Creating QuickBooks Online Tax codes for VAT / GST Shopify Store Merchants

'How to' Tips
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Overview

weintegrate records the exact VAT / GST / HST / PST / QST / TVA / IVA that Shopify collected on each order by stamping one of your QuickBooks Online tax codes onto every line it sends to QuickBooks.

Before weintegrate can do that, the tax codes must already exist in QuickBooks. This guide shows which codes you need, whether your QuickBooks Online edition already includes them or whether you’ll need to create them yourself, and how to map them in weintegrate.

This topic covers the technical setup of tax codes. It is not tax advice — how a particular sale should be taxed (standard, reduced, zero-rated, exempt) is a question for your accountant or your local tax authority for example the CRA in Canada, HMRC in the UK, the ATO in Australia, IRD in New Zealand, SAT in Mexico, the GST authorities (CBIC) in India, DGFiP in France, ARCA (formerly AFIP) in Argentina, the Agenzia delle Entrate in Italy, Revenue in Ireland, the NTA in Japan, SARS in South Africa, and BURS in Botswana and many others listed in the Global (International) edition below.

Contents

Who this applies to

Any QuickBooks Online (QBO) company outside the United States. You should already be registered to collect VAT/GST in the country where you charge tax — if you are not responsible for collecting and remitting tax there, you likely have nothing to map (check with your accountant).

If your QuickBooks company is in the United States, skip to United States — nothing to set up; there is nothing for you to do as your QuickBooks Online edition already automatically handles that for you and weintegrate automatically correctly recognizes and uses that.

How weintegrate uses your tax codes

For QuickBooks Online companies outside the United States (US), every document we create in your QuickBooks (i.e. sales receipt, refund receipt, invoice, payment, credit memo, etc.), weintegrate stamps one of two codes onto each line:

  • a standard-rated (taxable) code — on lines where Shopify charged tax, and
  • a zero-rated / exempt code — on lines where Shopify charged no tax (a zero-rated product, an untaxed shipping line, a discount, and so on).

Two things hold everywhere outside the US:

  1. Shopify collected the payments, and is treated as the source of truth. The exact tax amount is therefore taken from Shopify. weintegrate sends the precise tax Shopify collected as an explicit tax line, so your totals are penny-accurate no matter what QuickBooks would otherwise compute which can lead to rounding issues. The code you map is mainly for how the tax is classified on your VAT/GST return, not for the amount and provide with reporting you’ll use within QuickBooks Online.
  2. Both codes must be mapped, and they must already exist in your QuickBooks Online — they cannot be created automatically. A non-US company has no built-in TAX / NON codes, so a line with no real code is rejected by QuickBooks (error 6000, “…must have a … rate before you save”). This is why creating the two codes up front is required by weintegrate.

Single standard code. weintegrate maps one taxable code, so it assumes your taxed sales are at a single standard rate. If you sell at a mix of rates (e.g. UK 20% + 5%), or across multiple jurisdictions, the total stays correct (the amount is forced) but every taxed line is classified under the one code you chose — worth confirming with your accountant.

Which edition do you have?

QuickBooks Online provides localized editions for the Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States — these come with ready-made tax codes you simply pick. Every other country — such as Argentina, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand and others — run on the QuickBooks Online Global (International) edition, which is provided with little or no pre-built tax, so you must create the codes yourself.

Not sure which you have? You don’t have to guess — the wizard’s tax-code dropdowns are populated from your live QuickBooks tax list. If they already show codes, pick from them; if they’re empty, create the two codes first (below), then return and click Retry.

United States — nothing to set up

A US QuickBooks company uses Automated Sales Tax. Its TAX / NON codes are Intuit “pseudo codes” — a taxable status, not a rate you pick — and the tax itself is worked out automatically from the customer, address, and item. There is nothing to create or map, and weintegrate hides the Tax step entirely for US companies. The rest of this guide does not apply to you.

Canada

QuickBooks Online is a localized edition for you with full GST / HST / PST / QST handling. Rates vary by province, so pick the taxable code for the province where you charge tax; the zero-rated code is the same everywhere.

Field Pick Notes
taxable your province’s rate code HST ON (13%, Ontario) and other HST provinces; GST (5%) for GST-only provinces such as Alberta; a group code such as GST/PST BC, GST/PST SK, or GST/QST (Quebec) where PST/QST applies
zero-rated / exempt Zero-rated (0%) use Exempt for genuinely exempt supplies; not Out of Scope

Watch-out (from a live Ontario company): HST ON is the sales rate — do not pick HST (ITC) ON,
which is the input-tax-credit (purchase) rate at the same 13%. Most 0% codes other than
Zero-rated / GST/HST ZR are hidden from transaction forms.

United Kingdom

QuickBooks Online is a localized edition for you that ships with the standard UK VAT codes.

Field Pick Notes
taxable 20.0% S (Standard, 20%) use 5.0% R if your taxed goods are reduced-rate
zero-rated / exempt 0.0% Z (Zero-rated, 0%) use Exempt for exempt supplies; not No VAT (that is out-of-scope and drops the line from the return)

Ignore the ECG / ECS (EC Goods/Services) and RC (Reverse Charge) codes — post-Brexit these are legacy for a GB business.

