Show tax details on invoices

Use this guide if your invoices need to show tax clearly, for example for VAT or GST. By the end, your invoices show the tax total, the rate behind it, the tax on each line if you want it, and your customer’s tax ID when they gave one at checkout.

Before you begin

• Tax amounts and rates come from the Shopify order. Invoice Falcon prints what Shopify charged; it doesn’t calculate tax itself.
• These settings belong to one template. Change each template you use. Your own tax number is the exception: it’s part of your business details, shared by all templates. See Add your business details.
• Every setting here is available on every plan.
• Changes also apply to invoices you already created, the next time they’re opened, printed, downloaded or sent.

What customers will see

• Your tax number in the header, with its label, for example “VAT No.: GB123456789”.
• A Tax row in the totals. It can say whether prices included tax, for example “Tax (included)”, and list each rate on its own row, for example “VAT: 20%”.
• Tax columns in the items table, with the rate and the tax amount for each line.
• A Tax Date line in the order information near the top.
• Your customer’s tax ID under their address, for example “NIF/CIF: B12345678”.

Set it up

All the settings below are in the visual editor. To open it:

1. Open your Shopify admin and click Invoice Falcon in the left menu.
2. Click Templates in the app’s menu.
3. Click the template you want to change. The template page opens.
4. In the Visual editor section, click Open visual editor.

When you’re done, click Save changes in the bar at the top of the editor.

Tax in the totals

1. In the editor’s sidebar, under Content, click Order total information.
2. Under Tax details, check TAX/VAT/GST. The Tax row prints the order’s total tax.
3. Optional: check Show tax included/excluded label to add “(included)” or “(excluded)” after the word Tax, depending on whether your Shopify prices include tax.
4. Optional: check Show tax breakdown per rate (e.g. SE Moms: 25%) to list each tax under the Tax row with its name, rate and amount. Tax charged on shipping is included in the breakdown.

Tax on each line

1. In the editor’s sidebar, under Content, click Items information.
2. Under Quantity and tax, check Show item tax rate to add a column with each item’s tax rate. Items with more than one tax show each rate.
3. Check Show item tax amount to add a column with the tax charged on each line.

Tax date

1. In the editor’s sidebar, under Content, click Payment information.
2. Check Tax date.

The tax date (also called the tax point or date of supply) is the order date. On the Pro plan, you can change it on a single invoice: click Edit invoice on the order page and change Date of supply on the Form tab. See Edit an invoice.

Your customer’s tax ID

Some countries give customers a tax ID they enter at checkout, such as NIF/CIF in Spain, Codice Fiscale in Italy or CPF in Brazil.

1. In the editor’s sidebar, under Content, click Shipping information.
2. Check Localized tax ID (NIF/CIF, Codice Fiscale, CPF, …).
3. In Tax ID label, enter the word printed before the number, for example “NIF/CIF”. If you leave it as is, it prints “Tax ID”.

The ID prints under the shipping address, and under the billing address in the Payment Information section. Invoice Falcon reads it from Shopify’s checkout. If your store collects it with another app instead, Invoice Falcon also finds it in an order attribute named NIF, CIF, nif_cif, tax_id, vat_id or vat-id.

A customer’s VAT number that Shopify stores on their address prints under the shipping address automatically, as long as Shipping address is checked. There’s no separate setting for it.

Check your setup

1. Look at the live preview on the right of the visual editor. It uses a sample order.
2. Click Orders in the app’s menu and click an order that has tax.
3. In the Templates card on the right, select the template you changed.
4. Check the Tax row, the tax columns and the customer’s tax ID in the invoice preview.

Troubleshooting

The Tax row shows 0.00

Shopify charged no tax on that order, for example because the customer is exempt or ships to a country you don’t collect tax for. Check the order’s taxes in Shopify.

The included or excluded label doesn't show

Show tax included/excluded label and Show tax breakdown per rate only appear once TAX/VAT/GST is checked. Check TAX/VAT/GST first, then the label.

My customer's NIF/CIF doesn't print

Check these in order:

1. Localized tax ID is checked under Shipping information.
2. Shipping address (under Shipping information) or Payment address (under Payment information) is checked. The ID prints inside those address blocks.
3. The customer entered the ID at checkout, or your checkout app saved it in an order attribute with one of the names above.

The item tax columns are empty

Those items had no tax on the Shopify order. The columns stay in the table but have nothing to show.

My own tax number doesn't print

Your tax number is part of your business details. Enter it in Tax registration number under Business details. See Add your business details.

FAQ

Can I print VAT or GST instead of Tax?

Yes. Change the Tax label under Labels in the same editor. It renames both the Tax row and the tax column. See Change labels and the date format.

My prices include tax. How does the invoice show it?

The total stays the price the customer paid, and the Tax row shows the tax included in it. Check Show tax included/excluded label so customers can see the tax was included.

Do these settings change invoices I already created?

Yes. Existing invoices use the new settings the next time they’re opened, printed, downloaded or sent.

Will my customer see their own tax ID on the invoice?

Yes, when Localized tax ID is checked and the order has one. It prints under their address, so they can use the invoice for their own tax records.

Do you support German e-invoices?

Yes. See Create German e-invoices (ZUGFeRD).

Related guides

• Add your business details, for your own tax number.
• Show totals, discounts and shipping, for the other totals.
• Show product details on invoices, for the rest of the items table.
• Create German e-invoices (ZUGFeRD), for German B2B invoices.