kmoriarty · HackerTrans

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

We don't have merchant of record yet, but this is only the beginning! Today for the US we would provide you analysis such that you know where you need to register (e.g. usually after ~$100k in each state, but varies by state) and once you are registered we can automate both the calculation and the filing/remittance of returns to each US state.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Good point! If you'll allow me to provide a bit more background, when we started talking to users, a merchant of record set up was certainly a fit for some, especially those that didn’t want to even think about tax, but it wasn’t for all.

Some users didn’t want to forgo control over the checkout experience, others didn’t want someone else’s name on the statement descriptor, and others pointed out that merchant of record meant their buyers were paying more than some competitors as they were collecting tax everywhere from day 1, (vs. if you handle yourself you may not need to collect tax in a state or country until you reach a threshold, e.g. California is $500k).

However, one pain point in common across all users, was around the integration and maintenance aspects of handling tax during checkout, so our focus really became how do we abstract away tax at checkout…which is why enabling Stripe Tax really comes down to `automatic_tax[enabled]:true`.

All that is to say, we’re definitely not perfect and always want to hear how we can improve. We’re optimistic that we’ve built solid foundations such that we can now add much more functionality to meet any and all user’s tax needs, or even taking on all liability.

All and all we very much rely on user feedback to prioritize what we build, so if merchant of record would, to quote Patrick recently, be the thing that makes you say “FINALLY”, do let us know!

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

TL;DR: It depends on which state :) There's some more info here: https://stripe.com/docs/tax/supported-use-cases#us-sales-tax

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Good point! And with Stripe Tax we'll monitor how close you are to those thresholds too, so you'll know when and where you need to register as your business grows or sells into new markets.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Hey! Kelly from Stripe here: Just to clarify, there's no additional cost for using Checkout, and Radar is per small per transaction fee (or included free with Stripe if you're just starting out!), not a variable 0.5% fee.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

This is spot on. It's an interesting program perhaps, but unfortunately a lot of states are missing including California, Texas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and we're not seen any uptake from other states toward adoption either.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

We shipped customer portal support a few weeks ago, apologies for not following up and letting you know! If there were any other issues though, do let me know -- [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Hey! We haven't tackled tax withholding yet. That said, I'd love to learn more about your use case and requirements if you're up for it: [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Good question! Today you would still need to register yourself, however we tried to make this as easy as possible in two ways:

1) We monitor your transaction and compare them to local thresholds so you know where/when you may need to register: https://stripe.com/docs/tax/set-up#monitoring-your-obligatio...

2) We provide documentation/links to the exact sites to register: https://stripe.com/docs/tax/registering#list-of-state-and-co...

In the future though we'd love to also offer registrations on your behalf, this is just the beginning!

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Thanks for the feedback. We’re working toward an end goal of making tax compliance as simple as clicking a button. In talking with users they called out three big pain points: knowing what the obligations are, knowing what rate/rules to apply and how to calculate tax (e.g. SaaS is taxable at 80% of the base rate of the price in Texas), and then how to file and remit the money once collected. Stripe Tax solves the first two out of the box today, and with TaxJar we’ll be able to bring filing and remittance as a native part of our offering.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Shoot me an email with your account ID and I'll make sure you're enabled by the weekend! [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

I just wanted to mention, our invite-only starts today, but we're working on making Stripe Tax available to all very very soon!

Either way, we will be reviewing and onboarding users as quickly as possible after you submit your interest!

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Absolutely we do! https://stripe.com/docs/tax/products-prices-tax-codes-tax-be...

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

We're not there just yet, but feel free to shoot me ([email protected]) an email with any other tax related requests or requirements, as this is just the beginning!

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Hey there! I'm the PM for Stripe Tax, I'd love to hear more about your use case around how frequently you'd want us to be revalidating VAT IDs, the information you'd want returned, and of course any other tax-related requests you may have: [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Good question! You can create a Credit Note, which will indeed shift the liability and will correctly reference and update the prior legal invoice. If you’re refunding a PaymentIntent however, we won’t shift the liability. Basically, we offer you two ways to move money back to your customer: one that might be a higher lift which ensures your accounting is updated and the liability if shifted, or a much easier way to refund, but you may pay some tax out of pocket.

kmoriarty

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Thanks for the feedback! Completely understand your reaction to pricing. For a bit of context, we’ve spent the past year listening to users and trying to understand the best way to price. In finalizing our launch pricing, we made sure there are no fixed upfront costs or contracts, nor are there any per transaction fixed fees either. We tried to find a price point that ultimately was not prohibitive for small businesses but also portrayed the value of the product itself. Please do keep the feedback coming, we’re always open to hearing more from users: [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

Hope you don't mind me commenting, but I'm Kelly a product manager at Stripe. You are spot on about Stripe missing tax compliance support but we've got a few things in the works to change that, especially for SaaS businesses. Happy to share more what we're working on if you're interested -- [email protected].

On the payment method side of things, I'm curious what methods are being requested by buyers that we are missing? We do allow users to accept checks and bank transfers, so just wondering if there is a specific method we're missing (aside from PayPal)? All in all, just want to understand exactly what you are looking for in terms of that last mile support from Stripe!

Checks: https://stripe.com/docs/billing/invoices/paper-check-payment Payment Method Overview (incl. Bank Transfers): https://stripe.com/docs/payments/payment-methods/overview

kmoriarty

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

Heya, I'm a product manager at Stripe working on just the thing! You're right, historically we have not helped out much here, but we've been working on some new products to remedy that. I'd be happy to share more and see if it meets your needs, or more importantly understand exactly what you would want to see from Stripe w/r/t tax. Email: [email protected]

kmoriarty

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

Hey there! I'm a PM at Stripe working on all things sales tax. We've been working on some new features to better address these pain points for our users and I'd be happy to share a bit more what we're working on via email ([email protected]) and see if our timelines you work out for what you're aiming to do. Overall, would be great to hear if you have any other items on your tax wishlist as well.

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