Tax Definitions and Calculations

Merchants that activate Tax Settings are able to indicate the jurisdictions where they have obligations to remit indirect tax (e.g. sales tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Value Added Tax (VAT)) on sales in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), the European Union (EU), and Singapore. Specifically,

• Wish displays and provides merchants with the payment of the estimated indirect tax remittance amounts for their configured U.S. jurisdictions in Tax Settings, with the exception of tax authorities where Wish is registered as a Marketplace and is collecting the appropriate indirect tax. 
• Wish displays and provides merchants with the payment of the estimated indirect tax remittance amounts for their configured Canadian jurisdictions in Tax Settings.

• Wish adds and collects VAT for all domestic and international UK-bound orders. For UK domiciled merchants shipping within the UK who have set up Tax Settings, Wish remits the VAT amounts to the merchants to remit to the UK tax authorities. For non-UK domiciled merchants shipping orders within the UK, Wish remits VAT directly to the UK tax authorities. For orders shipping to the UK from outside of the UK, VAT remittance depends on the customer-paid price of the consignment. See more details outlined below.
• For UK and EU merchants shipping refurbished electronics within the UK and EU, see the "Guide to Selling Refurbished Electronics" for merchant responsibility regarding VAT margin schemes.
• Wish calculates, collects, and remits VAT for applicable EU-bound orders. 
• Wish calculates, collects, and remits GST for applicable Singapore-bound orders. 

The estimated indirect tax remittance amounts for applicable U.S., Canada, UK, EU, and Singapore orders are collected from customers, and included in the merchant’s next scheduled payment (subject to Payment Eligibility terms). Merchants may view the estimated indirect tax remittance amounts for applicable orders in their Order History, Order Details pages, and payment invoices.

Merchants are ultimately responsible for correctly identifying their filing obligations in Tax Settings and ensuring their indirect tax compliance obligations are met and returns are accurately submitted. By using Tax Settings, you acknowledge that it is offered as-is and agree that Wish shall not be responsible for, and expressly disclaims any warranties, representations, or liability regarding, any malfunctions, interruptions, errors, network or system outages, or otherwise arising out of or in any way related to your use of Tax Settings.

Note that Tax Settings also allows merchants to generate tax reports for these applicable transactions within an indicated date range.

In this article, we walk through some tax definitions and how Wish calculates a variety of taxes for different jurisdictions. You should also check out how to activate and edit Tax Settings as well as review the Wish Merchant Tax Policy.

U.S. Indirect Taxes (Sales/Use Taxes)

Wish calculates transactional taxes (i.e., U.S. sales and use taxes) on the sales made on the Wish platform by multiplying the sales price by a tax percentage. The result is the tax amount that is charged to the customer.

For those states that Wish is not registered as a Marketplace Facilitator (see Wish Marketplace Collection and Remittance of Sales Tax), merchants may choose to use Tax Settings whereby Wish collects tax amounts on behalf of merchants separately from product and shipping prices. Merchants receive these tax amounts as part of the normal payments process (less any refunds/deductions).

Example of the sales tax calculation:

San Francisco, California, 7.25% tax rate, and the customer purchases a $5 item.

	Calculation	Total
Sales Price	$5	$5.00
Sales Tax Calculation	5.00 x 7.25%	$0.36
Total Invoice Amount	5.00 + 0.36	$5.36

This is shown on the invoice as:

Item…………………....…..$5.00
Taxes…………………….…$0.36
Order total……………....$5.36

Due to system limitations sales/use taxes are calculated based on the destination location only, and origin-based taxation is unavailable. Origin based taxation may be possible in future releases.

Many different factors affect the amount of tax on a sale. For sales taxes, those things include the product, where the sale takes place, the time at which the sale takes place, and how many other sales have occurred in the same jurisdiction throughout a specific time period.

