> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Total Tax Collected, Adobe Commerce > Total Tax Collected for Adobe Commerce stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > The total tax (VAT, sales tax, GST) collected on orders in the period. The single-figure aggregate that pairs with [Tax Analysis](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-analysis) (the per-jurisdiction breakdown) and [Tax Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-collected-over-time) (the daily series). For Finance: this is "gross tax collected"; subtract refunded tax (Credit Memo `tax_amount`) for "net tax owed". | | | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(tax_amount)` over orders created in the 30-day window. `tax_amount` is the per-order tax (sum of product-tax + shipping-tax). | | **API field** | `tax_amount`, `base_tax_amount`, `shipping_tax_amount` from `GET /rest/V1/orders`. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | The card IS the tax view. Includes both product tax and shipping tax. Toggle to product-only via `tax_amount - shipping_tax_amount`. | | **Shipping inclusion** | Shipping tax included by default. UK shipping is taxable at standard 20%; some US states tax shipping (CA, NY, TX) and others don't. | | **Discounts** | Tax computed post-discount per Magento default (configurable via `Apply Customer Tax`). | | **Cancelled orders** | Excluded by default. Cancelled-order tax shouldn't appear on a VAT return. | | **Refunds** | Not subtracted, the card is creation-time. Net-of-refund: subtract `SUM(creditmemo.tax_amount)` from [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value). | | **Currency** | Mixed-currency display by default. `base_tax_amount` for FX-neutral. **For VAT filing, always use base currency.** | | **Channels** | All Adobe Commerce sources. | | **Multi-store scope** | All Store Views by default. Per-Store-View slicing essential for VAT filings (each Store View typically maps to one tax jurisdiction). | | **Time window** | `30D` rolling. Quarterly windowing useful for tax filing (UK quarterly VAT, US quarterly sales tax). | | **Alert trigger** | None on this card directly. | | **Roles** | owner | ## Calculation ``` SUM(tax_amount) WHERE date BETWEEN [period_start, period_end] ``` ## Worked example A B2B+DTC merchant on Adobe Commerce 2.4.7. UK base, GBP. UK + US Store Views with Avalara for US. Period: 14 Apr 26 to 13 May 26 (30 days). **Tax aggregates:** | Component | Value | Notes | | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `SUM(tax_amount)` (this card, default) | £142,800 (mixed) | combined UK + US, mixed currency | | `SUM(base_tax_amount)` | £156,200 | FX-converted to GBP base | | `SUM(shipping_tax_amount)` | £11,680 | shipping VAT only (UK; US shipping taxes only some states) | | Product-only tax (`tax - shipping_tax`) | £131,120 | for product-tax filing | | `SUM(creditmemo.tax_amount)` (refunded) | £8,420 | reversed VAT on Credit Memos | | **Net tax for filing (gross − refunded)** | **£134,380** | | **Per Store View:** | Store View | `SUM(tax_amount)` | Avg per order | Tax engine | | ------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | UK Store View | £126,000 | £69.20 / order | Native Magento (20% standard, 5% reduced) | | US Store View | \$90,500 (≈ £72,400 at indicative FX) | \$24.60 / order avg (varies by state) | Avalara | **Comparison to prior 30 days:** | Window | Total tax | Revenue | Effective rate | | ------------------- | ---------- | --------- | -------------- | | 14 Apr to 13 May 26 | £142,800 | £950,000 | 15.0% | | 15 Mar to 13 Apr 26 | £128,400 | £870,000 | 14.8% | | **Change** | **+11.2%** | **+9.2%** | **+0.2 pp** | **Insight pattern:** 1. **Effective rate of 15.0%** is the blended rate across UK + US. UK alone is closer to 20% on Standard goods; US alone is 6-9% depending on states. The blend reflects the customer mix. 2. **Effective rate moved 0.2 pp.** Most likely the UK reduced-rate children's-clothing reclassification on 12 Mar pulled the UK blend slightly down (more reduced-5% rates). 3. **Net for filing: £134,380.** Finance should remit £126,000 (UK) − £6,800 (refunded UK VAT) = £119,200 to HMRC, and the equivalent net-of-refund US figure to each state via Avalara. 4. **Avalara reconciliation.** Avalara's Liability Worksheet for the same period should report the US-side \$90,500. If Avalara reports less, some orders failed to commit; reconcile via the AvaTax tools menu. 5. **Cross-link with [Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/total-revenue):** revenue rose 9.2%, tax rose 11.2%. Tax growing faster than revenue suggests either (a) more high-tax-jurisdiction orders (US customers with new state rates), or (b) fewer tax-exempt B2B orders. Drill into [Tax Analysis](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-analysis) per-jurisdiction to confirm. 6. **Quarterly tax filing window:** for the UK April-June quarter, this card configured to "Custom: 1 Apr to 30 Jun" gives the gross UK tax. Subtract refunded VAT from Credit Memos in the same window. Submit to HMRC. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Total Tax | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | [Tax Analysis](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-analysis) | Per-jurisdiction breakdown. | | [Tax Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-collected-over-time) | Daily series; useful for spotting tax-engine outages. | | [Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/total-revenue) | Denominator-of-context; effective tax rate. | | [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value) | Refunded tax to subtract for net VAT. | | [`avalara.tax_liability_summary`](/nerve-centre/avalara/tax_liability_summary) | Avalara-side total; should match for US merchants. | | [`shopify.total_tax`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-tax-collected) | Cross-platform reference. