Before you start
- Tax rules and test cases validated for your business.
- A test copy and a backup of existing settings.
Prepare validated rules
This guide covers technical settings, not your company's tax obligations. Have your accountant or the relevant authorities confirm collection requirements, locations and product treatment. One configuration does not suit every Canadian store.
- Prepare test cases with validated expected totals.
- Distinguish products, shipping and any exemptions.
- Back up the store and test changes on a copy.
Enable your chosen calculation method
Under WooCommerce → Settings → General, enable taxes where required by your configuration. Open the Tax tab. For an automated service, follow its documentation and avoid combining manual rules that duplicate collection.
- Identify the tool actually calculating taxes.
- Choose whether entered prices include or exclude tax according to your selling approach.
- Do not change this convention on an existing catalogue without reviewing all prices.
Choose the address basis and classes
Calculation may depend on the shipping, billing or store address. Select the setting appropriate to your obligations. Use tax classes to distinguish products that genuinely need different treatment.
- Check the assigned class for each representative product.
- Review shipping tax treatment.
- Do not trust a reassuring class name without checking its actual rates.
Enter and check manual rates
For manual calculation, enter the required country, region, postal-code or other criteria in the corresponding class. Review priorities, compound calculation and shipping applicability. A faulty rule can apply to too broad a destination.
- Use only rates and criteria validated for your business.
- Review overlapping rules and their priorities.
- Keep an export or copy of settings before significant changes.
Compare catalogue, cart and order
Test different addresses, products and quantities, then compare expected amounts in the catalogue, cart and checkout. Display and rounding settings may explain small differences; do not correct them by inventing a different rate.
- Test a covered location and one requiring different treatment.
- Compare product and shipping taxes separately.
- Also check partial refunds using the store's actual method.
Validate and monitor
Have the person responsible for tax rules verify test results. After deployment, inspect early orders and unusual destinations. Automated services also need suitable configuration, connection and coverage.
- Record settings and the change date.
- For discrepancies, provide a product, test address and expected amount without exposing a real customer.
- Review settings whenever your business or applicable requirements change.
Official documentation
Labels and options vary with versions, plugins and your account. Refer to publisher documentation for your configuration.