Tax configuration

Solidshop uses a three-layer tax system: tax classes group products by tax treatment, tax zones define where taxes apply, and tax rates set the percentage.

Create a tax class

Go to your store’s edit page and open the Tax tab. Create a tax class such as “Standard Goods” or “Digital Products”. You can mark one class as the default — products without an explicit tax class will use it automatically.

Define tax zones

A tax zone is a geographic area. Add territories (countries and/or states) to define where the zone applies. For example, a “EU VAT” zone might include all 27 EU member states, while a “California” zone includes only the state of California.

Set tax rates

A tax rate connects a zone to a class. For each rate you set:

  • Name — the display label (e.g. “VAT”, “GST”, “Sales Tax”)
  • Rate — the percentage (e.g. 20 for 20%)
  • Compound — whether this rate is calculated on top of other taxes
  • Applies to shipping — whether shipping costs are also taxed
  • Priority — order of calculation when multiple rates apply

Tax display settings

In the Joomla admin, go to Solidshop → Config (or System → Global Configuration → Solidshop) to configure how prices and taxes are handled globally:

  • Tax price input type — whether the prices you enter in the product form are exclusive of tax (you enter the net price, tax is added at checkout) or inclusive (you enter the gross price, tax is extracted at checkout)
  • Tax price display — whether customers see prices including or excluding tax on the storefront

For EU/UK stores: set input type to “inclusive” and display to “including”. Customers see the final price; Solidshop calculates the tax component internally. For US/CA stores: use “exclusive” and “excluding” — tax is added at checkout, which is the expected experience.

Discounts and tax

Discounts reduce the taxable base of the order lines they apply to. Tax is calculated on what the customer actually pays for each line — not on the price before the discount — so a product given away by a promotion (a free item, or a 100% discount) carries no tax at all, and a 10% discount reduces each affected line’s tax by exactly 10%. This works the same in both tax modes: with exclusive pricing the tax is added on top of the discounted net amount, and with inclusive pricing the tax portion is extracted from the discounted gross amount.