VAT in WooCommerce is a handful of settings and one rate, but they have to fit together. If they’re wrong, prices can change when the customer reaches the cart, shipping can be missing VAT, or the invoice can be a few øre off from what the customer paid.
This guide walks through the setup for a store selling to consumers in Denmark, where VAT (moms) is 25%: which settings to choose, how to add the rate, and how to check that it all adds up.
Turn on tax calculation
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → General. Check that the store address is in Denmark, and tick the option to enable tax rates and calculations. The Tax tab then appears at the top of Settings. That’s where the rest happens.
The tax settings, one by one
For a Danish store selling to consumers, this is a good starting point:
| Setting | Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Prices entered with tax | Yes, inclusive of tax | You enter the price the customer pays, so it can be a round number |
| Calculate tax based on | Customer shipping address | Needed if you sell to other EU countries at their rates. If you only sell in Denmark, it makes no difference |
| Shipping tax class | Standard | Shipping carries 25% VAT, like the products |
| Rounding | Round at subtotal level | Fewer rounding differences between lines and total |
| Display prices in the shop | Including tax | Consumers must see the price with VAT |
| Display prices during cart and checkout | Including tax | The same price all the way |
| Display tax totals | As a single total | Simplest for the customer when there’s only one rate |
The three settings for whether prices are entered with tax, and whether they’re shown with tax in the shop and in the cart, should point the same way. According to WooCommerce’s own guide to setting up taxes, otherwise you get rounding errors of a cent or two.
The rate for Denmark
Under the Tax tab, click the standard rates and insert a row:
- Country code: DK
- Rate: 25.0000
- Name: Moms, or VAT (it appears on receipts and invoices)
- Shipping: tick it, so the rate also applies to shipping
Leave the postcode and city fields empty, so the rate applies to the whole country. If you sell goods or services that are exempt from VAT, talk to your accountant and create a separate tax class for them at 0%. If you sell to consumers in other EU countries above the €10,000-a-year threshold, each country needs its own row with its own rate. That ties in with OSS, which we describe in the guide to selling in Denmark with WooCommerce.
VAT on shipping and fees
Shipping you charge for is part of the sale and carries VAT. With shipping ticked on the rate and the shipping tax class set to standard, WooCommerce adds VAT to shipping. Shipping costs you enter in the shipping settings are treated as excluding tax, even when product prices are entered with tax. So if you want customers to see shipping at DKK 49, you enter 39.20 in the shipping method.
Fees you add to the order, such as payment or handling fees, carry VAT too. Check in the plugin that adds the fee that it’s set to be taxable.
Business customers
If you sell to Danish businesses, the VAT is the same: 25%. The difference is how prices are shown. If you sell to both consumers and businesses, our free plugin Tax Toggle lets customers choose whether prices are shown with or without VAT.
If you sell to VAT-registered businesses in other EU countries, the main rule is the reverse charge: the buyer accounts for the VAT in their own country, and you don’t add Danish VAT. That requires the customer’s valid VAT number. WooCommerce can’t check VAT numbers by itself, so you need a plugin that looks the number up in the EU’s register and removes the VAT when it’s valid. Have your accountant confirm the rules before you turn it on.
Check that the VAT is right
- Add a product priced at DKK 100 to the cart. The price should be DKK 100 all the way, with VAT shown as DKK 20.
- Choose a shipping method, and check that shipping is shown with VAT, and that the VAT line has risen accordingly.
- Add several different products, and check that the lines add up to the total.
- Complete the order, and check the order email, the invoice and what lands in your accounting software.
Frequently asked questions
Should I enter prices with or without VAT?
If you mostly sell to consumers, with VAT. Then the price customers see can be exactly the one you chose. If you mostly sell to businesses, without may be easier.
Why is the total off by one øre?
Usually because prices are entered with VAT but shown without, or the other way around, or because VAT is rounded per line. Set the three display settings the same way, and round at subtotal level.
Want help?
VAT has to add up from the product page to the accounts. If you’d like us to check the setup 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.