For example:

• Some states may exempt certain foods from sales and use tax
• Some states may impose higher taxes on tobacco products
• Each state may have a different tax rate
• Many cities also charge sales and use taxes at different tax rates
• Some states have sales and use tax holidays, when some or all sales are exempt from sales and use taxes

About "Nexus"

Nexus is a special type of connection that a company must have with a U.S. taxing jurisdiction if that jurisdiction wishes to impose its tax on that company. The term and concept comes from U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence that governs states’ power to tax out-of-state entities. The nexus standards vary by depending on the jurisdiction’s own rules and decisions, and the standards within a jurisdiction may be different for each tax type (e.g., income tax, sales/use taxes, property tax, etc.). For sales/use tax purposes, sellers that have nexus in a state generally have an obligation to charge customers in that state sales tax on taxable sales made to them, collect that tax from the customers, file a sales/use tax return with that state, and remit the tax collected and due to the state.

What constitutes sufficient nexus for tax purposes depends on the jurisdiction’s definitions and rules. Generally, a seller creates nexus with a jurisdiction by being physically present in that jurisdiction (e.g., having an office, some type of business location, warehouse, employees – whether fixed or for a temporary period of time). Over the past several years, some states have sought to expand their nexus definitions to include the activities of third parties (related or otherwise) and other temporary activities. In June 2018, the United states Supreme Court issued a ruling that enables states to expand their nexus definitions even further: In some states, a seller with enough sales in a state likely has a nexus with that state. For example, if a seller makes greater than $100,000 of sales or makes 200 separate transactions with customers in the state in the previous 12-month period, then the seller is deemed to have nexus in the state.

Nexus determinations – and collection and remittance obligations – get a bit more complicated with respect to online marketplaces like Wish. Many states have expanded nexus requirements to include certain activities by online marketplace operators, even though the operator isn’t really the seller. As explained above, nexus is a legal connection between a U.S. jurisdiction and a seller, a sale, or a party that helps facilitate a sale. If there is nexus with a seller, a sale, or a sale’s facilitator, the state may require the seller or Wish to charge and collect its customer’s sales and use taxes.

Wish has determined that it is a “Marketplace Facilitator” in respect of the online marketplace it operates, which leads to an obligation for Wish to collect and remit VAT/GST and sales taxes in certain countries/U.S. states. When a merchant has nexus in a particular jurisdiction and it elects to use Tax Settings, Wish charges and collects sales and use taxes for each sale and sends those funds to each seller, which must then send those funds to the states.

All of these nexus factors are accretive, meaning a seller only needs to satisfy one test to have nexus with a state. A seller does not need to satisfy all the tests. A seller is likely to have nexus if (1) the seller is physically present in the state OR (2) the seller sells more than $100,000, OR (3) the seller makes more than 200 separate sales in a state. Please note that these tests DO NOT say that sellers who fail to meet all three tests lack nexus. Theoretically, a seller physically absent from a state that sells less than $100,000 in less than 200 transactions could still have nexus with a state.

Whether a seller has nexus is a state-by-state question. Just because a seller has nexus in one state does not mean that the seller has nexus with each state in the U.S.

When a seller informs Wish that it has nexus with a state or Wish determines there is an obligation as a marketplace operator to collect and remit tax, Wish’s system charges and collects sales and use taxes from the seller’s customers for each of the seller’s sales on the Wish platform. Then, depending on the state, Wish either passes those funds to each seller (which must then send those funds to the states) or sends the tax directly to the state in online marketplace states (see separate FAQ).

Wish Marketplace Collection and Remittance of Sales Tax

Some states have enacted “Marketplace Facilitator” rules, which require marketplace facilitators to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of marketplace sellers if certain requirements or thresholds are met. In states where Wish collects and remits sales tax on behalf of sellers, Wish has determined that it is considered a marketplace facilitator due to the online sales marketplace it operates. Concurrently, Merchants that make sales through the Wish Marketplace are considered marketplace sellers due to their sales on the Wish marketplace. states’ specific rules vary, but generally a marketplace facilitator is required to collect sales tax on retail sales made by a marketplace seller if sales through the marketplace reach a particular sales amount or volume threshold. For many states, this threshold is at least $100,000 of in-state sales or 200 separate in-state transactions, but some states have set forth other thresholds; the rules vary on a state-by-state basis.

