Troubleshooting Stripe Invoice Tax Rates
If you are registered for VAT and have set up your Stripe integration to explain payouts via invoices, as opposed to sales transactions, you might encounter an error message about tax rates.
Example
If ABC is the invoice ID in Stripe, and 15% and 20% happen to be the tax rates used:
The Stripe invoice's (ABC) tax rate (15%) differs from the rule's (20%).
The Stripe invoice (ABC) has a tax rate (15%) but the rule does not.
Why does this happen?
Whenever DoubleAgent explains a Stripe charge or refund, it looks for the corresponding invoice in Stripe. It then checks whether the Stripe invoice has a tax rate set and, if so, what it is. Finally it compares this tax rate to the one you set in your integration.
If DoubleAgent can determine unambiguously what tax rate to use, it will proceed. If it can't, it will show you one of these error messages instead.
Here are all the scenarios:
| Stripe invoice | Your integration setting | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Tax of X% | Tax of Y% | DoubleAgent doesn't know which tax rate to use. ("The Stripe invoice's (ABC) tax rate (X%) differs from the rule's (Y%).") |
| Tax of X% | No tax set | DoubleAgent doesn't know whether to apply the tax rate. ("The Stripe invoice (ABC) has a tax rate (X%) but the rule does not.") |
| No tax set | Tax of Y% | OK: DoubleAgent assumes Stripe invoice's amount includes Y% tax |
| Tax of X% | Tax of X% | OK: DoubleAgent knows Stripe invoice's amount includes X% tax |
DoubleAgent works like this because it assumes:
- It's common not to set up tax rates in Stripe. But when a Stripe invoice is reconciled in FreeAgent, you need the tax to be correct in FreeAgent. So allow the user to set the tax rate only in DoubleAgent in their Stripe integration.
- If the user has gone to the trouble of setting tax rates in Stripe, DoubleAgent ensures they are heeded.
How can I resolve this error?
You need to set DoubleAgent to use the same tax rate as you have set up in Stripe. Then there is no ambiguity and DoubleAgent can start reconciling the invoices again.
