You can now clean up your global checkout. See the simple setting that allows Shopify Plus merchants to hide the tax exemption widget for all customers outside the EU. It’s the fastest way to reduce checkout abandonment and professionalize your international store.
Install tax exemption easy app in your Shopify plus store
A seamless checkout experience is the final, critical hurdle in e-commerce. You’ve spent money on ads and optimized product pages, but a single, unnecessary field can be the difference between a sale and a bounced session.
For many international merchants, the tax exemption widget is essential for B2B compliance (especially within the EU for VAT zero-rating). However, for your retail customers in the US, Canada, or Australia, this widget is a source of confusion, distraction, and frustration.
The solution? Implementing location-based visibility to show the tax widget only when it matters. This guide will show you how this simple, no-code change on Shopify Plus can significantly reduce checkout friction for your global audience.
You might think, “It’s just one widget, how much harm can it do?” The answer is: a lot. Statistics consistently show that checkout abandonment rates hover around 70%. Every element you add increases the potential for friction.
Every extra form field increases the cognitive load on the buyer. When a non-EU customer sees a prompt asking for a “VAT ID” or “Tax Exemption Certificate,” they often pause and ask:
This momentary confusion is often enough to trigger cart abandonment, especially on mobile devices where screen real estate is precious.
A personalized experience builds trust. Conversely, an impersonal or confusing checkout erodes it. When customers outside the EU see fields and notices related to European VAT, it makes the purchasing process feel overly complicated and untailored, suggesting your store might not be fully optimized for their region.
The most effective way to eliminate this friction is through conditional visibility, a feature accessible via Shopify’s Checkout Extensibility platform for Plus merchants.
This feature introduces Dynamic Logic to your checkout flow:
This provides the best of both worlds: full legal compliance where needed, and a lightning-fast, simple checkout everywhere else.
Implementing this single optimization yields significant returns beyond just a “cleaner” look.
| Benefit | Impact on Your Business |
| Higher Conversion Rates | By eliminating a point of confusion for the majority of your global traffic, you create a smoother, faster path to purchase. |
| Fewer Support Tickets | Drastically reduce emails asking, “How do I fill out the tax ID?” or “Why do I see this VAT message?” from confused non-EU shoppers. |
| Professional UX | Your store appears optimized and locally aware, whether the customer is in Berlin or Buenos Aires. |
| Automated Compliance | Ensure EU B2B customers efficiently utilize their zero-rated tax status without requiring manual verification from your team. |
This powerful optimization is specifically designed for:
The best part is that enabling this smart logic requires no coding, themes, or custom liquid files.
This simple configuration change is immediately live and starts optimizing your checkout for every visitor globally.
Personalization isn’t just about showing the right product recommendation; it’s about making the utility of your store smarter and more relevant to the customer’s exact location and needs. By implementing conditional visibility for your tax exemption widget, you are investing directly in a cleaner customer experience and higher conversion rates.
If you are a global brand, you need a checkout that speaks to every customer locally—and hiding irrelevant tax fields is the easiest way to start.