tax: Definition

 
The tax attribute lets you provide the tax rate of a product. Use this attribute when you need to override the tax settings that you set up in Merchant Center.

An example of how tax might be displayed in your ad

When to use

Required for the United States when you need to override the account tax settings that you set up in Merchant Center. This attribute exclusively covers US sales tax. Do not use for other taxes like value-added tax (VAT) or import tax.

If you need to modify or override the tax for a single item, use the tax attribute, which will always override account tax settings. Keep in mind that instead of submitting this attribute, we recommend that you set up tax rates through Merchant Center settings. Learn more about tax settings

The tax attribute uses 4 sub-attributes:

  • rate (required) Tax rate as a percentage of the price (Number, e.g., 8.75).
  • country (optional) The country an item can be delivered to. Currently, tax settings are available only to products targeting the United States. Include country (US) when including region, postal_code, or location_id. 
  • tax_ship (optional) Whether you charge tax on shipping (yes or no).
  • To submit an area, submit only 1 of the 4 available options:
    • region (optional) Submit a state. Submit a ISO 3166-2 code without country prefix (e.g., CA).
    • postal_code (optional) A postal code range. Submit 1 of the following:
      • A postal code (e.g., 94043)
      • A range of postal codes (e.g., 94002-95460)
      • A range of postal codes using a prefix with a wildcard ( * ) (e.g., 94*)
      • A range of postal codes using 2 prefixes with wildcards ( * ) (e.g., 94*-95*)
    • location_id (optional) Submit a numeric criteria ID of your location defined by Google Ads API (AdWords API)  (e.g., for California use 21137). 
    • location_group_name Submit a location group that you set up and name through your Merchant Center settings. Use those group names here (e.g., West Coast). Learn more about setting up delivery zones

Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure we understand the data you're submitting. 

Type

Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only)
Repeated field Submit up to 100 times to specify taxes for different locations
 
File format Example entry
Text feeds

The format of this attribute depends on what values and their specific order you are submitting. Include tax and then, in parentheses, add the names of the sub-attributes that you want to submit separated by a colon ( : ).

For example, to submit country, postal code, and rate:

Name    tax(country:postal_code:rate)

If you don’t include sub-attributes in the name, we’ll assume that your attribute values include all 4 sub-attributes in this order: 

  1. country
  2. region
  3. rate
  4. tax_ship

Format the value by submitting the value of each sub-attribute listed in the same order as in the name and separated with a colon ( : ). Don’t use quotation marks. For example:

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:80302:8.75

For multiple locations, submit the attribute (with the same name) multiple times. For example:

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:80302:8.75

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:900*-901*:9.5

If you don’t want to provide an optional sub-attribute (like region) for a particular product, then still add a colon ( : ), but leave the text blank. For example:

Name        tax
Possible value    US::6.49:yes

Name        tax(country:rate)
Possible value    :6.49
XML feeds

Include a separate attribute for each tax group.

<g:tax>
  <g:country>US</g:country>
  <g:region>MA</g:region>
  <g:rate>5.00</g:rate>
  <g:tax_ship>yes</g:tax_ship>
</g:tax>

For format API information, please see Content API for Shopping.

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products and get the best performance from your ads.

Minimum requirements

These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show ads for your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page of your Merchant Center account. 

  • Make sure to cover every location in the US (even locations where you do not charge tax) if you submit all tax settings through the tax attribute. Specify that you charge no tax for a location by setting the rate to 0.
  • Submit complete and correct tax information and costs. If you can’t provide accurate tax cost, match or overestimate the tax users visiting your site from your Shopping ads would pay. 
  • Comply with local laws when submitting tax information. 

Best practices

These are best practices that can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance. 

  • Use tax settings in Merchant Center. With these settings you can create simple flat rates or let Google automatically compute tax rates for your products. Use the tax attribute as a last resort to override the settings you create in Merchant Center.
  • Use the tax attribute for products that are tax exempt or have a unique tax rate. Using your account tax settings, you can’t add reduced tax rates or exemptions for individual products. Google calculates tax rates for tangible personal property and doesn't support reduced tax rates or tax exemptions.
  • Indicate if you charge tax on shipping. Charging tax on shipping might be legally required for some tax authorities. You can add tax on shipping through the tax_ship sub-attribute or through your account settings.

Additional guidelines

Review each section closely to determine if the requirements apply to your country or product. If you don't follow requirements that apply to you, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page of your Merchant Center account.

Countries other than the United States
Business-to-business focused retailers (B2B)
  • Submit the tax rate charged to an individual. Shopping ads do not specifically support business-to-business (B2B) purchases, and taxes must be accurate for individual users. If you have special conditions for commercial buyers, you can add these to your website, but don’t submit these rates in your product data. 

Examples

Text feed formatting

To format the name, include tax, and then in parentheses add the names of the sub-attributes that you’re submitting separated by a colon ( : ).

For example, to submit country, postal code, and price:

Name tax(country:postal_code:rate)

Format the value by submitting the value of each sub-attribute listed in the same order as in the name and separated with a colon ( : ). For example:

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:80302:8.75
Possible value    US:30*:12.75

You can also just submit the price. For example:

Name        tax(rate)
Possible value    6.49 USD

If you don’t include sub-attributes in the name, still submit values for all 4 sub-attributes in this order:

  1. country
  2. region
  3. rate
  4. tax_ship

For example:

Name        tax
Possible value    US:CA:8.25:yes

If you don’t want to provide an optional sub-attribute (like region) for a particular product, then still add a colon ( : ), but leave the text blank. For example:

Name        tax
Possible value    US::6.49

Name        tax(country:region:rate)
Possible value    :6.49

Repeated fields (regional taxes example)

Text feed

You can submit up to 100 tax values per item to indicate different costs for individual locations. To submit multiple locations, submit the attribute (with the same name) multiple times. For example:

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:80302:8.75

Name        tax(country:postal_code:rate)
Possible value    US:900*-901*:9.5

XML

To submit multiple delivery groups for an XML feed, include a separate attribute for each delivery group. You can submit up to 100 tax attributes for each product.

<g:tax>
   <g:country>US</g:country>
   <g:region>CA</g:region>
   <g:rate>10.00</g:rate>
   <g:tax_ship>yes</g:tax_ship>
<g:/tax>
<g:tax>
   <g:country>US</g:country>
   <g:region>PA</g:region>
   <g:rate>11.00</g:rate>
   <g:tax_ship>yes</g:tax_ship>
<g:/tax>
<g:tax>
   <g:country>US</g:country>
   <g:region>NY</g:region>
   <g:rate>9.00</g:rate>
   <g:tax_ship>yes</g:tax_ship>
</g:tax>

Postal codes

You can submit postal codes through the postal_code sub-attribute. There are several different ways you can submit these values.

Submit single postal code

Include the entire code. For example:

postal_code    94043

Submit a range of postal codes

Include 2 full codes separated by a hyphen ( - ). For example:

postal_code    94002-95460

Submit a range of codes using a wildcard

Include any number of digits followed by an asterisk ( * ). This example would include all codes starting in 94. For example:

postal_code    94*

Submit a range of codes using 2 prefixes with wildcards

Use 2 prefixes with asterisks ( * ) and a hyphen ( - ) to create a more narrow range. Use the same number of digits for both prefixes. For example:

postal_code    94*-95*

Non-taxable products

Indicate that a product isn’t taxable, by setting the rate sub-attribute to 0. For example:

rate    0

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