Since Stripe is not a MoR, do we switch to a different provider?

[allart]

Hello fellow redditors,

We are a SaaS company, and use Stripe as our payment processor. However, since our sales will be global, it has come to our attention that we should have a MoR to take care of tax compliances in different companies.

However, if we wish to have paddle, or FastSpring as MoR, do we need to switch from Stripe as these MoR also provide payment processing? On the other hand, can we just keep Stripe and go to an accounting provider like Taxually to handle tax compliances?

 

[miche]

@allart I am planning to switch to a MoR platform like Paddle as EU VAT seems very complicated for UK businesses now that we left the EU.

 

[crimsonlogic10]

@miche We have similar frustrations. We use stripe tax and that tells you what you need to pay and where but doesn’t make it easy.

Stripe own TaxJar in the US , I’m waiting for them to release a good integration/solution for something globally.

 

[allart]

@crimsonlogic10 Exactly! We use stripe tax too, but it only tells us where to register. Do you think we can wait and monitor our sales first before registering? Or should we register right away after first sale?

 

[crimsonlogic10]

@allart Only a decision you can make.

How many places do you think actually fully play by the rules when just starting is what I usually ask myself.

 

[allart]

@crimsonlogic10 lol, makes sense.

 

[miche]

@crimsonlogic10 Shouldn’t be saying this but after 3 years I still haven’t registered for other EU countries and only check if I am within the UK VAT threshold which is around £85k per tax year.

 

[rohit92]

@allart We built all the VAT handling with Stripe by ourself. Much work, but possible and for us the best solution.

Greetings,

Daniel - Quentn.com

 

[allart]

@rohit92 I see. Can we wait for some time and monitor our sales before registering for VAT?

 

[rohit92]

@allart I am no tax adviser ...

We as a European company definitivly have to do it. And actually it's organized. You pay just to one institution and they pay to each country.

 

[johnstalling]

@rohit92 It's not just being a European company, while a European or a US state are more likely to fine you, there are lots of other countries where you are liable right from the first sale there. If I am not mistaken, last time I have checked we (payproglobal.com) had over 11,000 different sales tax,VAT, HST, GST rates around the world (in some cases it might change between one street to another) and it keeps growing.

The point is this, yes, anyone can do it but you need to consider two things:

1. cost - filing gets very expensive as well as registering so your sales must be in the tens of millions to make it worth it (assuming you trully want to be compliant)
   
2. Focus - This takes tones of energy and focus, again, unless you will hire a full dedicated team, its a business by itself.

 

[marussell95]

@rohit92 Which institution is that?

 

[rohit92]

@marussell95 I really don't know. Your tax advider will handle that.

 

[theoden]

@allart I initially built my app with Stripe but before release I learned that Stripe Tax still needs you to handle most of the grunt work.

So I spent two weeks replacing it with Lemon Squeezy, an MoR.

 

[allart]

@theoden Makes sense. May I ask why did you specifically choose Lemon Squeezy, and not paddle or fastspring?

 

[theoden]

@allart I looked at Paddle and I didn't like their documentation. I don't know, it didn't fill me with confidence. Lemon squeezy docs are great. I'll admit I didn't know about Fastspring at the time.

 

[allart]

@theoden I see. Do you think we can wait and monitor our sales first before going for a MoR and register?

 

[theoden]

@allart That's a decision for you to make but personally I didn't want to wait until I had sales before moving to an MoR. It would complicate things as I'd have to migrate existing subscriptions. I wanted to be tax compliant right from the start.