Connecting TaxCloud to BigCommerce

The TaxCloud integration for BigCommerce provides a comprehensive sales tax management solution for your store, automating calculation, collection, and remittance across all U.S. jurisdictions

Considerations

• You must be on the TaxCloud Premium plan to use the BigCommerce integration.
• During the setup process, you can connect an existing TaxCloud account or create a new one.
• You need Admin access in BigCommerce to set up the TaxCloud integration.

Before you begin

Complete the following steps before you set up the integration to ensure that it works as intended.

Set a Shipping Origin in BigCommerce

The BigCommerce Shipping Origin address is important for tax calculation. Make sure the correct address is configured in BigCommerce under Settings > Shipping.

Make sure your store prices are entered without tax 

To avoid double taxation, make sure that: 

• Prices in your BigCommerce store are entered without tax. 
• Your BigCommerce Store tax settings are set to Tax exclusive pricing. 

Look up Taxability Information Codes

Taxability information codes (TICs) help determine whether sales tax applies. Assigning the correct TICs to the goods and services that you sell allows TaxCloud to apply accurate:

• Sales and use tax rates
• Product and service exemptions
• Sales tax holidays

Use our Taxability Information Codes page to look up your goods/services.

• If there is one TIC that matches all the products that you sell, you can use that code as the default for the integration.
• If your goods and services don’t match one TIC, assign a specific TIC to each product in your BigCommerce store. In this scenario, the default TIC can be 0 (taxed) or a specific TIC.

Step 1: Install the TaxCloud app on your BigCommerce account

From your BigCommerce account, download and install the TaxCloud app.

1. Go to the TaxCloud app in the BigCommerce Marketplace.

   You can also search for TaxCloud in the BigCommerce Marketplace.

2. Click Install.

   

   
   

3. Confirm that you want to grant TaxCloud access to your BigCommerce store.

   

   4. Log in to your existing TaxCloud account or create a new one.

Step 2: (New accounts only) Complete TaxCloud setup

If you created a new TaxCloud account, complete these steps before configuring BigCommerce to use TaxCloud. You can access your account directly at https://app.taxcloud.com or within BigCommerce under Apps > My Apps.

1. Complete your TaxCloud Business Profile.
2. Set up your locations and states.

Step 3: Configure BigCommerce to use TaxCloud for tax calculation

Configure BigCommerce to use TaxCloud for sales tax calculations.

1. In BigCommerce, go to Settings > Setup > Tax. 

2. Next to TaxCloud Simple Sales Tax, click Edit.

   

Enable Provider Targeting

Under Provider targeting, configure BigCommerce to use TaxCloud for tax calculations instead of BigCommerce basic tax rules.

1. Select One or more countries.
2. Under Country, enable United States.
3. Click Save.

Send transactions to TaxCloud

Under Provider options, enable the checkbox to submit completed transactions to TaxCloud.

If your transactions move into another integration with TaxCloud, do not select this option as it will result in duplicate transactions.

Set Taxability Information Codes

Under Provider options, configure Taxability Information Code (TIC) fields so that TaxCloud can identify and properly tax items. You can look up TaxCloud’s TICs here.

1. Configure the tax code fields as described in the following table:

2. When you’re finished, click Save.

Test the connection to TaxCloud

Click Test Connection to verify that BigCommerce can communicate with TaxCloud.

If the connection fails:

• Make sure that your TaxCloud account is set up and on an active free trial or paid Premium plan. 
• Confirm your BigCommerce tax provider settings.

If you need help, contact TaxCloud Support.

Step 4: Send a test order

After you finish setting up the integration, it’s a good idea to send a test order from BigCommerce to make sure the transaction appears in TaxCloud and taxes are calculated as expected.

1. Follow these instructions to send a test order from BigCommerce.
2. Verify that the transaction appeared in TaxCloud.
   1. In TaxCloud, go to Stores.
   2. Next to your BigCommerce store, click GET DETAILS.
   3. Click View Transactions.
   4. Locate the test transaction. Click the transaction to view more details.

Step 5: Set the BigCommerce connection live

After you’re done testing, you can set the connection live in TaxCloud. After this point, all captured transactions are included in reporting and tax remittance. 

1. In TaxCloud, go to the Integrations page.

2. Click the BigCommerce connection.

   

3. In the top-right corner of the page, click Go Live.

   

4. Confirm that you want to go live.

That’s it – TaxCloud is set up to handle your tax calculations for your BigCommerce store.

Next Steps: Marking customers exempt

If you have exempt customers, see our article on marking them exempt in BigCommerce.