On this page

Merchant Tax Rate API

Allow e-commerce sellers real time tax determination for 111 countries. A Seller can retrieve their tax obligations, exemptions, tax points, check tax numbers of buyers.

The following documentation covers the information on elements of the Tax rate API, including requests, responses, and error codes.

To integrate Tax rate API:

  1. Register a Lovat OMP Account.
  2. Fill a company profile.
  3. Choose a plan.
  4. Set up Webhooks.
  5. Get a token.
  6. Set tax rules.

Terms and Abbreviation

Merchant – the owner of an online store.
Buyer – an individual or a company who pays for goods or services.
Transaction – order or transfer of funds for goods or services received by a merchant from a customer.
Token – a secret string used by the system to identify the merchant and the web-site through which the transaction is registered.

API Reference

Lovat API uses the REST architecture. The API has predictable, resource-oriented URLs and uses HTTP response codes to indicate API errors. The API always responds in the JSON format, including cases of errors.

Authentication

Authentication to the Tax rate API is performed via HTTP header basic authentication. Subscribers need to provide a token as the basic authentication value. If you’re new to Lovat, you’ll need to sign up for an account to get your API key. The API uses built-in HTTP features such as HTTP authentication and HTTP verbs, which can be interpreted by off-the-shelf HTTP clients. It also supports cross-origin resource sharing, allowing you to access it securely from a client web application.

URL

Lovat API uses the following endpoint paths:

  • Production Region

https://merchant.vatcompliance.co/api/1/tax_rate/ – Tax rate API

  • Test Region

sandbox.vatcompliance.co/api/1/tax_rate

POST

Method

The request type: POST

https://merchant.vatcompliance.co/api/1/tax_rate/{access_token}

The Post method lets you request tax rate for transaction taking into account parameters of the transaction.

JSON Params

Parameter Type Description Required
transaction_id String Maximum 255 characters Optional
currency Transaction currency. Three-letter currency code per ISO 4217 Optional
if_digital Bol Required for digital services Optional
transaction_sum Float Total amount of the order, excluding shipping Optional
delivery_fee Float Total amount of shipping for the order Optional
arrival_country String A country where the order shipped to. Three-letter uppercase country code per ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 Required
arrival_zip String Required for US orders: Postal code where the order shipped to Required for US orders
arrival_state For US, Canada, UK: Two-letter ISO state code where the order shipped to Optional
departure_country String Three-letter ISO country code of the country where the order shipped from.  All countries are specified as strings according to ISO 3166- 1   alpha- 3 Required
departure_zip String For US orders: Postal code where the order shipped from Optional
departure_state String

For US, Canada:

Two-letter ISO state code where the order shipped from

Optional
service_code String Required for digitally supplied services. Tax categories of digital services Optional
good_code String Code of a good according to EU’s eight-digit coding system The Combined Nomenclature (CN) Optional
vat_number_of_buyer String Tax number of buyer Optional
buyer_ip String IP address of buyer. Required for digital services Required for digital services
exemption_type Enum For US orders only. Types used: wholesale, government, educational, marketplace, other, or non_exempt Optional
phone_number_of_buyer String Optional for digital services. At least 5 first digits consists country code Optional
bank_country_of_buyer String Optional for digital services. Three – letter uppercase country code per ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 Optional

 

Errors List

List of supported HTTP errors:

200, 201, 204
No errors

400 Bad Request
This often indicates a required parameter missing. Refer to the response body for details

401 Unauthorized
No valid API key provided

402 Request Failed
Request failed despite valid parameters

403 Forbidden
No permission. Refer to the response body for details

404 Not Found
The requested item doesn’t exist

409, 422
Invalid request parameters

412 Precondition Failed
The project has not been activated yet (used in the Get Token method)

415 Unsupported Media Type
Content-Type: application/json’ missing in HTTP header

500, 502, 503, 504 Server Errors
Something went wrong

Example Query Request

Sample request from the console

Command Line

curl-v GET https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8

--header "Content-Type: application/json" \

-d '{

"arrival_country": "ITA",

"departure_country": "GBR",

"transaction_id": "7668999765",

"currency":"USD",

"transaction_sum": 10,

"vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543"

