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Shipping and Taxes: Global Commerce

Last updated on May 17, 2026 10:44

Selling physical products means you have to deal with logistics. Depending on where your customers live, you need to charge different delivery fees and comply with local tax laws.

PolyCMS handles this complexity using Shipping Zones and Tax Rates.

Setting Up Shipping Zones

A Shipping Zone is a geographic area (like a specific country, state, or even a zip code) to which you ship items.

To configure delivery, navigate to E-Commerce > Shipping Zones.

1. Create a Zone

  • Click Add New Zone.

  • Zone Name: Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Domestic US" or "Europe").

  • Region Selection: Select the specific countries or regions that belong to this zone.

2. Add Shipping Methods

Once a zone is created, you must tell the system how you ship to that area. Click on your new zone and add a Shipping Method. The core methods include:

  • Flat Rate: Charge a fixed fee for delivery (e.g., $5.00 standard shipping).

  • Free Shipping: Offer free delivery. You can set this to trigger automatically if the customer's cart total exceeds a certain amount (e.g., "Free shipping on orders over $100").

  • Local Pickup: Allow customers in your immediate area to pick up the item directly from your physical store.

When a customer checks out, the system looks at their address, finds the matching Shipping Zone, and displays ONLY the shipping methods you configured for that area.

Configuring Tax Rates

Tax laws vary wildly depending on your jurisdiction. PolyCMS allows you to define granular tax rules.

Navigate to E-Commerce > Tax Rates.

  • Click Add New Tax Rate.

  • Tax Name: E.g., "VAT" or "State Sales Tax".

  • Tax Rate (%): The percentage to charge (e.g., 20%).

  • Target Region: Specify which countries or states this tax applies to. If left blank, it applies globally.

  • Priority: If a customer triggers multiple overlapping tax rules, the priority determines which one is calculated first.

Important Note on Taxes: You should also check your global Settings > E-Commerce to define whether the prices you enter in the Product Editor already include tax, or if tax should be calculated exclusively at checkout.