For states in which Wish is registered and considered a marketplace facilitator under state law, Wish collects sales tax and remit to the state on behalf of all Merchants that make sales into that particular state. Merchants that make sales through the Wish marketplace are generally not required to collect and remit sales tax on their sales made through the Wish marketplace in those states in which Wish is required to collect and remit tax. (Note that there are a few exceptions to this general understanding.)

Please refer to Wish Merchant Tax Policy for a list of jurisdictions that Wish collects and remits sales tax to the jurisdictions for all in-state sales occurring on its marketplace.

Merchant Obligation to Collect and Remit Sales Tax

In all states other than those listed above as states where Wish collects sales tax as a marketplace facilitator. Merchants that sell through the Wish Marketplace may have an obligation to collect and remit sales tax based on their sales into a respective state. Merchants may be required to collect and remit sales tax on their sales into a state on their own if they are deemed to have sales tax nexus in a state.

In many states, local jurisdictions such as counties and cities, may have a level of autonomy to impose additional sales tax requirements. These additional local-level requirements may range from simply adding an additional rate to establishing an entire sales tax system in addition to that of the state. Please see below for further considerations regarding Merchants’ potential sales tax obligations to various state and local taxing authorities.

Uniform State and Local Sales Tax Rates

In most states, Merchants are required to collect all local taxes if they collect the state tax. Such states generally apply sales tax rules uniformly to all sales throughout the state: All local filing jurisdictions (e.g., city or county) have the same nexus and sales tax applications as the state.

In these states, nexus is generally set at the state level and not considered at the local level. For such states, when a Merchant confirms in its Wish tax settings that it has nexus in a state, any additional sales tax requirements for local jurisdictions automatically apply to that Merchants’ sales in that state as well. Based on this, a Merchant with nexus in a state has an obligation to collect and report sales tax on all taxable transactions within that state regardless of the sales destination within the state. For example, if a Merchant selects a nexus configuration for Iowa, all of the local jurisdictions within Iowa are deemed to have nexus as well. Wish Merchants are still able to search or filter their Wish nexus settings by specific local jurisdictions, however their nexus cannot be modified at an individual jurisdictional level.

Not all states apply sales tax according to this method. Please see below for further explanation of those states where sales tax is administered differently.

State-Administered Local Jurisdictions

Some states administer local jurisdiction (e.g., city or county) sales taxes at a state level. These state-administered taxes are collected by filing a single sales tax return with the state that captures all applicable tax. The local rates for each jurisdiction may vary, and filing obligation for each jurisdiction is determined based on nexus.

In the following states, sales tax in all local jurisdictions is state administered:

• California
• Mississippi
• Texas

Note that some local jurisdictions in Colorado are state administered.

The states listed above have a variety of local jurisdictions that calculate sales taxes in addition to the state-level sales tax. For example, a merchant may have nexus in the state of California and nexus in San Francisco, California. Merchants must individually determine those local jurisdictions in which it has nexus in addition to state-level nexus. There are certain scenarios where a merchant may want to indicate nexus only at the state level and not at the local jurisdiction level. In such a scenario, the merchant does not select any local jurisdictions for that state in its Wish settings, and only select the state where it has nexus. Under this scenario, only the state-level sales tax rate applies for that state. 

Note that many businesses opt to avoid the administrative work of determining where local rates apply based on nexus and instead opt to collect all local sales taxes. A merchant seeking to avoid this administrative burden may elect to collect all local sales taxes within a state in which it has nexus rather than do a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction nexus review. Also note that regardless of the number of jurisdictions for which nexus is selected, usually a single sales tax return that includes information reporting for both state and local sales is required for these states.  

According to Wish policy, merchants are responsible for correctly configuring sales tax nexus at the state and local levels.

Home-Rule States

A handful of states may require both a state-level filing and additional local-level filings. These states have “home-rule” jurisdictions, which means that the states have granted sovereignty to certain cities and counties within their state that permits these jurisdictions to levy and/or administer their own sales taxes. In home-rule jurisdictions, the sales tax system can be considered an entirely separate system from that of the state: the tax is administered and collected locally by the jurisdiction, and the sales tax rules can be different from those of the state and those of other local jurisdictions. For sales tax compliance, additional filing obligations may exist for merchants with nexus in a home-rule local jurisdiction. 

