57 karma · joined April 17, 2020
Some users didn’t want to forgo control over the checkout experience, others didn’t want someone else’s name on the statement descriptor, and others pointed out that merchant of record meant their buyers were paying more than some competitors as they were collecting tax everywhere from day 1, (vs. if you handle yourself you may not need to collect tax in a state or country until you reach a threshold, e.g. California is $500k).
However, one pain point in common across all users, was around the integration and maintenance aspects of handling tax during checkout, so our focus really became how do we abstract away tax at checkout…which is why enabling Stripe Tax really comes down to `automatic_tax[enabled]:true`.
All that is to say, we’re definitely not perfect and always want to hear how we can improve. We’re optimistic that we’ve built solid foundations such that we can now add much more functionality to meet any and all user’s tax needs, or even taking on all liability.
All and all we very much rely on user feedback to prioritize what we build, so if merchant of record would, to quote Patrick recently, be the thing that makes you say “FINALLY”, do let us know!
1) We monitor your transaction and compare them to local thresholds so you know where/when you may need to register: https://stripe.com/docs/tax/set-up#monitoring-your-obligatio...
2) We provide documentation/links to the exact sites to register: https://stripe.com/docs/tax/registering#list-of-state-and-co...
In the future though we'd love to also offer registrations on your behalf, this is just the beginning!
Either way, we will be reviewing and onboarding users as quickly as possible after you submit your interest!
On the payment method side of things, I'm curious what methods are being requested by buyers that we are missing? We do allow users to accept checks and bank transfers, so just wondering if there is a specific method we're missing (aside from PayPal)? All in all, just want to understand exactly what you are looking for in terms of that last mile support from Stripe!
Checks: https://stripe.com/docs/billing/invoices/paper-check-payment Payment Method Overview (incl. Bank Transfers): https://stripe.com/docs/payments/payment-methods/overview
Either way, would be great to connect -- kmoriarty@stripe.com
Either way, thanks for the feedback!