Shopify Tax 2027: Lifetime Sales, Store Dates and Fee Caps

The short answer: the change starts for older stores in 2027

Starting January 1, 2027, the Shopify Tax free discount will be based on each store’s lifetime global sales instead of resetting every calendar year. This transition applies to stores created before May 13, 2026; the new rule has not taken effect yet.

Those older stores keep the annual sales threshold through December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027, a store that has already reached the threshold in lifetime global sales will not receive a new annual free discount. A store below the threshold remains fully discounted until it reaches it. Stores created on or after May 13, 2026 already use a lifetime threshold.

Check the store creation date and pricing currency

The free discount’s sales threshold is 100,000, but the currency depends on the store’s location: CAD in Canada, EUR in the European Union, GBP in the United Kingdom and USD everywhere else. The store’s creation date determines whether the threshold is annual or lifetime.

This pricing currency is not the customer’s location, the currency displayed at checkout or the store’s language. For example, a store located in the United Kingdom has a £100,000 GBP threshold, even when its customers are elsewhere.

The 100,000 threshold counts each store’s global sales

The threshold is based on global sales for an individual store, not only US sales, taxable orders or sales from one channel. Each store has its own threshold; sales for one store do not move another store toward its threshold.

Shopify lists online store sales to any destination, connected channels such as Facebook or Instagram, in-person sales through Shopify POS, Shop sales, gift cards, non-taxable products, sales through all payment gateways, and taxes and shipping fees on sales. As a result, sales of non-taxable products or sales in regions where tax collection is not enabled can still count toward the threshold.

After the threshold, fees still depend on eligible orders and caps

The amounts below follow the Help Center’s standard published pricing. It lists separate conditions for high-volume stores; confirm the applicable pricing with your Customer Success Manager before applying these caps if your store falls into that group.

If your store is based in the United States and Shopify manages your US sales tax, the Help Center directs you to the separate fees for that managed service. Do not apply the general amounts below to it without checking those fees.

Once the sales threshold is reached, the per-order fee applies to orders where Shopify Tax calculates tax, and only in states, provinces or countries where tax collection is activated. An order with no tax due because a product is exempt can still incur the fee. Orders from regions without tax collection and orders imported from outside Shopify are excluded.

The per-order fee cap remains 0.99 in the store’s pricing currency. The 5,000 annual billing cap per region and per store applies only to stores created before May 13, 2026; stores created on or after that date have no annual billing cap. Per-order rates depend on store location and Shopify plan, and the announcement does not change them. The 100,000 threshold alone is not enough to forecast an actual bill.

Hypothetical example: checking a UK store’s threshold

Suppose a UK store has GBP as its pricing currency and £95,000 in lifetime global sales. If it was created before May 13, 2026, the annual threshold still applies through December 31, 2026. Starting January 1, 2027, the store is assessed against the £100,000 lifetime threshold, so it remains fully discounted while below that amount.

If the store’s global sales later reach £100,000, the per-order fee starts applying to eligible orders. A store created on or after May 13, 2026 is already assessed on lifetime sales. This example illustrates discount eligibility, not a bill estimate.

A few read-only checks before 2027

Shopify says no action is required. If you want to plan for later fees, check the store creation date, pricing currency, current global sales, regions where tax collection is activated and Shopify plan. Do not use only local sales or taxable orders to decide whether the store is close to the threshold.

The merchant pays this fee through the Shopify subscription invoice, or on a bill if the merchant exceeds the billing threshold. Customers are not charged for it, and it does not appear on their invoices.

You can review tax settings in Shopify admin. In the Billing section, review and export bills to check actual tax transaction fees. The announcement gives an effective date but no specific time or time zone, so do not assume the change happens at midnight in a particular region.