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The way tax is displayed in the checkout looks like X+t=X

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We're in the UK and all of the prices on our site include VAT.

However, in the checkout, the price is displayed as:

Subtotal:  £20.00
VAT:  £3.33
Total:  £20.00

This will be alarming for most customers, as it looks as though we're adding VAT to the price they thought they were going to be paying ... but we're not. 

If VAT is going to be shown there at all, it should show

Subtotal:  £16.67
VAT  £3.33
Total:  £20.00

... but as the vast majority of our customers can't reclaim their VAT, it would be better not to even show it in the checkout at all. 

 

Have I got a setting wrong somewhere?  Or is this something that Squarespace doesn't allow you to control?

 

Thanks

VAT.png

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On 3/18/2023 at 1:38 PM, ju-wlz said:

in the checkout, the price is displayed as:

Subtotal:  £20.00
VAT:  £3.33
Total:  £20.00

This will be alarming for most customers, as it looks as though we're adding VAT to the price they thought they were going to be paying

This is the normal layout on the Squarespace checkout and in email notifications. Although the individual prices and the subtotal already include VAT, the summary shows the VAT content as a separate line item. It isn't possible to change this.

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Edited by paul2009
edited for clarity

About me: I've been a SQSP User for 18 yrs. I was invited to join the Circle when it launched in 2016. I have been a Circle Leader since 2017. I don't work for Squarespace. I value honesty, transparency, diversity and good design ♥.
Work: I founded and run SF.DIGITAL, building Squarespace Extensions to supercharge your commerce website. 
Content: Views and opinions are my own. Links in my posts may refer to SF.DIGITAL products or may be affiliate links.
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Thank you for the reply @paul2009

However, although it may be normal for Squarespace, it is absolutely not normal practice in the UK for showing prices.  You EITHER don't show the tax at all (because it's fixed, and everybody has to pay it - it's not like the USA where different states have different taxes), OR you show the ex-VAT price as the subtotal, plus the VAT, and the total is the sum of the two. 

Another alternative is to show the total price, and have a separate line at the very bottom that says words to the effect of "Price includes VAT of £x.xx).

The way it's presented by Squarespace is alarming for UK customers who aren't a VAT registered business.  People are used to understanding that the price they see advertised is the price they'll pay.  So in this example, they (rightly) think they're going to pay £20, and then see something that makes it look as though we're going to add an extra £3.33 to that. 

In my initial example with one item with a nice round number price, it's not quite as bad, but if they buy multiple tickets and some merchandise with shipping, and the figures are not nice round numbers, that then looks like

Subtotal:  £24.95
Shipping: £3.95
VAT: £4.82
Total: £28.90

There it's much less obvious that you DO add the shipping to the subtotal to get the total, but you DON'T add the VAT. 

So, does anybody know if there's a way to suppress the tax line altogether in the invoice?

Thanks

 

 

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  • Solution
39 minutes ago, ju-wlz said:

The way it's presented by Squarespace is alarming for UK customers who aren't a VAT registered business. So, does anybody know if there's a way to suppress the tax line altogether in the invoice?

I'm also in the UK and I agree that it could be made clearer - I've seen a number of customers (and designers) getting confused by this layout.

However, it isn't possible to change the way it is shown. You cannot change the layout, remove this line or change the label. Also, you cannot use code to change this either, because the checkout page is "locked" to keep payments secure. The only other pricing option available is to show prices without VAT and then add the VAT to the subtotal.

I appreciate this is not what you wanted to hear, but I hope this saves you lots of time looking for a solution that doesn't exist 🙂

To make a feature request and ensure it is seen by the right people at Squarespace, you can do so via Squarespace Customer Care using a support ticket.

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Edited by paul2009

About me: I've been a SQSP User for 18 yrs. I was invited to join the Circle when it launched in 2016. I have been a Circle Leader since 2017. I don't work for Squarespace. I value honesty, transparency, diversity and good design ♥.
Work: I founded and run SF.DIGITAL, building Squarespace Extensions to supercharge your commerce website. 
Content: Views and opinions are my own. Links in my posts may refer to SF.DIGITAL products or may be affiliate links.
Forum advice is free. You can thank me by clicking one of the feedback emojis below. Coffee is optional.

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This is a terrible set-up and bound to kill conversion at checkout.

What I did to try and make it more obvious for customers was change the Name of the tax so it reads "Includes GST of"

They will still stop and look at it, but hopefully they see the word "includes" and go ahead with the sale.

Talk about a conversion killer Squarespace - this should be fixed ASAP.

Includes.jpg

Edited by redhead
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