Sell software globally without handling sales tax or VAT
Freemius is your Merchant of Record. We take legal responsibility for sales tax and VAT on your software sales, everywhere you sell.
Sell globally without worrying about tax
Sell globally without worrying about tax
Your software sales trigger tax obligations in more places than you might think.
Most software makers see Stripe’s 3% fee and think they’re covered. What they’re not accounting for is the time, risk, and cost of handling global tax on their own. DIY payment processing costs more than you think and that math changes fast when you start selling internationally.
When Freemius is your Merchant of Record, we become the legal seller for each transaction and handle tax liability globally, wherever you sell.
You don’t need to register for VAT, track sales tax thresholds, or file tax returns. We handle it.
- Tax rates applied correctly by buyer location worldwide
- Compliance with regional frameworks such as EU VAT OSS, UK VAT, Norway VAT, and US sales tax nexus rules
- Reverse charge scheme applied to EU B2B transactions via VAT number validation
- US sales tax nexus thresholds monitored automatically, including economic nexus rules and state-level filing obligations
- Coverage across jurisdictions where Freemius operates so your sales stay compliant without you tracking which markets require what
From the buyer’s perspective, checkout stays clean. From your perspective as a seller, compliance runs in the background and the liability stays with us.
“There is almost no way around having a merchant of record to collect and manage taxes worldwide as a company from within the EU. You would most likely need a full-time person to handle that, and paying the revenue share to Freemius is nowhere near the typical salaries here.”
Simply Static
Correct tax at checkout
Correct tax at checkout
Tax errors are expensive. If you miss a VAT rate change, the difference between what you charged and what you owed gets paid out of pocket when you file. Governments don’t adjust for what you failed to collect.
With Freemius, tax is applied consistently across the full billing flow:
- Accurate rates based on verified customer location
- Buyer location verification for digital tax compliance (e.g., IP address and billing address)
- Clear tax line items on invoices and receipts
- Consistent behavior across subscriptions, renewals, upgrades, and refunds
Compliance remains invisible to buyers without compromising accuracy.
Designed for SaaS and subscriptions
Generic ecommerce tax tools often fail on:
- Subscriptions and recurring billing
- Free trials converting into paid plans
- License upgrades and proration
- Refunds, chargebacks, and credits
When tax rates change or new tax obligations come into effect, Freemius automatically identifies the affected subscriptions, adjusts the tax rates for upcoming renewals, and updates the relevant customers. No overcharging (which is illegal) and no undercharging, which comes out of your pocket.
Designed for SaaS and subscriptions
Reduce tax risk as you scale
Reduce tax risk as you scale
As your business grows, so does your tax exposure. New markets trigger new obligations, thresholds shift, and the cost of getting it wrong increases alongside your revenue.
With Freemius, that exposure doesn’t land on you. As the legal seller of record, Freemius handles tax calculation, collection, reporting, and remittance. This means you can scale without tax slowing you down, holding you back, or catching you off guard in every market where Freemius operates.
This means you can scale without tax slowing you down, holding you back, or catching you off guard.
FAQ
A Merchant of Record is the legal seller on every transaction. That means they charge the customer, apply the right taxes, issue invoices, and remit everything to the relevant tax authorities. When Freemius is your MoR, the tax liability moves from your plate to ours.
Almost certainly yes and usually sooner than you'd expect. Most countries require you to charge tax based on where your customer is, often from the very first sale. EU customers trigger VAT immediately. US customers trigger sales tax once you cross individual state thresholds. The rules aren't complicated, but tracking them across every market is.
You're still on the hook for it. If you didn't collect the right amount, you pay the difference, sometimes with penalties on top. And the exposure grows with your revenue, since more jurisdictions can come after past transactions as you scale.
Stripe collects the payment. You handle everything else — tax calculation, invoicing, filings, and liability in every country you sell to. A Merchant of Record like Freemius steps in as the legal seller, so those obligations transfer to us instead of sitting with you.
The moment you sell internationally or to consumers, an MoR starts paying for itself. If you'd rather not register for VAT across multiple countries, monitor changing tax rules, or deal with quarterly filings — that's exactly what we're here for.