Australia

QuickBooks Online is a localized edition for you. Standard GST is 10%; Australia calls zero-rated supplies “GST-free.”

Field Pick Notes
taxable GST (10%, on sales) not GST on capital (that is for capital purchases)
zero-rated / exempt GST Free (0%) use Input Taxed only if you make input-taxed supplies (e.g. residential rent, financial services)

Global (International) edition — everyone else

Every country without a localized edition runs on the QuickBooks Online Global (International) edition. It ships with little or no pre-built tax, so you create the codes yourself before connecting. weintegrate supports many countries, the list below is just a small sampling of common countries and not meant to be an exhaustive list of our support.

Country Standard rate (confirm locally) Create → map to taxable Map to zero-rated / exempt
Argentina 21% IVA IVA 21% Zero-rated 0%
Botswana 14% VAT (verify with BURS — it was temporarily 12% in 2022–23) VAT 14% Zero-rated 0%
Colombia 19% IVA IVA 19% Zero-rated 0%
Costa Rica 13% IVA IVA 13% Zero-rated 0%
France 20% TVA TVA 20% Zero-rated 0%
India 18% GST (standard slab — India also has 5% and 40% slabs) GST 18% Zero-rated 0%
Ireland 23% VAT VAT 23% Zero-rated 0%
Israel 18% VAT (raised from 17% on 1 Jan 2025) VAT 18% Zero-rated 0%
Italy 22% IVA IVA 22% Zero-rated 0%
Japan 10% Consumption Tax (8% reduced on some food/drink) Consumption Tax 10% Zero-rated 0%
Mexico 16% IVA IVA 16% Zero-rated 0%
New Zealand 15% GST (no built-in GST 101 return on the Global edition) GST 15% Zero-rated 0%
Norway 25% VAT (MVA) VAT 25% Zero-rated 0%
South Africa 15% VAT VAT 15% Zero-rated 0%
Spain 21% IVA IVA 21% Zero-rated 0%
Türkiye (Turkey) 20% VAT (KDV) KDV 20% Zero-rated 0%
UAE 5% VAT VAT 5% Zero-rated 0%
any other Global-edition country your local standard rate <VAT/GST> <rate>% Zero-rated 0%

The rates above are examples, current as of early 2026, and can change — always confirm the current rate and tax treatment for your country with your accountant or local tax authority before creating a code. Intuit’s own guide to turning on tax and adding VAT/GST rates on the Global (International) edition: How do I set up sales GST/VAT rates and use them on forms?.

How to create tax codes in QuickBooks Online

For every Global-edition country. QuickBooks’ exact wording varies a little by edition, but the path is the same:

  1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online and open Taxes in the left-hand menu (some editions label it VAT).
  2. If you have never set up tax, choose Set up tax / Set up VAT, enter your tax agency, your filing frequency, and the effective start date, then continue.
  3. Choose Add tax → Custom tax (or Add rate → New, depending on your edition).
  4. Create the standard-rated code:
    • Give it a clear name, e.g. VAT 15% (South Africa), GST 15% (New Zealand), or VAT 14% (Botswana).
    • Set it as a single rate and enter your country’s standard rate as the Sales rate. Add the same figure as the Purchase rate if QuickBooks asks and you reclaim input VAT/GST.
    • Save.
  5. Create the zero-rated code:
    • Name it Zero-rated 0% (or your edition’s equivalent).
    • Single rate, Sales rate 0%.
    • Save.
  6. (Optional) Create an Exempt code (flagged exempt, 0%) if you genuinely sell exempt supplies such as insurance, finance, education, or health.

Zero-rated is not the same as “No VAT / Out of scope.” Put untaxed sales on a zero-rated code — a taxable supply at 0%, which stays on your VAT/GST return — not on a “No VAT” code, which removes the line from the return. Use Exempt only for genuinely exempt supplies.

Mapping them in weintegrate

  1. Back in weintegrate, re-read your QuickBooks tax list so the codes appear — reconnect QuickBooks Online company connection, or return to the wizard and click Retry on the Tax codes step.
  2. On the Tax step, map:
    • Tax code for taxable lines → your standard-rated code (e.g. 20.0% S, HST ON, GST 15%, VAT 14%).
    • Tax code for zero-rated / exempt lines → your Zero-rated 0% code.

weintegrate then sends the exact tax Shopify collected on every order, so your QuickBooks totals stay penny-accurate — the code you pick governs how the tax is classified on your return, not the amount.

Troubleshooting

  • The wizard still says tax codes are missing after I created them. Click Retry, or disconnect and reconnect QuickBooks Online company connection, so weintegrate re-reads your tax list.
  • My new code isn’t in the dropdown. Make sure it is active and usable on sales forms in QuickBooks Online (some default codes are hidden from transactions), then re-read the tax list.
  • QuickBooks rejected an order with error 6000 (“…must have a … rate”). A line reached QuickBooks without a usable code — confirm both the taxable and the zero-rated codes are mapped on the Tax step, then re-sync.
  • I sell at more than one tax rate, or in more than one country. weintegrate maps a single standard code, so every taxed line is classified under it. The total stays correct, but check with your accountant on how you want mixed rates or multiple jurisdictions shown on your return.

Each weintegrate Shopify connection can be configured with different tax rates and settings.

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