}'

{

"arrival_country": "GBR",

"currency": "EUR",

"transaction_sum": 10,

"delivery_fee": 0,

"departure_country": "HUN",

"vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543",

"transaction_datetime": "2021-01-09",

"transaction_id": "45000098"

}

{

"arrival_country": "USA",

"arrival_state": "NY",

"arrival_zip": "10034",

"currency": "EUR",

"transaction_sum": 10,

"departure_country": "USA",

"departure_state": "TX",

"departure_zip": "77554",

"transaction_datetime": "2021-01-01",

"transaction_id": "788654333"

}

Command line

require 'net/http'
require 'json'

api_url = 'https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8'
headers = { 'Content-Type' => 'application/json' }

requests_list = [
  {
    "arrival_country" => "ITA",

    "departure_country" => "GBR",

    "transaction_id" => "7668999765",

    "currency":"USD",

    "transaction_sum" => 10,

    "vat_number_of_buyer" => "IT8996543"
  },
  {
    "arrival_country" => "GBR",

    "currency" => "EUR",

    "transaction_sum" => 10,

    "delivery_fee" => 0,

    "departure_country" => "HUN",

    "vat_number_of_buyer" => "IT8996543",

    "transaction_datetime" => "2021-01-09",

    "transaction_id" => "45000098"
  },
  {
    "arrival_country" => "USA",

    "arrival_state" => "NY",

    "arrival_zip" => "10034",

    "currency" => "EUR",

    "transaction_sum" => 10,

    "departure_country" => "USA",

    "departure_state" => "TX",

    "departure_zip" => "77554",

    "transaction_datetime" => "2021-01-01",

    "transaction_id" => "788654333"
  }
]

requests_list.each do |data|
  uri = URI(api_url)
  uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(data)

  http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
  http.use_ssl = true

  request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
  request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'

  response = http.request(request)

  if response.code.to_i == 200
    puts response.body
  else
    puts "Error: #{response.code} - #{response.message}"
  end
end
Command line

import requests

api_url = 'https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8'
headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}

requests_list = [
    {
        "arrival_country": "ITA",

        "departure_country": "GBR",

        "transaction_id": "7668999765",

        "currency":"USD",

        "transaction_sum": 10,

        "vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543"
    },
    {
        "arrival_country": "GBR",

        "currency": "EUR",

        "transaction_sum": 10,

        "delivery_fee": 0,

        "departure_country": "HUN",

        "vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543",

        "transaction_datetime": "2021-01-09",

        "transaction_id": "45000098"
    },
    {
        "arrival_country": "USA",

        "arrival_state": "NY",

        "arrival_zip": "10034",

        "currency": "EUR",

        "transaction_sum": 10,

        "departure_country": "USA",

        "departure_state": "TX",

        "departure_zip": "77554",

        "transaction_datetime": "2021-01-01",

        "transaction_id": "788654333"
    }
]

for data in requests_list:
    response = requests.get(api_url, headers=headers, params=data)
    if response.status_code == 200:
        print(response.json())
    else:
        print(f'Error: {response.status_code}')

Command line

$apiUrl = 'https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8';
$headers = ['Content-Type: application/json'];

$requests = [
	[
		"arrival_country" => "ITA",

		"departure_country" => "GBR",

		"transaction_id" => "7668999765",

                "currency":"USD",

		"transaction_sum" => 10,

		"vat_number_of_buyer" => "IT8996543"
	],
	[
		"arrival_country" => "GBR",

		"currency" => "EUR",

	        "transaction_sum" => 10,

		"delivery_fee" => 0,

		"departure_country" => "HUN",

		"vat_number_of_buyer" => "IT8996543",

		"transaction_datetime" => "2021-01-09",

		"transaction_id" => "45000098"
	],
	[
		"arrival_country" => "USA",

		"arrival_state" => "NY",

		"arrival_zip" => "10034",

		"currency" => "EUR",

	        "transaction_sum" => 10,

		"departure_country" => "USA",

		"departure_state" => "TX",


		"departure_zip" => "77554",

		"transaction_datetime" => "2021-01-01",

		"transaction_id" => "788654333"
	]
];

foreach ($requests as $data) {
	$ch = curl_init($apiUrl);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, "GET");
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($data));

