UK feeds typically use VAT-inclusive pricing in the `price` field rather than separate tax fields; tax-inclusive pricing is the regional norm. US feeds with multi-state nexus need item-level or account-level tax declarations to handle per-state sales tax variation, which is what the tax field exists for.
The format `country:region:rate:tax_ship` encodes US-style structures. `US:CA:8.25:y` means California sales tax at 8.25%, with shipping taxed. `US:NY:8.875:n` means New York at 8.875%, shipping untaxed. The state-by-state variation matters because California's tax differs from Texas's differs from Florida's, and getting it wrong creates checkout-abandonment friction.
The strategic decision: for most US sellers, account-level tax settings handle the common cases — item-level tax is for items with non-standard treatment (zero-rated, exempt, special category). Don't add item-level tax preemptively; let account-level cover the standard cases and use item-level for the exceptions.
Format rules
-
Structured: country:region:rate:tax_ship (e.g. 'US:CA:8.25:y')
Applies to: Google Merchant Center, Bing Merchant Center
-
Region uses ISO codes (state abbreviations for US)
Applies to: Google Merchant Center, Bing Merchant Center
-
tax_ship is 'y' (tax shipping) or 'n' (don't)
Applies to: Google Merchant Center, Bing Merchant Center
Valid examples
US:CA:8.25:y California sales tax, 8.25%, shipping taxed
US:NY:8.875:n NY state tax, shipping not taxed
Common mistakes
8.25% Just the rate without region — incomplete
Related fields
price The product's standard selling price including the currency code. The single field every shopping channel reads first — wrong prices, wrong currency, or mismatches against the landing page break delivery outright.
Read moreshipping Shipping cost for the item, structured by country and service. Required when Merchant Center can't infer shipping from your account-level settings or when prices vary by SKU.
Read moreRelated tools
FAQ
Do I need item-level tax outside the US?
Rarely. Most other regions handle tax via Merchant Center's destination-country tax settings or VAT-inclusive pricing in the price field itself. Item-level tax is mostly a US-feed concern.
Last reviewed: 26 May 2026
Why wait? Try it free today.
Stop managing feeds manually. Start optimising with AI in 30 seconds.
- Free plan, no credit card required
- 1 brand, 1 feed, 100,000 products per feed
- Full AI Product Optimisation, Rule Engine, and 200+ channel exports
- Pay only for AI credits when you need them