On Teachable Payments, Teachable automatically calculates, collects, and remits tax on product sales in multiple markets — covering US sales tax, EU and UK VAT, and digital content taxes across 20+ additional markets worldwide. Teachable only collects and remits taxes in jurisdictions where local laws legally require the platform to do so.

Tax rate is determined based on the buyer's location and your location as the merchant, at the time of checkout.

For Teachable Payments schools, tax amounts are collected as part of each transaction and immediately reverse-transferred from the creator's account to Teachable's platform account. You never need to remit collected tax yourself — Teachable handles this entirely on your behalf when taxes are collected from the buyer.

For Custom Payment Gateway schools, creators are solely responsible for collecting and remitting tax to the relevant authorities.

To connect a payment gateway and start selling, see Set up Teachable Payments and start selling.

US sales tax laws have evolved significantly over recent years. Marketplace facilitator laws generally require platforms like Teachable — rather than individual sellers — to collect and remit sales tax to state authorities. These laws vary by state.

Sales tax is applied based on where your student is located, not where you are based. Even if you're not in the US, sales tax may apply if you sell to US-based students.

When applicable, sales tax appears as a separate line item on the checkout page. Under Teachable Payments, students also receive a Stripe-generated PDF invoice for every purchase — whether tax is collected on the purchase or not.

VAT is charged on purchases made by consumers in the EU and UK. It applies to any merchant selling digital products — including online courses — to consumers based in Europe. The location of the student, not the creator, determines whether VAT applies.

As of January 1, 2021, Teachable is registered for a separate UK VAT following Brexit. VAT in both the EU and the UK appears as its own line item on the invoice for UK-based purchasers.

Each EU member state and the UK sets its own VAT rate, which may change from time to time. Teachable applies the VAT rate set by the country where the student is located.

If a student is purchasing as a business entity with a valid VAT ID, they can enter it at checkout. When a valid VAT ID is provided, the transaction is processed as a B2B sale and the reverse charge rule may apply — meaning VAT is not charged, and the student becomes responsible for reporting and paying tax to their own tax authorities.

Students must enter their VAT ID in the country-specific approved format at checkout. The student's VAT ID and any applicable B2B sale rules will be applied to the invoice PDF generated by Stripe.

VAT ID collection can be enabled or disabled at checkout from Sales > Payment Settings > Taxes by toggling off Tax ID Collection.

Beyond the US, EU, and UK, Teachable calculates, collects, and remits digital content tax in a growing number of markets worldwide. The general rule is:

* In Iceland, Malaysia, Norway, and Singapore, Teachable only collects and remits tax on products that contain no live component. Products with a live component (e.g. live coaching sessions) are not considered electronically supplied content in these markets and are excluded from Teachable's automatic tax handling.

If a student is purchasing as a business entity, they can enter their business tax ID (GST number, ABN, VAT ID, or equivalent) at checkout. When a valid tax ID is provided, the transaction may be processed as a B2B sale — meaning tax may not be charged, and the student becomes responsible for reporting and paying any applicable tax to their own tax authorities. When this is the case, it will be clearly marked on the invoice.

Tax ID requirements and formats vary by country. Students must enter their ID in the format required by their jurisdiction. The tax ID and any applicable B2B treatment will be reflected on the Stripe-generated invoice PDF for that transaction.

Tax ID collection can be enabled or disabled from Sales > Payment Settings > Taxes by toggling off Tax ID Collection.

Under Teachable Payments, Stripe automatically generates a post-purchase PDF invoice for every purchase, whether tax is assessed or not. Students receive this invoice via email after completing checkout. This is a change from the previous experience, where tax-compliant invoices were only issued for cross-border sales outside the US and EU.

Invoices include:

Students will receive this post-purchase PDF invoice within one hour of initial purchase. For recurring purchases, a new PDF invoice will be generated and emailed to the buyer.

For CPG schools, Teachable does not generate tax invoices. You are responsible for issuing invoices to your students in applicable markets.

If your school is tax-exempt for any reason, contact Teachable Support to request school-level tax exemption. You'll need to provide proof of your tax-exempt status.

If a student intends to purchase as a tax-exempt organization and they have purchased with Teachable before, they should contact Teachable Support with their exemption certificate. Teachable can apply a buyer-level tax exemption for purchases going forward.

If a student has not purchased with Teachable before, they should contact Teachable Support with their state exemption certificate after they have made their purchase. Teachable Support will be able to provide a refund of the tax amount and apply an exemption for future purchases once documentation is reviewed, typically within 7 days.

You can display your pricing as tax-inclusive — where the total price shown already includes applicable taxes — from Sales > Payment Settings. See Price your products for more on tax-inclusive pricing options.

Tax, where applicable, appears as a separate line item on the checkout page and on the student's emailed PDF invoice after purchase.

For new tax obligations, sales tax will be applied to subscription renewals as of the date the tax goes live in that jurisdiction. It will not be applied retroactively to prior payments.

Sales tax is based on the final checkout price. If a student uses a coupon, tax is calculated on the discounted amount — not the original price.

Yes — refunds include the tax portion of the original transaction.

To disable tax collection, please reach out to our Teachable Support team with proof of your tax-exempt status.