	$response = curl_exec($ch);

	if (curl_errno($ch)) {
		echo 'Error:' . curl_error($ch);
	}

	curl_close($ch);

	echo $response . PHP_EOL;
}

Command line

const axios = require('axios');

const apiUrl = 'https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8';
const headers = { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' };

const requests = [
  {
    "arrival_country": "ITA",

    "departure_country": "GBR",

    "transaction_id": "7668999765",

    "currency":"USD",

    "transaction_sum": 10,

    "vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543"
  },
  {
    "arrival_country": "GBR",

    "currency": "EUR",

    "transaction_sum": 10,

    "delivery_fee": 0,

    "departure_country": "HUN",

    "vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543",

    "transaction_datetime": "2021-01-09",

    "transaction_id": "45000098"
  },
  {
    "arrival_country": "USA",

    "arrival_state": "NY",

    "arrival_zip": "10034",

    "currency": "EUR",

    "transaction_sum": 10,

    "departure_country": "USA",

    "departure_state": "TX",

    "departure_zip": "77554",

    "transaction_datetime": "2021-01-01",

    "transaction_id": "788654333"
  }
];

requests.forEach(async (data) => {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(apiUrl, {
      headers: headers,
      params: data
    });

    console.log(response.data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error.message);
  }
});

Command line

using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

class Program
{
    static async Task Main()
    {
        var apiUrl = "https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8";
        var headers = "application/json";

        var requests = new[]
        {
            new
            {
                arrival_country = "ITA",

                departure_country = "GBR",

                transaction_id = "7668999765",

                "currency":"USD",

                transaction_sum = 10,

                vat_number_of_buyer = "IT8996543"
            },
            new
            {
                arrival_country = "GBR",

                currency = "EUR",

                transaction_sum = 10,

                delivery_fee = 0,

                departure_country = "HUN",

                vat_number_of_buyer = "IT8996543",

                transaction_datetime = "2021-01-09",

                transaction_id = "45000098"
            },
            new
            {
                arrival_country = "USA",

                arrival_state = "NY",

                arrival_zip = "10034",

                currency = "EUR",

                transaction_sum = 10,

                departure_country = "USA",

                departure_state = "TX",

                departure_zip = "77554",

                transaction_datetime = "2021-01-01",

                transaction_id = "788654333"
            }
        };

        using (var httpClient = new HttpClient())
        {
            foreach (var data in requests)
            {
                var content = new StringContent(Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data),
                    System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, headers);

                try
                {
                    var response = await httpClient.GetAsync(apiUrl + "?" + await content.ReadAsStringAsync());

                    if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
                    {
                        var responseBody = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
                        Console.WriteLine(responseBody);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine($"Error: {response.StatusCode} - {response.ReasonPhrase}");
                    }
                }
                catch (HttpRequestException ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Error: {ex.Message}");
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Command line

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String apiUrl = "https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8";
        String headers = "Content-Type: application/json";

        List requests = new ArrayList<>();
        requests.add("{\"currency\":\"EUR\",\"arrival_country\":\"ITA\",\"departure_country\":\"GBR\",\"transaction_id\":\"7668999765\",\"transaction_sum\":10,\"vat_number_of_buyer\":\"IT8996543\"}");
        requests.add("{\"arrival_country\":\"GBR\",\"currency\":\"EUR\",\"transaction_sum\":10,\"delivery_fee\":0,\"departure_country\":\"HUN\",\"vat_number_of_buyer\":\"IT8996543\",\"transaction_datetime\":\"2021-01-09\",\"transaction_id\":\"45000098\"}");
        requests.add("{\"currency\":\"USD\",\"transaction_sum\":10,\"arrival_country\":\"USA\",\"arrival_state\":\"NY\",\"arrival_zip\":\"10034\",\"departure_country\":\"USA\",\"departure_state\":\"TX\",\"departure_zip\":\"77554\",\"transaction_datetime\":\"2021-01-01\",\"transaction_id\":\"788654333\"}");

