Tax automation solution provider Avalara has unveiled LandedCost, a cloud-based tax compliance software for small- and mid-market e-Commerce merchants. The platform is designed to allow these retailers to determine the duties, taxes, cost of goods sold and shipping costs for all global commerce transactions in real time.
In giving consumers insight into real-time shopping transactions, online merchants can reduce:
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Risks of shopping cart abandonment;
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The downstream regulatory penalties and fines for tax calculation errors, providing consumers with a complete shopping transaction in real time; and
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Inventory write-offs for “locked down” or rejected shipments.
LandedCost includes capabilities for tariff and harmonized system (HS) code classifications and customs duty rates. Since relying on transportation providers to handle tariff code classification can be risky — and expose the retailer to significant future costs — merchants can inform Avalara what products they sell and provide them with the desired destination country. In return, Avalara will provide a complete country-specific code for the product.
The duty rate API enables retailers to estimate the total landed cost of cross-border transactions, or use them to determine global pricing to maximize profitability.
