At a glance
Total tax collected from customers in the period. Sums VAT (UK / EU), state and local sales tax (US), GST (Australia / NZ / Canada), and any other tax types configured. BigCommerce supports three distinct tax engines: native BC tax (manual rate tables), Avalara AvaTax (real-time API rates), and TaxJar (similar). Each produces slightly different numbers, and reconciliation between this card and the tax-engine dashboard is essential for stores with multi-jurisdiction nexus. The aggregate dollar version of BC Tax Over Time.
| What it counts | SUM(total_tax) over the period. The customer-paid tax across all order line items. |
| VAT / tax treatment | This card is the tax view. |
| Shipping | Tax on shipping is included if the merchant configured shipping as taxable (typical for UK / EU; varies by US state). |
| Discounts | Tax is calculated on the post-discount subtotal in BC’s default mode. |
| Refunds | Tax on refunded orders included by default (gross). For net tax (refund-adjusted), use the BC tax export. |
| Cancelled orders | Excluded. |
Incomplete orders | Excluded. |
| Currency | Multi-currency without FX. |
| Channels / sources | All channels aggregate, with a major caveat: marketplace-collected tax (Amazon, eBay, Walmart in marketplace-facilitator states) is NOT collected by the merchant; BC total_tax on those orders shows $0 even though tax was collected by the marketplace and remitted directly. This is a significant reconciliation gap on Amazon-heavy stores; pair with the marketplace tax report. |
| Tax engine caveat | Stores using Avalara or TaxJar see tax calculated by the engine and recorded in BC’s total_tax. If the engine fails (timeout, expired creds), BC falls back to native tax tables, which usually compute differently. Sudden movements in this card commonly signal engine failover rather than sales change. |
| B2B Edition behaviour | B2B customer groups are typically tax-exempt (resale certificates on file). Tax on B2B can be near-zero even on substantial revenue. Filter to retail customer groups for end-customer tax view. |
| Time window | 30D (rolling 30 days). |
| Alert trigger | None directly; an anomaly fires if effective tax rate (tax / revenue) shifts more than 2pp. |
| Roles | owner |
Calculation
Worked example
A US apparel brand on BigCommerce, 30-day window. Multi-state nexus: registered in CA, NY, TX, FL, IL, WA, MA. Avalara AvaTax integration.| Channel | Revenue ($) | Tax collected ($) | Effective tax rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Web (channel_id = 1) | $172,000 | $11,200 | 6.5% | Avalara-managed across nexus states |
| Amazon UK | $42,400 | $0 | 0.0% | Marketplace facilitator (Amazon collects + remits) |
| B2B Edition | $6,800 | $80 | 1.2% | Most B2B customers tax-exempt |
| POS (single store, NY) | $1,800 | $144 | 8.0% | NY sales tax on apparel |
| Blended | $223,000 | $11,424 | 5.1% |
- Amazon shows 0 is correct from BC’s perspective but understates total tax collected by the merchant + Amazon together. For total tax reporting, sum Amazon’s tax report + BC’s tax. This is a common reconciliation gap.
- Effective rate of 6.5% on web reflects multi-state nexus mix. CA (7.25-10.5%), NY (4-9%), TX (6.25-8.25%) all weighted by sales volume. Single-state stores have flatter rates; multi-state stores have weighted-average rates.
- B2B at 1.2% because most B2B customers have resale certificates on file (tax-exempt). The 1.2% comes from B2B sales to non-exempt buyers.
- POS at 8.0% because NY apparel-tax exemption (apparel under $110 is tax-exempt in NY) only applies to lower-priced items; higher-priced apparel pulls the rate above the standard apparel-rate.
- Blended 5.1% is meaningful for trend monitoring but actionable analysis happens at channel level.
- Track effective tax rate as a stability signal. If the rate moves >2pp suddenly, investigate (engine issue, customer-mix shift, jurisdiction rate change).
- Reconcile against Avalara / TaxJar dashboard monthly. The engine knows what tax should have been collected; BC knows what was collected. Gaps signal engine issues.
- Treat marketplace-collected tax separately. Amazon, eBay, Walmart tax reports are authoritative for those channels.
- Audit B2B exempt certificates annually. Expired or missing certificates create unintended tax-exempt orders that fail audit.
- Pair with BC Tax Over Time for the time-series view.
- Use the Avalara filings export for actual tax filings, not this card; this card is for trend monitoring only.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why pair it with Total Tax |
|---|---|
| BC Tax Over Time | Time series. Gives trend; this card gives magnitude. |
| Total Revenue | Denominator for effective tax rate. |
| BC Customer Countries | Tax rates differ by destination country. |
| BC Top Cities | Sub-jurisdiction tax (city, county) shows here in aggregate. |
| BC Channel Revenue Mix | Marketplace-collected tax hides; channel mix shifts move the effective rate. |
| BC Customer Segments | B2B / wholesale segments often tax-exempt; mix affects rate. |
| Refund Rate | Refund-related tax adjustments correlate with refund volumes. |
| Discount Over Time | Discount handling changes tax basis. |
| Avalara Tax Liability | Cross-connector source of truth for engine-managed orders. |
Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard
Where to look in BigCommerce’s own dashboard: The native view is BC Control Panel → Reports → Tax Reports (all tiers) or Analytics → Insights → Sales with the tax column toggled on (Plus and Enterprise). The BC Tax Report is the authoritative figure for what BC recorded. For tax-engine integrations, the engine dashboard is the source of truth:- Avalara AvaTax: Avalara console → Reports → Tax Liability Report.
