If you sell to consumers in Denmark, the prices in your store have to include VAT. If you only sell to businesses, they may exclude it. If you sell to both, there’s a rule for how you may show the price without VAT. It sounds simple, but it’s one of the things the Danish Consumer Ombudsman acts on.
This guide covers the rules, what they mean for a store selling to both consumers and businesses, and how to set it up in WooCommerce. The overview of everything else a Danish store needs is in the guide to selling in Denmark with WooCommerce.
The main rule: consumers must see the price with VAT
When you show a price a consumer can buy at, it has to include VAT and every other unavoidable charge. That follows from the Danish Marketing Practices Act, and the Consumer Ombudsman has spelled it out in its guidelines on price marketing (in Danish). A store with product pages and an “Add to cart” button shows exactly that kind of price.
That applies to the price on the product page, in categories, in search results, in newsletters and in ads. Customers shouldn’t first see the real price in the cart.
When you only sell to businesses
If your store is aimed only at businesses, prices may exclude VAT. It has to be clear that the store is for businesses, for example on the home page and next to the prices, so a private visitor doesn’t think the price without VAT is what they’ll pay. Many B2B stores require customers to log in before prices are shown. That makes it clear who the prices are for.
When you sell to both consumers and businesses
If you sell to both, you may show the price without VAT, but only if the price with VAT is shown in the same place and just as clearly. That’s the Consumer Ombudsman’s position in the guidelines. In practice, there are three ways to do it:
- Show both prices. The price with VAT and the price without VAT side by side, at the same size.
- Let the customer choose. A switch where the customer toggles between prices with and without VAT. Consumers must see the price with VAT, so start with that until the customer has chosen. Our free plugin Tax Toggle for WooCommerce does this and remembers the choice.
- Split the store. One part for consumers with prices including VAT, and one for businesses, for example behind a login, with prices excluding it.
Which one fits depends on how many of your customers are businesses. If you’re unsure whether your solution meets the rules, ask a lawyer.
Shipping and other costs
The total price also includes shipping, delivery and any fees added. If they can’t be calculated in advance, because they depend on address or weight, it has to be clear that they come on top. Show shipping rates somewhere customers can find them before they reach checkout, for example in a table or a shipping calculator in the cart. Fees for paying with a particular method also have to be clear.
If you run sales, there are also rules for which prior price you may show next to the new one. They’re in the section on prior prices in our Black Friday checklist.
How to do it in WooCommerce
Under WooCommerce → Settings → Tax, you choose whether prices are shown with or without tax in the shop and in the cart. For a store selling to consumers, both are set to “including tax”. How the rest of the tax settings should be set is in our guide to WooCommerce VAT setup for Denmark.
If you want to show both prices, the tax settings have a price display suffix field. There you can use the placeholders {price_including_tax} and {price_excluding_tax}, for example like this:
incl. VAT ({price_excluding_tax} excl. VAT)The store then shows, for example, “DKK 125.00 incl. VAT (DKK 100.00 excl. VAT)”. Check that the suffix also appears in categories and in your theme, and that it doesn’t make prices hard to read on mobile.
Check your store
- Open the store in a private window without logging in. Is the price you see the one a consumer pays?
- Is the price the same on the product page, in the category and in the cart?
- Can customers see the shipping price before they reach checkout?
- Do your product feeds for Google Shopping and price comparison sites show prices with VAT?
Frequently asked questions
What happens if prices are shown without VAT to consumers?
It breaks the Marketing Practices Act. The Consumer Ombudsman can step in, and the case can end in a fine. It’s easier to fix before anyone complains.
Can I write “excl. VAT” in small print?
Not if consumers can buy. If the price without VAT is the biggest, and the price with VAT is in small print, they aren’t equally clear.
Want help?
Prices for both consumers and businesses take tax settings, theme and plugins working together. If you’d like us to set it up in your store, read about how we build and run WooCommerce stores. Write a few lines and send a link to your store, and the developer will reply personally.