Do I need an accountant for this?

This guide does not replace an accountant in your country. It gets you to the point where you can ask precise questions: who is the legal seller on each checkout, what you still owe on your own income even under a merchant of record, and which registrations and returns apply to you. Use it to build the evidence and questions, then have a local adviser confirm establishment, product classification and home-country obligations.

What if I already started selling without charging the right tax?

You can still use the guide but pause new direct collection until checkout and registration are correct. Reconstruct the product and buyer classification for past sales, identify where you should have registered, and file or voluntarily disclose as each tax authority requires. A merchant of record does not retroactively fix past direct sales, and back filings may carry interest or penalties that an adviser should assess promptly.

Can I use a merchant of record for some sales and sell direct in other countries?

Yes, many sellers mix models by product or region, but you must document it per checkout. For each route note who appears as seller on the invoice and card statement, who collects and remits the tax, who handles refunds and chargebacks, and which provider contract and country coverage applies. The first phase of the guide produces that decision log to prevent a mixed setup from creating gaps.

If a merchant of record handles VAT and sales tax do I still have to file anything?

You remain responsible for your own income, corporate and payroll taxes regardless of model, and you must reconcile the merchant of record’s reports, payouts, refunds and fees in your accounts. Under direct selling you also remain responsible for all VAT and sales-tax returns. Even under a merchant of record you may still have separate obligations, such as providing correct business information, handling direct sales outside the merchant of record, and keeping your own invoice and payout records.

Does one US sale immediately create sales-tax obligations everywhere?

No. US sales tax is state by state and each state sets its own economic-nexus threshold and measuring period, for example more than USD 100,000 or 200 transactions in Virginia in a year, which is an example not a nationwide rule. You check each state where you sell direct on its tax authority site, register only where your direct sales meet that state’s threshold, and keep marketplace-facilitator rules separate from merchant-of-record contracts.

Sell software worldwide without a tax mess

The reader has chosen deliberately between a merchant of record and a direct payment processor, knows which tax obligations that choice moves onto them, has a checkout that charges the right tax to the right country, issues compliant invoices, and has written policies for refunds, chargebacks and failed payments before the first sale rather than after the first complaint.

Fby Finito HQEchipa Finito

Created 3 weeks agoUpdated 2 weeks ago

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Who it's for

Indie makers and solo software businesses selling to customers in more than one country who can build a checkout but have not yet set up international tax, invoicing and payment operations

About this playbook

This playbook makes the seller-model decision the spine of your worldwide sales setup. You compare merchant of record and direct processor on who is the legal seller, who remits tax, who handles disputes and invoices, and what the fee gap really is once filings are priced in. You then classify every product and buyer, collect proof of where each customer belongs, register on the right route for the EU, UK and US, and configure a checkout that calculates destination tax before capture and issues invoices from the correct seller. It covers SaaS, downloads, licences, templates and courses sold cross-border and does not cover your own income, corporate or payroll taxes, local business formation, or consumer-law advice specific to your country, which still needs a local adviser.

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5 phases · 23 steps

Only a sample is open: 4 of 23 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.

Phase 1: Decide who is the seller and who remits the tax
5 steps
Phase 2: Prove what you sell and where each buyer belongs
5 steps
Phase 3: Register and configure checkout to charge the right tax
5 steps
Phase 4: Put invoices, refunds and failed payments on rails
4 steps
Phase 5: File, retain and monitor the evidence
4 steps

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Details

Estimated duration22 hours

Steps23

Estimated budget€0–€500 for registrations and setups plus transaction fees — either

What you need first

A defined product list with delivery method, an existing or planned checkout or payment provider, a legal entity or sole-trader status and country of establishment, and access to checkout code or a no-code checkout editor plus invoicing capability