In the following states, merchants may be required to comply with additional filings for a local-level taxing authority:

• Alaska
• Colorado
• Louisiana

To determine where additional filings may be required, merchants should review their activities in the states above at a local level to determine where nexus may exist in local jurisdictions. If a merchant has nexus in a specific local jurisdiction that has home-rule status, it may also have a sales tax filing obligation in that local jurisdiction.  

Note that application varies by state. For example, Alaska has no state-level sales tax, however, local jurisdictions may administer their own sales tax. Some but not all local jurisdictions in Colorado are self-administered (but note that certain jurisdictions in Colorado require local sales tax collection for all merchants with state-level nexus). All local jurisdictions in Idaho and Louisiana are self-administered. Other specific administration practices may vary by state.

Per Wish policy, merchants are responsible for correctly identifying their filing obligations and collecting and reporting sales tax.

Non-U.S. Indirect Taxes (VAT/GST)

Canada

For merchants shipping Canada-bound orders from outside of Canada:

Where merchants elect to use Tax Settings in Canada, Canadian taxes (GST/HST/PST/QST) are handled similarly to the U.S. sales taxes. Wish collects Canadian taxes on behalf of merchants separately from product and shipping prices. Merchants receive these Canadian tax amounts as part of the normal payments process (less any refunds/deductions).

Many different factors affect the amount of tax on a sale. Such as whether a product qualifies for a zero or reduced rate or where the sale takes place.

For example:

• Some jurisdictions may exempt or zero rate certain products from tax (e.g., foods, medical products)
• Each jurisdiction may have a different tax rate, and some have multiple taxes on a single transaction

Example of the GST calculation: Canada, British Columbia 12% GST/PST rate, and the customer purchases a 10 CAD item.

	Calculation	Total
Sales Price	10	CAD 10.00
GST/PST Calculation	10 x 12%	CAD 1.20
Total Invoice Amount	8.93 + 1.07	CAD 11.20

This is shown on the invoice as:

Item……………….....…CAD10.00
Taxes…………………...CAD 1.20
Order total…………….CAD 11.20

For merchants shipping intra-Canada orders (from and to Canada):

Wish must collect GST/HST (federal) registration numbers from merchants shipping goods from Canada to Canadian customers. Wish requires merchants to update their Tax Settings in Canada. This is a self-serve option on Merchant Dashboard that enables merchants to provide a valid GST/HST (federal) registration number that is required.

Once merchants set Tax Settings for Canada, Wish collects Canadian taxes on behalf of merchants separately from product and shipping prices. Merchants receive these Canadian tax amounts as part of the normal payments process (less any refunds/deductions and ​​subject to Payment Eligibility terms) to remit to the authorities.

Please see an overview below with applicable sales tax in the provinces of Canada. 

Province	Type	PST (province sales tax)	GST (federal sales tax)	HST (federal sales tax)	Total Tax rate	Note
Alberta	GST		5%		5%
British Columbia	GST*PST	7%	5%		12%
Manitoba	GST*PST	7%	5%		12%	Wish is a marketplace facilitator, which means that Wish collects and remits PST on sales shipped to Manitoba.
New Brunswick	HST			15%	15%
Newfoundland and Labrador	HST			15%	15%
Northwest Territories	GST		5%		5%
Nova Scotia	HST			15%	15%
Nunavut	GST		5%		5%
Ontario	HST			13%	13%
Prince Edward Island	HST			15%	15%
Quebec	GST* QST	9.975%	5%		14.975%
Saskatchewan	GST * PST	6%	5%		15%	Wish is a marketplace facilitator, which means that Wish collects and remits PST on sales shipped to Saskatchewan.
Yukon	GST		5%		5%

Many different factors affect the amount of tax on a sale, such as whether a product qualifies for a zero or reduced rate or where the sale takes place.

For example:

• Some jurisdictions may exempt or zero rate certain products from tax (e.g., foods, medical products)
• Each jurisdiction may have a different tax rate, and some have multiple taxes on a single transaction

Example of the GST calculation: Canada, British Columbia 12% GST/PST rate, and the customer purchases a 10 CAD item.

