> ## 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. # Tax Collected Over Time, Shopify > Tax Collected Over Time for Shopify 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 > Tax collected over time, plotted as a daily/weekly time series across the 90-day window. The pass-through liability owed to tax authorities, useful for VAT-return forecasting and sanity-checking against accounting. | | | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(totalTax) GROUP BY date(createdAt)`. Each point is one day of tax collected from customers. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | This IS the tax view. For VAT-inclusive (UK / EU) stores, `totalTax` is the embedded VAT extracted server-side. For VAT-exclusive (US sales tax) stores, it's the add-on tax charged on top of subtotal. | | **Shipping** | Tax-on-shipping is included if Shopify tax engine charges shipping VAT. UK / EU typically yes; US varies by state. | | **Discounts** | Tax is computed on post-discount subtotal in most jurisdictions; `totalTax` reflects this. | | **Refunds** | NOT deducted. The card shows gross tax collected, not net of refunds. For HMRC / IRS net liability, subtract refund-tax separately. | | **Cancelled / voided orders** | Included if Shopify indexed them. Voided orders typically show £0 tax already. | | **Currency** | Multi-currency arithmetic without FX. Per-currency tax aggregation is correct; cross-currency aggregation is not. | | **Channels / sources** | All channels. POS sales contribute their till-time tax; B2B with VAT-exempt customers contribute zero. | | **Time window** | `90D` (default 90D rolling) | | **Alert trigger** | None directly; pair with VAT-return cycle for compliance alerts. | | **Roles** | owner | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Shopify data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A UK skincare DTC brand on Shopify, VAT-registered (20% standard rate, £85k threshold), uses Shopify Tax engine. 90D window 12 Feb 26 to 12 May 26. Smoothed weekly view: | Week of | Revenue (gross) | Tax collected | Effective rate | Note | | ------------- | --------------- | ------------- | -------------- | -------------------- | | 16 Feb 26 | £58,400 | £9,733 | 16.7% | Standard mix | | 23 Feb 26 | £52,800 | £8,800 | 16.7% | Steady | | 02 Mar 26 | £61,200 | £10,200 | 16.7% | Steady | | 09 Mar 26 | £71,400 | £11,900 | 16.7% | Spring drop launch | | 16 Mar 26 | £68,800 | £11,467 | 16.7% | | | 23 Mar 26 | £59,400 | £9,900 | 16.7% | Drop momentum fading | | ... | | | | | | **90D total** | **£780,400** | **£130,067** | **16.7%** | | The 16.7% effective rate is the embedded VAT: for VAT-inclusive UK pricing, `totalTax = totalPrice × (20/120)` ≈ 16.67%. The constant ratio across weeks confirms the tax engine is working correctly. Six things to notice: 1. **Effective rate stability is the health check.** Variations of more than 0.5 ppt week-over-week suggest: * **A new VAT-exempt customer cohort** (B2B with valid VAT number). * **A reduced-rate product introduced** (children's clothing, books). * **Tax engine misconfiguration** post-update. 2. **Total over 90D is your VAT return preview.** £130k of tax over 90 days = \~£43k/month liability. Match against bookkeeping closing balance for sanity. 3. **Spring drop spike is reflected.** Tax revenue scales with sales revenue. The week of 09 Mar shows a tax bump matching the sales bump; correct. 4. **Refund-adjusted is different.** This card shows gross collected, not net liability. For VAT returns, subtract refund-tax (and recover from HMRC); fortunately Shopify's *Taxes* report exposes this directly. 5. **Multi-currency stores split.** A UK + US Shopify store will show two effective rates (UK 16.67%, US \~7-9% blended state tax). Filter by currency for a clean read; cross-jurisdiction blending is meaningless. 6. **Compliance signal.** Persistent gaps between this card's running total and your accounting record indicates either tax-engine misconfiguration or a sync issue between Shopify and your finance system. Reconcile monthly. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together Tax over Time is the trend view. Companions: | Card | Why pair it with Tax Over Time | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Total Tax Collected](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-tax-collected) | The aggregate single-number version. | | [Revenue Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/revenue-over-time) | The denominator; tax should track revenue at a stable ratio. | | [Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | Aggregate context. | | [Revenue Breakdown](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/revenue-breakdown) | Decomposition; tax is one of four slices. | | [Customer Countries](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/orders-by-country) | Tax varies by destination; international mix shifts effective rate. | | [Customer Segments](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/customer-spend-segments) | B2B-exempt customers lower effective rate. | | [Refunds Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refunds-over-time) | Refunds unwind tax; net VAT liability requires subtraction. