tax_category: Definition

The tax_category attribute allows you to organize your products according to custom tax rules. For example, certain apparel is exempted from tax in some states and some products have lower tax rates than the normal rate. Use this attribute to ensure your product is shown with the correct tax rate.

When to use

Optional for all products.

If you want to set different tax rates for specific groups of products, use tax_category to apply a label to products, such as “perishable foods” or “clothing”.  If you submit this attribute, it can be used to amend the tax settings you’ve entered into your Merchant Center account for the states for which you have configured tax rates.

Format

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

Type	String (Unicode characters. Recommended: ASCII only)
Limits	1 – 100 characters
Repeated field	No

 

File format	Example entry
Text feeds	apparel
XML feeds	<g:tax_category>apparel</g:tax_category>

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products.

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.

• Match the submitted category names to the names that are entered in the tax category section of Merchant Center. Category names that do not match will not be processed.
• Comply with local laws when submitting tax information. 

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.

Countries other than the United States

Don’t use the tax_category attribute when targeting countries that aren’t the United States. Learn more about tax settings.

Examples

Custom tax rate at the state level

The tax_category attribute can be used to set custom tax rates for items at the state level. For example, if a state’s sales tax rate is normally 7.0%, but apparel sales are never taxed: 

1. Add a value called “apparel” to the tax_category attribute for all non-taxable clothing items. 
2. In Merchant Center, set the “apparel” label to a 0.0% tax rate for the state that requires it. 

Note: Unless specified, this special tax rate for “apparel” will not be applied to any other state.