Industry: eCommerce / EU Retail
Services Delivered: Custom plugin development, API integration, WooCommerce import automation, OSS tax compliance

Solving Tax Compliance for Imported WooCommerce Orders

The client’s WooCommerce store relied on WP All Import to handle bulk order imports from a third-party system. However, a critical limitation emerged: their CSV data lacked total order values and needed accurate, country-specific VAT deductions to comply with EU OSS (One-Stop Shop) regulations.

They approached me needing a custom-coded solution to calculate VAT and order totals on the fly — automatically and reliably — during the import process.

What Was Needed

  • A way to calculate and apply accurate EU tax rates to imported orders
  • Automation of VAT-inclusive order totals from incomplete CSV data
  • Compatibility with the Allimport plugin’s templating and field logic
  • A maintainable solution that avoided bloating the site with additional plugins

How I Helped

Bespoke Plugin for Tax Rate Syncing

To avoid slow or quota-limited API lookups during each import, I developed a lightweight plugin that queried VAT rates from the Vatstack API and cached them in the WordPress database. This provided fast, accurate lookups for use in the import function logic.

Custom Import Logic for WP All Import

Inside Allimport’s function editor, I added custom PHP logic to:

  • Strip VAT from product and shipping prices based on the shipping country
  • Map VAT rates to WooCommerce’s internal tax tables
  • Automatically recalculate order totals after import (previously a manual step)

Flexible & Future-Proof

When the client later confirmed that the Germanized plugin already maintained updated VAT rates, I adapted the code to use these instead — simplifying the stack while keeping the core functionality intact.

Results

  • Imported orders now correctly reflect gross, net, and tax amounts
  • OSS VAT logic applies automatically with no manual steps
  • No impact to regular orders — the customisation only applies to Allimport templates
  • Lightweight, well-documented code built for clarity and long-term maintainability

This project is a great example of how custom code and thoughtful planning can overcome plugin limitations — keeping performance lean while delivering regulatory compliance and peace of mind.

“Everything is running smoothly now, thank you so much for your excellent work! For future tasks and projects, I’ll definitely reach out to you again.“

— Denise H.