	Calculation	Total
Sales Price	10	CAD 10.00
GST/PST Calculation	10 x 12%	CAD 1.20
Total Invoice Amount	8.93 + 1.07	CAD 11.20

This is shown on the invoice as:

Item……………………...CAD10.00

Taxes…………………….CAD 1.20

Order total……………..CAD 11.20

-----------------------------------------

Frequently Asked Questions

1. A merchant sells goods to customers located in Canada and ships the goods from Canada. Is the merchant required to remit GST/HST? 

Yes, this merchant is responsible for remitting GST/HST. It is a requirement for this merchant to register for GST/HST in Canada. 

2. A Canadian domiciled merchant sells goods to customers located in Canada and ships the goods from Canada but has no GST/HST registration as the merchant is considered small business under the CAD 30,000 annual revenue threshold. Is the merchant allowed to sell on Wish? 

Without a valid GST/HST registration number, Wish does not allow merchants to sell goods to Canadian consumers that are shipped from within Canada. Please obtain your GST/HST registration number or consult with your tax advisors.

3. A merchant ships goods from Quebec to customers in Quebec. Is the merchant required to remit QST? 

Yes, this merchant is responsible for remitting QST. It is a requirement for the merchant to register for QST in Quebec. In this case, the total tax on an order shipped from Quebec to customers located in Quebec is 14.975%. 

4. A merchant ships goods from Canada to customers located in Saskatchewan. Is Wish remitting GST/HST and PST? 

No, the merchants have to be registered for GST/HST and remit the GST/HST of 5% to the Canadian authority. Wish is marketplace facilitator for the Canadian province Saskatchewan, so Wish calculates and remits PST (6%). 

UK

Wish automatically adds VAT for all domestic and international UK-bound orders on top of the customer-paid product price and shipping price. Please ensure that your product prices and shipping prices do not include the VAT amount. 

For orders shipping from the UK within the UK, Wish adds and collects VAT on all orders. 

Exceptions:

• For refurbished goods, UK merchants shipping within the UK and EU must adhere to refurbished guidelines and VAT margin schemes, which places responsibility on the merchant.
• For stores with low sales volume, merchants may be excluded from VAT collection (see UK.GOV VAT for more information). Eligible merchants can manage this in the Merchant Dashboard Tax Settings.

For UK domiciled merchants shipping within the UK that have set up Tax Settings (Merchant Dashboard > Settings > Taxes), the collected VAT amounts are emitted to the merchants to remit to the UK tax authorities. For non-UK domiciled merchants shipping orders within the UK, Wish calculates, collects, and remits VAT directly to the UK tax authorities.

UK domiciled merchants shipping within the UK are strongly encouraged to set up UK Tax Settings to comply with UK tax policy and to have their VAT amounts remitted to them. UK Tax Settings are available to set up all for UK domiciled merchants shipping within the UK, via our Tax Settings page in the Merchant Dashboard. Failure to properly set up UK Tax Settings results in Wish adding VAT to the merchant’s UK-bound orders and remitting directly to the UK tax authorities on behalf of the merchant for all UK-bound orders. Please note that once VAT is remitted by Wish to the UK tax authorities, there is no option for a refund from Wish. Merchants are responsible for any VAT due in the UK.

For orders shipping to the UK from outside of the UK: 

• If the customer-paid price of the consignment is less than or equal to £135 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping, insurance, and taxes), Wish calculates, collects, and remits VAT directly to the UK tax authorities.
• If the customer-paid price of the consignment is greater than £135 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping, insurance, and taxes), the VAT amount is included in the purchase price. Wish remits this amount to merchants (when merchants receive payments for relevant orders) and requires merchants to forward the VAT amount to the freight forwarder designated by Wish or the merchants. The freight forwarder then pays the VAT amount due at the border on behalf of the customers.

The price displayed to buyers is inclusive of VAT (i.e., there is not a separate tax line or an additional amount collected from the customer).

