Articles on: Invoice Content

How to add tax details into an invoice

Accurate tax details on your invoices are essential for compliance with local tax regulations and for giving customers a clear picture of how taxes were applied to their order. Invoice Falcon lets you show the total tax amount, break it down by individual tax rates (e.g., VAT 10%, VAT 5%), and optionally exclude tax from the order total for regions where prices are tax-inclusive. These settings ensure your invoices meet the requirements for VAT, GST, sales tax, or any other tax structure your store uses.

Open the Tax details settings

Open the Invoice Falcon app from your Shopify Admin.
Click Templates in the left navigation menu.
Click on the template you want to customize (or click Edit on the template row).
Scroll to the Visual editor section and click the Open visual editor button.
In the left panel, click the Order total information section to expand it.
Scroll past the Order summary and Shipping details sub-sections to find the Tax details sub-section.

Note: The Order total information section also contains Order summary, Shipping details, and Payment details sub-sections — those are covered in separate articles.

Available tax detail fields

Each field has a checkbox to toggle it on or off. Check the fields you want to display, then click Save changes.

Order exclude tax

When enabled, excludes the tax amount from the order total displayed on the invoice.
Useful for stores in regions where product prices already include tax (tax-inclusive pricing). In this case, the total shown on the invoice reflects the amount the customer actually pays, and the tax row shows the tax that is already included — rather than adding it on top.
When disabled (default), the order total includes tax as a separate added amount.
Off by default.

Tip: Enable this if your Shopify store uses tax-inclusive pricing (common in the EU, UK, Australia, and India). This ensures the invoice total matches the amount customers see at checkout.

TAX/VAT/GST

Displays the Tax row in the order totals area, showing the total tax amount with the currency symbol (e.g., "Tax: $157.50").
Below the total tax row, individual tax lines are listed with their name, rate, and amount — each indented for clarity (e.g., "VAT: 10% — $105.00", "VAT: 5% — $52.50").
The tax line breakdown shows every tax that was applied to the order, making it easy to verify how the total tax was calculated.
The label uses the translated text "Tax" (or the equivalent in your invoice language). You can change it to "VAT", "GST", or any other term in the Labels section of the Visual Editor.
On by default.

Group tax lines

When enabled, combines tax lines with the same name into a single row in the breakdown.
Useful when an order has multiple items taxed at the same rate — instead of showing duplicate tax lines, they are merged into one combined entry.
When disabled (default), each tax line from the order is listed individually.
Off by default.

Tip: Enable Group tax lines if your invoices show repetitive tax entries (e.g., multiple "VAT 10%" lines from different items). Grouping makes the tax breakdown cleaner and easier to read.

Where tax details appear on the invoice

Tax detail fields appear in the totals breakdown section at the bottom of the invoice:

Tax total — appears as a row below the shipping row and above the grand total, showing the combined tax amount.
Tax line breakdown — individual tax lines are listed below the tax total row, each indented with the tax name, rate percentage, and amount (e.g., "VAT: 10% — $105.00").

Order exclude tax — affects the grand total calculation rather than adding a visible row. When enabled, the total reflects the tax-inclusive amount rather than adding tax on top.

Enable or disable tax detail fields

In the Tax details sub-section, check or uncheck the fields you want to show or hide.
Review the live preview on the right — the totals area updates immediately.
Click Save changes at the top of the Visual Editor.

Note: Changes apply only to invoices generated after saving. Previously generated PDFs are not affected.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
Tax row shows $0.00	The order is tax-exempt or the store has no taxes configured	This is expected for tax-exempt orders. Check your Shopify tax settings under Settings → Taxes and duties
Multiple duplicate tax lines in the breakdown	Different items have the same tax applied separately	Enable Group tax lines to combine duplicate tax entries into a single row
Tax total doesn't match expectations	The order may have mixed tax rates or tax-exempt items	Check the Shopify order details to verify the tax breakdown. The tax total is the sum of all tax lines
Grand total seems too high or too low after enabling "Order exclude tax"	The setting changes how tax is reflected in the total	Verify whether your store uses tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive pricing and set this checkbox accordingly
Tax label says "Tax" but I need "VAT" or "GST"	The default label is "Tax"	Change the label in the Labels section of the Visual Editor — update the Tax label field to "VAT", "GST", or your preferred term

FAQs

Q : What is the difference between "Order exclude tax" and hiding the tax row?
A : Hiding the TAX/VAT/GST checkbox removes the tax row from the invoice entirely. "Order exclude tax" keeps the tax row visible but changes how the grand total is calculated — the total reflects the tax-inclusive amount rather than adding tax on top. Use "Order exclude tax" for tax-inclusive pricing; hide the tax row only if you do not want to display tax information at all.

Q : Can I change the "Tax" label to "VAT" or "GST"?
A : Yes. Go to the Labels section in the Visual Editor and update the Tax label field to your preferred term.

Q : Does the tax breakdown show shipping tax separately?
A : Shipping tax is included in the overall tax calculation by Shopify. Whether it appears as a separate tax line depends on how your Shopify tax settings are configured. If Shopify applies shipping tax as a distinct tax line, it will appear in the breakdown.

Q : What does "Group tax lines" do exactly?
A : It combines tax lines that share the same name into a single entry. For example, if three items each have "VAT 10%" applied, instead of showing three separate "VAT: 10%" lines, one combined line is shown with the total amount.

Q : Are all three fields off by default?
A : No. TAX/VAT/GST is on by default. Order exclude tax and Group tax lines are off by default.

Updated on: 20/05/2026

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