- TaxJar: TaxJar dashboard → Reports → Tax Liability.
| Reason | Direction | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace-collected tax | Ours lower | Amazon, eBay, Walmart often collect and remit; BC total_tax shows $0. The marketplace dashboard has the truth. |
| Tax engine failover | Either | If Avalara / TaxJar timed out and BC fell back to native, recorded tax differs. |
| Time zone | Boundary days off | UTC vs store time zone. |
| Refund tax adjustments | Either | We show gross; BC tax reports may show net. |
| Tax-exempt customer groups | Either | B2B / wholesale exemptions configured differently in our index versus BC report. |
| Multi-currency | Trivial | Per-currency aggregation. |
| Card | Expected relationship | Notes |
|---|---|---|
avalara.avalara_tax_liability | Should match BC total_tax within ±1% on engine-managed orders | Persistent gaps >2% signal engine failover or sync issue. |
taxjar.taxjar_tax_collected | Same idea | TaxJar’s view should mirror BC for engine-managed orders. |
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
**Why is my Amazon tax showing 0. For total tax including marketplace-collected, sum BC’stotal_tax + Amazon Seller Central tax report.
My effective tax rate jumped from 5% to 8% in a week, what changed?
Three usual causes: (1) a new state nexus registration adding sales-tax collection in a new state, (2) a customer-base shift toward higher-tax-rate jurisdictions (more CA / WA orders, fewer NH / OR orders), (3) a tax-engine reconfiguration. Audit recent Settings → Tax changes and check Avalara / TaxJar for nexus updates.
Should I trust this number for tax filings?
Treat the tax engine (Avalara / TaxJar) as authoritative for filings; this card is for trend monitoring. The engine knows what should have been collected per jurisdiction; this card knows what was actually recorded.
Why does my B2B portal show near-zero tax?
B2B customer groups with resale certificates are tax-exempt. Structurally normal.
My tax dropped after I integrated Avalara, why?
Possible reasons: (1) Avalara is more accurate than your previous manual rates (you were over-collecting, now correctly collecting less), (2) Avalara isn’t finding nexus for some states you thought you had nexus in, (3) Avalara is treating some categories as tax-exempt that your manual tables didn’t. Verify Avalara nexus configuration matches your registrations.
Can I see tax by state?
Yes via Ask Viq: “tax collected by state for last 30 days”. Useful for nexus monitoring.
Why does shipping tax appear in this card sometimes and not others?
Whether shipping is taxable varies by state and by configuration. UK / EU stores typically tax shipping; US states are split. Configuration changes mid-period cause movements. Audit Settings → Tax → Shipping Tax setting.
Does this include UK VAT?
Yes if you collect VAT (UK / EU stores). The BC total_tax field aggregates all tax types regardless of jurisdiction.
My multi-currency store shows tax for each currency, can I get a single number?
Use Ask Viq with currency conversion: “total tax converted to USD for last 30 days” applies day-rate FX for unified view.
Should I worry about chargebacks affecting this?
Chargebacks themselves don’t directly affect this card; they affect refund tax adjustments. If a chargeback was processed via BC’s refund flow, the tax adjustment posts; if processed gateway-side, BC may not know.
Why is my POS tax higher than my web tax for the same product?
Possibly: (1) POS uses store-location tax rate (NY 8%), web uses customer-location tax rate (varies by destination), (2) POS doesn’t apply customer-group exemptions automatically, (3) different shipping-tax handling. Audit a sample of POS vs web orders for the same product.
Can I export this for my accountant?
Yes. BC’s native Tax Report is the cleanest source; this card is for monitoring. Settings → Data Solutions → Export → Orders with tax columns provides line-item detail.
Does this card include tax on refunded orders?
Yes by default (gross). For net (refund-adjusted) tax, use Ask Viq: “show net tax for last 30 days”. The difference is your refund tax liability adjustment.
Why does my Avalara console show different tax than BC?
Avalara may include tax that BC didn’t record (engine timeout, manual override). Or Avalara may exclude tax that BC recorded (fallback to native rates). Reconcile per-state monthly.
My subscription store shows much higher tax % than expected, why?
Possible reason: subscription orders auto-renew at the customer’s home rate, and your subscription customer base is concentrated in high-tax states. Check the geographic distribution of subscription customers via BC Customer Countries or BC Top Cities.