Example of UK VAT calculation:

	Calculation	Total
Sales Price	10	GBP 10.00
VAT Calculation	10 x 20%	GBP 2.00
Total Invoice Amount	10 + 2	GBP 12.00

This is shown on the invoice as:

Item (VAT inclusive) …………………….. GBP 12

EU

For orders shipping to the EU from outside of the EU:

• If an order’s customer-paid price of the corresponding consignment is less than or equal to €150 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping and taxes), Wish calculates, collects, and remits VAT to the EU tax authorities. Therefore, please ensure that the product prices and shipping prices you provide do not  include the VAT amount. This VAT is declared and paid via Wish’s Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS). Read more on the IOSS. 
• If an order’s customer-paid product price for the corresponding consignment is greater than €150 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping and taxes), Wish calculates and collects VAT, and passes the VAT amount to the merchant when the merchant receives payments for this order. Therefore, please ensure that the product prices and shipping prices you provide do not include the VAT amount. VAT amount for these orders must be remitted to customs by merchants. As the shipment should arrive at the customer’s location as Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), please coordinate with the freight forwarder on how import VAT and customs duties are handled on your behalf.

For orders shipping to the EU from the EU (i.e., orders shipped within the EU):

• If you are shipping orders within the EU, it is important for Wish to know if you are an EU domiciled merchant or non-EU domiciled merchant with an EU establishment in order to determine your VAT obligation. Non-EU domiciled merchants with an EU establishment have the same EU VAT obligations as EU domiciled merchants for orders shipped within the EU.
• EU merchants shipping refurbished goods within the UK and EU must adhere to refurbished guidelines and VAT margin schemes, which differ from products in new condition.
• EU domiciled merchants and non-EU domiciled merchants with an EU establishment shipping orders within the EU are ultimately responsible for remitting VAT to the EU tax authorities. Merchant options to calculate and collect VAT for intra-EU orders are based on whether they choose to set or not set Tax Settings in the Merchant Dashboard:
  • Do set Tax Setting: Once Tax Settings for EU destination countries has been set, reviewed, and verified, Wish calculates and collects VAT for intra-EU orders based on the country of arrival of the goods (regardless of the EU-wide distance sales threshold of €10,000) and passes the VAT amount to merchants to remit to the tax authorities. If merchants choose to set up Tax Settings, they need to ensure that the product price and shipping price provided do not already include the VAT amount.

If an EU domiciled merchant or non-EU domiciled merchant with an EU establishment ships orders within the EU, the VAT calculation (as provided by Wish, if Tax Settings has been properly activated) assumes that the distance sales threshold of €10,000 has been exceeded or waived by the merchant through their own tax administration. (In this case, a waiver means that VAT at country of origin does not apply even if the mentioned distance sales threshold has not been exceeded.)

• • Do not set Tax Settings: These merchants are responsible for calculating and collecting VAT without relying on Wish’s Tax Settings support before remitting VAT to the EU tax authorities.

For non-EU domiciled merchants without an EU establishment shipping orders within the EU, Wish calculates, collects, and remits VAT directly to the EU tax authorities via Wish’s One-Stop Shop (OSS), regardless of the consignment value.

Example of EU VAT calculation:

The price displayed to buyers is inclusive of VAT (i.e., there is no separate tax line or an additional amount collected from the customer).

France, 20% VAT rate, and the item price (pre-VAT) EUR 10:

	Calculation	Total
Item Price (pre-VAT)	10	EUR 10.00
VAT Calculation	10 x 20%	EUR 2.00
Total Price (displayed to buyers)	10 + 2	EUR 12.00

This total price (VAT inclusive) is shown to merchants (on applicable orders) on the Order History and Order Details pages in Merchant Dashboard.

Singapore

Singapore requires online marketplaces to register for GST under the Overseas Vendor Registration regime.

As a result, GST remittance obligation for products shipping to Singapore from outside of Singapore is determined by total customer-paid price (excluding shipping) on an individual product basis:

• For products shipping to Singapore from outside of Singapore where the total customer-paid price of the product is less than or equal to SGD400 (excluding shipping), Wish calculates, collects, and remits GST to the Singapore tax authorities. Wish automatically adds GST for applicable Singapore-bound products on top of the total customer-paid price (including shipping) and collects this during the check-out process.
• For products shipping to Singapore from outside of Singapore where the total customer-paid price of the product is greater than SGD400 (excluding shipping), the customer is responsible for remitting GST (and any custom duties/fees, if applicable) on the importation of goods into Singapore.