        for (String data : requests) {
            try {
                URL url = new URL(apiUrl + "?" + data);
                HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
                conn.setRequestMethod("GET");
                conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", headers);

                if (conn.getResponseCode() == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                    BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
                    String line;
                    StringBuilder response = new StringBuilder();

                    while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
                        response.append(line);
                    }

                    in.close();
                    System.out.println(response.toString());
                } else {
                    System.out.println("Error: " + conn.getResponseCode() + " - " + conn.getResponseMessage());
                }

                conn.disconnect();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }
}

Command line

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	apiURL := "https://merchant.vatcompliance.net/api/1/VAT_rate/get/5aae918d97964ff88df64b059c2cc0f8"
	headers := "application/json"

	requests := []map[string]interface{}{
		{
			"arrival_country":     "ITA",

			"departure_country":   "GBR",

			"transaction_id":      "7668999765",

                        "currency":"USD",

			"transaction_sum":     10,

			"vat_number_of_buyer": "IT8996543",
		},
		{
			"arrival_country":       "GBR",

			"transaction_sum":     10,

			"currency":              "EUR",

			"delivery_fee":          0,

			"departure_country":     "HUN",

			"vat_number_of_buyer":   "IT8996543",

			"transaction_datetime":  "2021-01-09",

			"transaction_id":        "45000098",
		},
		{
			"arrival_country":       "USA",

			"arrival_state":         "NY",

			"arrival_zip":           "10034",

			"transaction_sum":     10,

			"currency":              "EUR",

			"departure_country":     "USA",

			"departure_state":       "TX",

			"departure_zip":         "77554",

			"transaction_datetime":  "2021-01-01",

			"transaction_id":        "788654333",
		},
	}

	for _, data := range requests {
		jsonData, err := json.Marshal(data)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error:", err)
			return
		}

		req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", apiURL, bytes.NewBuffer(jsonData))
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error:", err)
			return
		}

		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", headers)

		client := &http.Client{}
		resp, err := client.Do(req)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error:", err)
			return
		}
		defer resp.Body.Close()

		var result bytes.Buffer
		_, err = result.ReadFrom(resp.Body)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error:", err)
			return
		}

		fmt.Println(result.String())
	}
}

Response elements

Parameter Type/ Example Example Description
transaction_type “export/import”,”b2c_distance_sales”, “reverse_charge”
taxable_jurisdiction “ITA”, “GBR” Three-letter ISO country code of the country where the order is taxable. All countries are specified as strings according to ISO 3166- 1 alpha-3
taxable_state “NY” For US, Canada, UK: Two-letter ISO state code where the order is taxable
tax_rate 8 Tax rate
export_country “USA”, “GBR” Export country for orders with transaction type export/import
import_country “USA”, “GBR” Import country for orders with transaction type export/import

Example response

Command Line

{

"transaction_type": "b2c_distance_sales",

"taxable_jurisdiction": "USA",

"taxable_state": "NY",

"tax_rate": 8.25

}

{

  "transaction_type": "export/import",

  "taxable_jurisdiction": "GBR",

  "tax_rate": 0,

  "export_country": "GBR",

  "import_country": "ITA"

}

{

  "transaction_type": "reverse_charge",

  "taxable_jurisdiction": "FRA",

  "tax_rate": 0

}

Countries

Lovat API is available in more than 100 countries. We support the following countries around the world: US, EU countries, UK, Norway, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Switzerland. You can find the complete list of supported countries on our website.

Tax categories of digital services

audio/visual content 1
live streaming 2
telephone services 3
internet telephone services 4
call management services 5
paging services 6
internet access 7
images 8
music 9
games 10
e-newspapers 11
web hosting 12
distance maintenance of programmes 13
advertising space on a website 14
e-books 15
licenses 16
dating 17
distance education (pre-recorded) 18
gambling 19
Saas 20
online education live (live webinars, one-to ones) 21

Call Limiting

We limit API requests to 100 per minute for merchant plans. You may have more calls than your monthly plan limit. Overage fees are charged separately if you exceed your plan limit during a next month.

Exemption types

For US orders only types of exemption: wholesale, government, marketplace, other, non_exempt, or nill.