SHOPLINE, a global commerce platform, is making things easier than ever for merchants on the platform when it comes to sales tax compliance, thanks to a brand-new native integration with Kintsugi, an AI-powered tax, VAT, and GST automation platform.
The integration is available now in the SHOPLINE app store, and automates various important aspects of the sales tax compliance process, such as making calculations, applying rules, and much more. The platform should also make it much easier to avoid the dreaded and costly tax-related mistakes that may occur around tax time.
SHOPLINE Announces New Native Integration with Kintsugi
The new integration helps give SHOPLINE merchants a more complete workflow for sales tax compliance, as it blends accurate tax calculation at checkout with real-time nexus monitoring, country, state, and local registrations, and automated filing, all in one.
The integration has transparent pricing, with per-registration and per-filing fees, and doesn’t include any transaction charges or implementation fees. With most retailers already being highly automated, this integration is likely to fit in well with how many sellers like to operate.
Speaking about the integration, the Co-President of SHOPLINE, Christopher Yang, said that “We selected Kintsugi because our merchants need a more complete way to manage sales tax compliance as they scale.”
He also added that “As merchants expand into new channels and markets, sales tax compliance can quickly become a drag on operations. Kintsugi helps them manage the full process — from monitoring nexus exposure and handling registrations to filing on schedule — so they can keep growing without adding unnecessary complexity.”
The Benefits of the Integration for Ecommerce Merchants
As you could imagine, this integration offers a host of benefits to merchants who use SHOPLINE. First, it automatically calculates accurate sales tax amounts at checkout in real-time, across every jurisdiction. This is especially great for companies that operate in several countries and frequently participate in the growing cross-border ecommerce market.
The integration also accounts for things like product type, discounts, location, and refunds while calculating, as well. When it’s time to file your taxes, the integration handles that, too. It automatically prepares, files, and remits your tax returns across every state where you owe.
Kintsugi also tracks your sales activity across all US states and over 100 different countries, so you always know where you owe tax. The platform also automatically applies taxability rules, rate changes, and shipping rules, saving you a ton of manual effort.
Finally, Kitsugi also guarantees that if the platform makes a mistake, it’ll not only own it and fix it fast, but also cover the costs associated with it. It’s also very easy to get started with, as you can connect your store in minutes.
Educating Merchants About Tax Compliance
In addition to being about automation, this new integration is also about education. It features Kin, an AI assistant, which can easily explain any rate, rule, law, or exemption in plain language, making it easy to understand and improve your knowledge about sales tax compliance.
You can also ask Kin questions about your returns, and it also flags anomalies and summarizes your filing status, giving you as much insight as possible when you file. Merchants may also ask it to explain registration requirements, break down your exposure by state, and even recommend the next steps you should take.
In addition to the built-in AI assistant, Kitsugi also provides merchants with 24/7 customer support to get more guidance or answers to their most pressing questions.
Our Take
The Integration May Potentially Reduce Costly Tax-Related Mistakes
This integration is also good news for merchants, as it may be able to help reduce or even eliminate costly tax-related mistakes. Trying to juggle your tax compliance efforts manually, especially when you sell a variety of different products in various countries around the world, is challenging.
If you handle everything by hand, issues, miscalculations, or other mistakes are bound to happen, which may be incredibly costly. In fact, even a few unfortunate errors in your filing, calculating, or reporting may lead to problems like penalties, fines, revoked licenses, audits, frozen assets, and other major issues.