For products shipping within Singapore, merchants are responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting GST to the Singapore tax authorities\. Merchants may activate Singapore Tax Settings via the Merchant Dashboard to have the GST amount on these products calculated and collected by Wish. This GST amount is sent by Wish to merchants for merchants to remit to the Singapore tax authorities.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the threshold requirements for a merchant to VAT/GST register for non-US countries? 

Every country has their own thresholds and requirements before merchants are required to register with the national taxing authority and collect and remit tax on sales (i.e., VAT, GST, etc.).  It is the responsibility of the merchant to determine if they are making taxable supplies (i.e., a qualifying good) to customers that create a tax registration obligation.

Registration thresholds are typically exceeded, in some countries, when a merchant’s taxable supply exceeds a stipulated turnover amount, commonly in a 12-month period but it may also be accumulative. Countries that do not apply a registration threshold generally require registration, (regardless of volume or monetary amount of sales) as soon as the supplier makes a qualifying taxable supply.

For example:

• Registration tThreshold applied: Australia - An entity, whether in or outside of the Australian indirect tax zone, and whose current or projected annual turnover is at least equal to AU$ 75,000 (excluding GST) is required to register for GST.
• No registration threshold:  Germany - Non-German businesses supplying taxable goods or services are generally required to register for VAT, even if the total value of supplies is EUR1.

2. In which countries does the Wish marketplace collect and remit transaction tax?

Some countries and regions have enacted regulations that require online marketplace facilitators to collect and remit tax (i.e., VAT, GST, etc.) if certain criteria are met. In countries where Wish has met these requirements, they collect and remit tax.

In some instances, Wish may enter into agreements with local postal carriers to facilitate the remittance of transaction taxes to the authorities. The postal carrier is required to collect the transaction tax before the goods are released for delivery to the customer. In these situations, Wish is likely to withhold the tax due and the carrier may be deemed to be the supplier for compliance administrative purposes (i.e., the one required to report the tax to the tax authority). 

These arrangements provide convenience to the customers where they are not obligated to connect with the postal carrier to pay the applicable taxes.

In the following jurisdictions, Wish collects and remits tax for all applicable sales occurring on its marketplace:

• Australia
• New Zealand

• U.S. (multiple states and Puerto Rico; please see the Merchant Dashboard > Taxes > "United States - MPF" for a complete list)

• Canada (Saskatchewan and Manitoba only)
• Norway (on applicable Norway-bound orders; VAT remittance depends on multiple requirements, per details outlined above)
• Singapore (on applicable Singapore-bound orders; GST remittance depends on multiple requirements, per details outlined above)
• United Kingdom (on applicable domestic and international UK-bound orders; VAT remittance depends on multiple requirements, per details outlined above)
• European Union (on applicable EU-bound orders; VAT remittance depends on multiple requirements, per details outlined above)
  • UK and EU merchants shipping refurbished goods within the UK or EU must adhere to a VAT margin scheme.

3. In which countries do merchants have an obligation to collect and remit transaction tax on their own?

Merchants who make sales through the Wish marketplace may have an obligation to collect and remit tax based on their sales into a respective country, where Wish does not collect on their behalf. This obligation may be subject to a number of things (e.g., the value of goods, refurbished vs. new product condition).

The merchant is required to provide Wish with details regarding its sales (e.g., volume, value, tax collected, tax remitted, etc.) for Wish to perform periodic reviews that the merchant is fully compliant with the local law and where the merchant is liable and Wish has a legal obligation to confirm the merchant’s tax compliance. Where the merchant fails to be compliant, Wish reserves the right to remove the merchant from its platform.

4. Where can I find help with Tax Settings?

To receive support for issues with your Tax Settings, please email Wish at taxsettings@wish.com. When you reach out, please include your merchant ID and a description of the issues you encounter; be sure to copy your Account Manager in your email as well, so we can review and address your question in a timely manner.