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How to Create a Tax Provider

In this document, you’ll learn how to create a tax provider.

Overview​

A tax provider is used to retrieve the tax lines in a cart. The Medusa backend provides a default system provider. You can create your own tax provider, either in a plugin or directly in your Medusa backend, then use it in any region.

Step 1: Create Tax Provider Class​

A tax provider class should be defined in a TypeScript or JavaScript file under src/services and the class should extend AbstractTaxService imported from @medusajs/medusa.

For example, you can create the file src/services/my-tax.ts with the following content:

src/services/my-tax.ts
import { 
  AbstractTaxService,
  ItemTaxCalculationLine,
  ShippingTaxCalculationLine,
  TaxCalculationContext,
} from "@medusajs/medusa"
import { 
  ProviderTaxLine,
} from "@medusajs/medusa/dist/types/tax-service"

class MyTaxService extends AbstractTaxService {
  async getTaxLines(
    itemLines: ItemTaxCalculationLine[],
    shippingLines: ShippingTaxCalculationLine[],
    context: TaxCalculationContext): 
    Promise<ProviderTaxLine[]> {
    throw new Error("Method not implemented.")
  }
}

export default MyTaxService

Since the class extends AbstractTaxService, it must implement its abstract method getTaxLines, which is explained later in this guide.

Using a Constructor​

You can use a constructor to access services and resources registered in the dependency container using dependency injection. For example:

src/services/my-tax.ts
// ...
import { LineItemService } from "@medusajs/medusa"

type InjectedDependencies = {
  lineItemService: LineItemService
}

class MyTaxService extends AbstractTaxService {
  protected readonly lineItemService_: LineItemService

  constructor({ lineItemService }: InjectedDependencies) {
    super()
    this.lineItemService_ = lineItemService
  }
  
  // ...
}

export default MyTaxService

Step 2: Define Identifier​

Every tax provider must have a unique identifier. The identifier is defined as a static property in the class, and its value is used when registering the tax provider in the database and in the dependency container.

Add the static property identifier in your tax provider class:

src/services/my-tax.ts
class MyTaxService extends AbstractTaxService {
  static identifier = "my-tax"
  // ...
}

Make sure to change my-tax to the name of your tax provider.

Step 3: Implement getTaxLines Method​

The getTaxLines method is the only required method in a tax provider. It’s used when retrieving the tax lines for line items and shipping methods, typically during checkout or when calculating totals, for example, for orders, swaps, or returns.

The method accepts three parameters. The first parameter is an array of tax calculation objects for line items. Each object having the following properties:

  • item: a line item object.
  • rates: an array of objects, each object having the following properties:
    • rate: an optional number indicating the tax rate.
    • name: a string indicating the name of the tax rate.
    • code: an optional string indicating the tax code.

The second parameter is an array of tax calculation objects for shipping methods. Each object having the following properties:

  • shipping_method: a shipping method object.
  • rates: an array of objects, each object having the following properties:
    • rate: an optional number indicating the tax rate.
    • name: a string indicating the name of the tax rate.
    • code: an optional string indicating the tax code.

The third parameter is a context object that can be helpful for the tax calculation. The object can have the following properties:

  • shipping_address: an optional address object used for shipping.
  • customer: an optional customer object.
  • region: an optional region object.
  • is_return: a boolean value that determines whether the taxes are being calculated for a return flow.
  • shipping_methods: an array of shipping methods being used in the current context.
  • allocation_map: an object that indicates the gift cards and discounts applied on line items. Each object key or property is an ID of a line item, and the value is an object having the following properties:
    • gift_card: an optional object indicating the gift card applied on the line item.
    • discount: an optional object indicating the discount applied on the line item.

This method is expected to return an array of line item tax line or shipping method tax line objects.

The line item tax line object has the following properties:

  • rate: a number indicating the tax rate.
  • name: a string indicating the name of the tax rate.
  • code: an optional string indicating the tax code.
  • item_id: the ID of the line item.
  • metadata: an optional object that can hold any necessary additional data to be added to the line item tax lines.

The shipping method tax line object has the following properties:

  • rate: a number indicating the tax rate.
  • name: a string indicating the name of the tax rate.
  • code: an optional string indicating the tax code.
  • shipping_method_id: the ID of the shipping method.
  • metadata: an optional object that can hold any necessary additional data to be added to the shipping method tax lines.

The returned array would be a combination of both the line item tax lines and shipping method tax lines.

The Medusa backend determines whether an object in the returned array is a shipping method tax line item, depending on the availability of the shipping_method_id attribute. For line items, it depends on the availability of the item_id attribute.

For example, the system tax provider returns the tax calculation line items in the first parameter and the tax calculation shipping methods in the second parameter as is:

src/services/my-tax.ts
// ...

class SystemTaxService extends AbstractTaxService {
  // ...

  async getTaxLines(
    itemLines: ItemTaxCalculationLine[],
    shippingLines: ShippingTaxCalculationLine[],
    context: TaxCalculationContext
  ): Promise<ProviderTaxLine[]> {
    let taxLines: ProviderTaxLine[] = itemLines.flatMap((l) => {
      return l.rates.map((r) => ({
        rate: r.rate || 0,
        name: r.name,
        code: r.code,
        item_id: l.item.id,
      }))
    })

    taxLines = taxLines.concat(
      shippingLines.flatMap((l) => {
        return l.rates.map((r) => ({
          rate: r.rate || 0,
          name: r.name,
          code: r.code,
          shipping_method_id: l.shipping_method.id,
        }))
      })
    )

    return taxLines
  }
}

Step 3: Run the Build Command​

In the directory of the Medusa backend, run the build command to transpile the files in the src directory into the dist directory:

npm run build

Test it Out​

Run your backend to test it out:

npx @medusajs/medusa-cli develop

Before you can test out your tax provider, you must enable it in a region. You can do that either using the Medusa Admin dashboard or using the Update Region admin endpoint.

Then, you can test out the tax provider by simulating a checkout process in that region. You should see the line item tax lines in the cart’s items, as each item object has a tax_lines array which are the tax lines that you return in the getTaxLines method for line items.

Similarly, you should see the shipping method tax lines in the cart’s shipping_methods, as each shipping method object has a tax_lines array which are the tax lines that you return in the getTaxLines method for shipping methods.

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