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Shopify Admin:** > **Shopify Admin → Analytics → Reports → "Taxes"** (under *Finance*) The most direct equivalent. Pick the same window. Tax-by-period totals should match this card. Shopify's report can also break by tax rate (e.g. UK Standard 20%, Reduced 5%, Zero) and by region. Other Shopify Admin views: * **Reports → "Sales by billing location"**: tax-by-state/region for US sales tax compliance. * **Settings → Taxes and duties**: the tax-engine configuration. * **Apps**: Avalara, TaxJar, Quaderno produce their own tax reports; should match this card to within sync-lag. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Shopify Admin:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Tax-engine differences** | Either | If you use Avalara or TaxJar instead of Shopify Tax, the calculation may differ slightly during cutover periods. | | **Refund treatment** | Theirs lower | Shopify's tax report shows gross-vs-refunded split; we show gross only. | | **VAT-inclusive vs exclusive** | Same shape, different absolute | Both follow the configured store mode. | | **Time zone** | Boundary | UTC vs store time zone. | | **Multi-currency** | Aggregate distortion | We don't FX-normalise. | | **Sync lag** | Ours lower for "today" | Most-recent 5-15 min may not be in. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`stripe.stripe_tax`](/nerve-centre/stripe/stripe_tax) (when using Stripe Tax) | Should match Stripe-gateway slice | Stripe Tax is a separate engine; for stores using it on Stripe-gateway orders only, ratio holds for that subset. | | Accounting / ERP (Xero, QuickBooks) tax balances | Should match within rounding | Bookkeeping reconciliation; persistent gaps indicate sync error. | ***
Documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) * [`bigcommerce.tax_over_time`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/tax-collected-over-time) * [`adobe_commerce.tax_over_time`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/tax-collected-over-time)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **My effective rate dropped suddenly. What happened?** Three usual causes: 1. **VAT-exempt B2B order**: a wholesale customer with valid VAT number placed a large zero-tax order, dragging the average down for the day/week. 2. **International shift**: more orders shipping to non-VAT regions (US to Asia, etc.) reduce effective rate on a UK-only-VAT store. 3. **Tax-engine misconfiguration**: a new product type was added without VAT classification; defaulted to zero. **My effective rate increased. What happened?** Two usual causes: 1. **Standard-rate mix shift**: a new product line in a higher-rate category (e.g. luxury goods at 20% vs reduced-rate cosmetics at 0% in some jurisdictions). 2. **Customer-mix shift**: more standard-rate domestic orders, fewer reduced-rate or exempt. **Should I rely on this card for VAT returns?** No, treat as a sanity check. For HMRC / IRS submissions, use Shopify's *Taxes* report (which adjusts for refunds and breaks by rate / region) and your accounting record. This card is for monitoring and reconciliation; not for filing. **Why does my US store show different rates per state?** US sales tax varies state-by-state and even county-by-county. A UK-only store sees a flat 16.67% (20% VAT-inclusive); a US store sees varying effective rates depending on shipping address mix. Don't expect a single rate; aggregate by state for clean reads. **Shopify Tax vs Avalara, what's the difference?** * **Shopify Tax**: native, included in some plans. Adequate for most DTC and basic B2B. Limited custom rules. * **Avalara / TaxJar / Quaderno**: third-party, more sophisticated rules (tax-exempt customer management, multi-state US, EU OSS, custom product classifications). Often required for complex catalogues. This card pulls from `Order.totalTax` regardless of which engine populated it; the underlying source doesn't change the metric. **My VAT returns require quarterly figures. Can I customise the window?** Yes. The default is 90D; configure to "calendar quarter" or specific date ranges in the chart's options. For HMRC quarterly returns, align to standard quarters (Q1 Apr-Jun, Q2 Jul-Sep, etc.). **Can I see tax-by-jurisdiction?** Not directly on this card; it's aggregate. For per-jurisdiction breakdown, use Shopify's *Sales by billing location* report or your tax-engine's reports. Multi-jurisdiction breakdown card is on the roadmap. **My subscription store, do recurring billings show tax?** Yes. Each subscription billing creates its own tax line; appears here on the billing date. Subscription-heavy brands see a steady tax curve with predictable peaks on monthly billing days. **Action playbook for using this card:** 1. **Monthly compliance sanity check**: compare 30D total to your accounting record's VAT closing balance. Should match within rounding. 2. **Effective rate monitoring**: stable rate is healthy; sudden shifts deserve investigation. 3. **VAT registration threshold tracking**: small UK stores approaching £85k VAT-registration threshold should monitor running 12-month revenue closely; this card helps confirm tax flows are correctly configured once registered. 4. **Tax-engine spot-check**: compare a single day's tax here to a manual recalculation (sum of order-level totalTax) to verify engine accuracy. 5. **Refund-aware compliance**: when filing, ALWAYS subtract refund-tax from the gross figure here; otherwise you over-pay HMRC / IRS. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Tax Collected Over Time* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Shopify 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.