The tax [tax] attribute lets you override US tax settings that you created in Merchant Center. Use this attribute when you need to modify or override the tax for a single item.
When to use
Required for the United States when you need to override the account tax settings that you created in Merchant Center. This attribute exclusively covers US sales tax. Don't use it for other taxes, such as value-added tax (VAT) or import tax.
If you need to modify or override the tax for a single item, use the tax [tax] attribute, which will always override account-level 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 the following sub-attributes:
- Country
[country](Optional)
The country a product can be delivered to. Currently, tax settings are available only for products targeting the United States. Include the country[country]sub-attribute when also including the region[region], postal code[postal_code], or location ID[location_id]sub-attributes. - Area (Optional)
To include an area, provide only one of the following sub-attributes:- Region
[region](Optional)
Submit a state. Submit an ISO 3166-2 code without country prefix (for example, “CA”) - Postal code
[postal_code](Optional)
A postal code range. Submit 1 of the following:- A postal code (for example, “94043’)
- A range of postal codes (for example, “94002-95460”)
- A range of postal codes using a prefix with a wildcard ( * ) (for example, “94*”)
- A range of postal codes using 2 prefixes with wildcards ( * ) (for example, “94*-95*”)
- Location ID
[location_id](Optional)
Submit a numeric criteria ID of your location defined by Google Ads API (AdWords API) (for example, “for California use 21137”). - Location group name
[location_group_name](Optional)
Submit a location group that you set up and name through your Merchant Center settings. Use those group names here (for example, West Coast). Learn more about setting up delivery zones
- Region
- Rate
[rate](Required)
Tax rate as a percentage of the price (number, for example, 8.75). - Shipping tax
[tax_ship](Optional)
Whether you charge tax on shipping (yes[yes]or no[no]).
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.
| Type |
Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only) |
|---|---|
| Repeated field | Yes. 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 you're submitting and their specific order. Include For example, to submit country, postal code, and rate: Name If you name the sub-attributes you are using, you can give them to us in any order. However, if you provide sub-attribute values but do not name them, we’ll assume that your attribute values include the following sub-attributes in this order:
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 ( Name For multiple locations, submit the attribute (with the same name) multiple times. For example: Name Name If you don’t want to provide an optional sub-attribute (such as Name Name |
| XML feeds |
Include a separate attribute for each tax group.
|
To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping.
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page in 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
[tax]attribute. Specify that you charge no tax for a location by setting the rate[rate]sub-attribute of the tax[tax]attribute 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 would pay.
- Comply with local laws when submitting tax information.
Best practices
These best practices 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
[tax]attribute as a last resort to override the settings you created 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 shipping tax
[tax_ship]sub-attribute or through your account settings. Learn more about tax 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 Diagnostics in your Merchant Center account.
- Don’t use the tax
[tax]attribute when targeting countries other than the United States. Learn more about tax settings
- Submit the tax rate charged to an individual. Taxes must be accurate for individual users since we don’t specifically support business-to-business (B2B) purchases at this time. 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
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 rate:
| 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, you should still submit values for the following sub-attributes in this order:
- Country
[country] - Region
[region] - Rate
[rate] - Shipping tax
[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 |
Text feed
You can submit up to 100 tax values per product 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 the tax [tax] attribute up to 100 times 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>
Non-taxable products
To indicate that a product isn’t taxable, set the rate sub-attribute to 0. For example:
Rate [rate] |
0 |