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Adobe Commerce Admin:** > **Reports > Sales > Tax** with the date range matching the period. The grand total at the bottom should approximately match this card after currency-and-cancellation adjustments. For the order-level audit: > **Sales > Orders** with a custom column selector showing Tax Amount, exported to CSV; sum the Tax Amount column. For Avalara users: > Avalara Admin > Reports > Liability Worksheet for the period. The US-side of this card should match Avalara's total to the cent (after subtracting failed-commit orders). **Why our number may legitimately differ from Adobe Commerce Admin:** | Reason | Direction of divergence | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | **Currency**. Reports default to `base_tax_amount`; this card default is mixed-currency `tax_amount`. Switch to `base_tax_amount` for like-for-like. | Material for multi-currency stores | | **Reports indexer lag**. Reports use nightly aggregation. | Vortex IQ ahead by \~12-24h | | **Cancelled inclusion**. Card excludes cancelled by default. Reports may include depending on filter. | Standard | | **Avalara commit failures**. Reports may show locally-computed tax for failed-commit orders; Avalara dashboard won't see them. | Per-order divergence | | **Time-zone, sync lag**. Standard. | Minor | **Internal identity (within Adobe Commerce):** `total_tax = SUM(tax_amount) over orders in period` Component cards (self-consistency, not reconciliation): * [`adobe_commerce.tax_over_time`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-collected-over-time) (daily aggregation should sum to this card's period total) * [`adobe_commerce.tax_analysis`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-analysis) (per-jurisdiction sum should equal this card) **Cross-connector reconciliation (when these connectors are connected for this merchant):** | Card | Expected relationship | What divergence tells you | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`avalara.tax_liability_summary`](/nerve-centre/avalara/tax_liability_summary) | Avalara total ≈ this card's US-side | Failed commits, rate-table drift, or orders bypassing Avalara. | | [`vertex.tax_summary`](/nerve-centre/vertex/tax_summary) | Vertex equivalent | Same logic. | | HMRC VAT submission | This card UK-side − refunded VAT = Box 1 figure | Submission record. | ***
Documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) * [`shopify.total_tax`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-tax-collected) * [`bigcommerce.total_tax`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-tax-collected)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is mixed-currency the default? It makes the number look wrong.** For trend visualisation, mixed-currency is fine, the shape of the chart is what matters. For Finance reconciliation and tax filing, switch to `base_tax_amount` (FX-converted to store base currency at order time). The card supports both views. **Refunded tax isn't subtracted, but I owe HMRC the net, what do I do?** For VAT submission: take this card's UK-side total minus the UK-side `creditmemo.tax_amount` from [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value). The Vortex IQ workspace can pre-compute the net via the "Tax Filing" report. **Why does Avalara say I owe a different amount?** Three causes: (1) failed commits (orders that didn't reach Avalara); (2) currency framing (Avalara is in USD; this card mixes); (3) different status filters (Avalara may include or exclude cancelled depending on its config). Reconcile via base-currency mode and ensure cancelled-handling matches. **My multi-store has zero-rated UK sales but tax appears on the chart, why?** Zero-rated transactions have `tax_amount=0` per order; they don't add to this card. If you see tax appearing for a "zero-rated" Store View, then either the products aren't actually zero-rated (check product tax class) or non-zero-rated products are being sold on that Store View. **My B2B customer has a resale certificate, why is tax still showing on their orders?** The certificate either isn't uploaded to Avalara CertCapture, or hasn't been linked to the customer's Adobe `customer_id`, or the customer is in the wrong Customer Group. Adobe Commerce only honours tax-exemption when the conditions match the rule. **Customers > All Customers > \[customer]** > Account Information should show "Tax Class = Tax Exempt" and Avalara CertCapture should show an active certificate. **Why does today's number stop updating?** Tax updates with each new order (which already happens every 5-15 min). If the number is genuinely stale, the OpenSearch indexer is probably running re-aggregation; wait one full refresh. **B2B with net-30 PO terms, when is the tax recognised?** At order creation. Adobe records `tax_amount` when the order is placed, regardless of whether the invoice is paid. So `pending_payment` orders contribute their tax to this card. Most jurisdictions allow tax to be remitted on the invoice date even for net-30 terms; check with your tax advisor. **A new tax rule was added mid-period, the rate effective from?** Magento applies tax rules prospectively. The new rate kicks in from the moment it's saved in **Stores > Configuration > Sales > Tax**. Orders before that point retain their original rate. The chart will show a step change on the day of the rule update. **Why does the per-Store-View slice not sum to the combined?** Most likely a Store-View-less order (admin-created with no Store View). Adobe Commerce occasionally creates orders without a Store View if the admin form is not properly scoped. Filter to find these ([Order State Distribution](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/order-state-breakdown) with Store View = "(unscoped)") and assign them retroactively. **Can I see VAT separately from sales tax?** Yes. UK Store View = VAT; US Store View = sales tax. Slice per Store View, or per tax-engine source (native = mostly VAT for UK; Avalara = sales tax for US). *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Total Tax Collected* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Adobe Commerce and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.