←back to thread

Ask HN: How do you handle VAT / Sales Tax accounting as B2C SaaS?

97 points throw_1VJ51pMb | 2 comments | 08 Mar 25 08:57 UTC | HN request time: 0.436s | source

Hey! I run a B2C SaaS and I use Stripe for all of my sales (subscriptions).

I am looking to learn how others handle their VAT / Sales Tax filing.

I know that the standard answer would be to use Paddle / LemonSqueezy / Polar.sh, but I already have a lot of subscribers on Stripe which makes quick migration non-trivial.

I am especially looking for some reliable accounting companies / accountants that can register and file Sales Tax across US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc. (It does not have to be a global solution).

It's my understanding that solutions like Stripe Tax, Alavara, Quaderno, etc. only help collect the necessary data (which I consider the easier part, at least for digital goods), but do not handle the registration & filing (though I've learned that Quaderno will support filing Sales Tax in the US on your behalf soon).

---

Some jurisdictions are relatively easy to handle (for example, one can handle whole EU by uploading a simple CSV [1] once a quarter and the CSV is easy to generate from Stripe's records).

But unfortunately there are tons of others that are much more complicated and scattered -- for example, due to the economic nexus laws in the US, I now have to file Sales Tax in each individual state where I am over the threshold (and many states have thresholds in low hundreds of transactions, so it's not hard to reach).

[1]: https://www.elster.de/bportal/helpGlobal?themaGlobal=osseust_import

[2]: If you do not feel comfortable commenting here, you can also reach out at z2qmk@pekoi.com (temporary email)

1. pimterry ◴[12 Mar 25 00:22 UTC] No.43338637[source]▶
How about using Paddle/etc, but just for new subscriptions and just in regions where it's relevant, and handling migration later (or wait for churn to slowly whittle away at it for you)?

I've also used https://payproglobal.com/ quite successfully, which nobody else has mentioned here as a merchant of record option. They're less polished than other options, but they've been a godsend for selling outside the EU + Anglosphere markets: they've managed card fraud far far better, and have a very impressive breadth of the local payment methods that you'll 100% need if you want to sell in those markets.

Also seen some enthusiasm for https://www.creem.io/ recently as an MoR option although I haven't tried them myself.

Oh, and it's worth noting that using an MoR isn't just helpful for sales tax. It's also significantly easier for your own accountancy and local tax filings more broadly: it effectively turns N invoices into 1. Very very easy to handle, process & document.

replies(1): >>43340941 #
2. omnimus ◴[12 Mar 25 08:24 UTC] No.43340941[source]▶
This is the way. Transition the customers gradually.