Resolving Inaccurate Tax Information Warning in Google Merchant Center

In order to fix the "Inaccurate Tax Information" Account Issue in your Google Merchant Center account, go to your Google Merchant Center Tax Settings and define your sales tax rates for each state where you collect sales tax. For detailed diagnostic and resolution instructions, please continue reading.

Background Information

The email notice from Google might look something like this:

Subject: Data Quality Suspension Warning Of Your Merchant Center Account [Store Name, US] Dear Google Merchant Center User, Merchant Center Account: Store Name (12345) We've found product data that doesn't meet the Shopping Ads requirements in your Merchant Center account. You have until the deadline below to update your account and products so that they meet Shopping Ads requirements. If the issues aren't resolved by the deadline, your Merchant Center account will be suspended and your Shopping ads will no longer appear on Google. Deadline: Apr 31, 2020 Your Merchant Center account presently does not meet the following Shopping Ads Product Data Specification requirements: Inaccurate tax information For many of your items, the tax information in your product data doesn't match the tax information on the product pages. If you can't provide accurate tax information, you may provide data that matches or overestimates the average tax rate users visiting your site from Google would pay. Keep in mind that no matter what tax amount you provide for Shopping ads, you're still responsible for collecting the appropriate amount of tax from your customers. Using the correct product data will help optimize your ads' performance. Update your product data to meet the specifications on tax. Examples of violations: Red Widget - sku100 - https://www.store.com/red-widget.html Value in landing page - 9.99USD Value in the data feed - 0.00USD Zip code - 90210

Step 1: Verify your checkout shows the sales tax indicated

1. Follow the product page link for the first example in your email
2. Add the item to your cart and checkout as Guest
3. Search Google for 90201 zip code to determine the state
4. Enter a sample address with zip code 90210 and state CA
5. Continue checking out until the cart displays a sales tax amount, and verify that it is $9.99USD as indicated in the example.

If the sales tax displayed in your cart is not the same as the "Value in landing page" indicated by Google, then Google is having a problem reading the sales tax from your cart. In this case, open a support ticket with Google using their Contact Form for Disapproved Items. For phone or chat support, please see Google Merchant Center Contact Information.

Step 2: Check your tax settings for the state

1. Go to the Google Merchant Center Tax Settings
2. Verify that a tax rate is set up for the state mentioned in the example
3. Add tax rates for all states for which you collect sales tax

Checking Google's Computed Sales Tax for a Specific Product

1. Go to Google Merchant Center > Products > All products
2. Click the filter icon and add a filter like id equals sku123
3. Click the item title to view the item details
4. Scroll down to the Shipping and tax rate calculator section
5. Enter the destination zip code, e.g. 90210, and press Enter
6. Compare the Tax calculated by Google to the sales tax in your checkout. They should match.