How to make wholesale customers tax exempt
Process Wholesale can set your wholesale customers (B2B customers) to "don't collect tax" in Shopify. Check B2B customer tax exemption under Settings > Customer settings and select Save: Process Wholesale updates your existing wholesale customers during the save, and every customer you approve afterwards is set the same way. The setting is off by default and available on every plan.
At a glance
- Plan: All plans
- Where: Process Wholesale > Settings > Customer settings > B2B customer tax exemption
- What it changes: The tax exemption on the customer in Shopify (checked = don't collect tax)
- Default: Off (tax is collected)
- Applied: To existing wholesale customers when you save a change, and to a customer each time you use Accept B2B, Reject B2B, Return to pending, Remove B2B access or Manage discount tags on them
Steps to make wholesale customers tax exempt#
- In Shopify admin, open the Process Wholesale app and select Settings.
- Select Customer settings in the list on the left.
- In the B2B customer tax exemption card, check "Choose to set B2B customer accounts to 'collect tax' or 'dont collect tax'." Checked means your wholesale customers are tax exempt. Cleared means tax is collected.
- If the update will take more than 10 seconds, a banner shows the estimate, for example: "Updating tax exemption for 500 B2B customers will take approximately 12 seconds to complete after you save."
- Select Save and keep the page open until the toast "Settings updated" appears. The save finishes when the customer update is done.
To stop exempting wholesale customers, clear the checkbox and select Save. Process Wholesale sets your existing wholesale customers back to collect tax during the save.
What happens to existing customers when you switch the setting#
When you save a changed value, Process Wholesale sets your existing wholesale customers to the new value, 50 customers at a time, before the save completes. The estimate depends on how many wholesale customers you have and your Shopify plan.
Example. A store on a standard Shopify plan has 1,000 wholesale customers. Checking the box shows "approximately 23 seconds", and the save takes about that long while Process Wholesale updates the customers. With 500 customers the estimate is 12 seconds. Under about 10 seconds, no banner is shown.
Saving the Settings page without changing the checkbox does not update existing customers.
Which later actions set a customer's tax status again#
| Action | Tax status set to the setting? |
|---|---|
| Accept B2B | Yes |
| Reject B2B | Yes |
| Return to pending | Yes |
| Remove B2B access | Yes |
| Manage discount tags | Yes |
| Changing the setting and saving | Yes, for existing wholesale customers |
| Signup form submission | No |
| Import customers | No |
| Bulk assign discount | No |
Adding the B2B tag in Shopify admin |
No |
What your customers see#
A tax-exempt wholesale customer is not charged tax at checkout. Customers whose tax status is unchanged see tax as before. Process Wholesale only sets the exemption on the customer; Shopify calculates tax.
Limits and things to know#
- One setting for all wholesale customers. You cannot exempt some wholesale customers and not others from Process Wholesale; set exceptions in Shopify admin.
- Hand-tagged customers are not updated until an action or a setting change. A customer you tag
B2Bin Shopify admin keeps their current tax status. - Keep the page open during a long save. The update runs as part of the save.
- Pending customers are not exempted on signup. They are set when you accept them.
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A new wholesale customer is still charged tax | The customer was tagged B2B in Shopify admin or imported without being accepted |
Accept them on the Pending tab, or clear and re-check the setting, saving each time, to update existing wholesale customers. |
| A customer lost a tax exemption set by hand | The setting is off, and an action on the Customers page (such as Accept B2B or Manage discount tags) applied it | Set the exemption again in Shopify admin. |
| A removed customer is still tax exempt | The setting is on, and Remove B2B access applied it | Change the customer's tax setting in Shopify admin. |
| No time estimate appears | The update is estimated at 10 seconds or less | No fix needed. |
Frequently asked questions#
Are wholesale customers tax exempt automatically?#
Only when B2B customer tax exemption is checked. Then existing wholesale customers are updated when you save, and each customer you accept is set tax exempt.
What happens to existing customers when I change the tax exemption setting?#
Process Wholesale sets your existing wholesale customers to the new value during the save. The banner shows how long it will take when it is over 10 seconds.
Why did a customer lose a tax exemption I set by hand?#
With the setting off, Accept B2B, Reject B2B, Return to pending, Remove B2B access and Manage discount tags each set that customer back to collect tax. Set the exemption again in Shopify admin after the action.
Can I exempt only some wholesale customers?#
Not from Process Wholesale. The setting applies to all wholesale customers. Set individual exceptions in Shopify admin, and set them again after any later action on that customer in Customers.