Question from Reddit user:
Hey folks, I’m trying to use Stripe with Go High Level (https://www.gohighlevel.com/) and make it EU VAT-friendly.
I’ve searched high and low for solutions, but it looks like High Level doesn’t have a native way to integrate with EU VAT (only for what they call “SaaS mode,” which doesn’t help much here).
Here’s their incredibly vague doc for reference: https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/48001224104-how-to-add-taxes-overview.
Basically, I need to charge VAT based on the customer’s billing country when people buy my products in High Level.
Seems obvious, right?
Well, apparently not so obvious for High Level.
They’ve nailed U.S.
taxes for every state, but when it comes to European taxes, it’s like “What’s VAT?
Never heard of her.”
To be clear, I’m not down with manually adding VAT to each product (because, you know, I value my time and sanity).
And I also don’t want to redirect people to a Stripe checkout page because then it feels like I’m throwing a brick wall into my funnel—nobody wants to re-enter their card info for an upsell!
RIP conversion rate.
??
I’ve heard whispers about some custom solutions (API or custom code magic?), but I’m not exactly fluent in code.
If anyone has a workaround, I’d love to hear it because, frankly, I can’t be the only European business owner struggling with this.
I’m pretty sure every EU biz needs to charge VAT unless they want a one-way ticket to jail.
And listen, I’m just trying to run a business, not get locked up!
I’ve asked High Level about it, but explaining sales tax to them felt like teaching quantum physics to a cat.
I was like, “Hey, I’m a business owner.
You know, sales tax?
You’ve heard of it?
VAT?
European taxes?
No?” ??
So, yeah, if anyone’s cracked the code here, please let me know!
I would really like to stay in business—and, you know, out of jail.
??
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
You are completely right to be worried about EU VAT compliance, and simply charging a flat tax or relying on the basic HighLevel settings won’t work because MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop) and OSS (One Stop Shop) rules require you to charge VAT based on the customer’s location and proof of that location.
Since HighLevel’s native checkout and funnel builder lacks dynamic, location-based VAT calculation for the EU, the most effective and legally compliant solution is to use the HighLevel API and Stripe API with a server-side solution to perform real-time geolocation and tax calculation before the payment is processed.
The long answer is:
The reason you can’t rely on HighLevel’s built-in tax features is that for digital goods sold B2C within the EU, the tax is due in the customer’s country of residence at that country’s rate, and this requires real-time logic and proof of location.
Since HighLevel provides the checkout front-end and Stripe is the payment processor, you need a middle layer of “custom code magic” to bridge the gap.
You don’t have to be a coding wizard yourself, but you’ll need to implement this architecture.
The solution involves using the HighLevel API, the Stripe API, Google Tag Manager (GTM), and a server-side environment like Stape or Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to create a legally compliant, seamless experience.
The workflow would go like this: first, when a customer lands on your HighLevel checkout page, GTM collects the customer’s IP address (a key piece of location evidence for MOSS/OSS compliance).
This IP address is instantly sent via a server-side tag to your Stape or GCP server.
The server-side code then uses the Stripe API to calculate the correct VAT amount and rate based on the IP-derived country, as Stripe has advanced tax calculation features built into its platform.
Alternatively, you could use a dedicated tax service like TaxJar or Quaderno via the server to get the correct rate.
Next, the server uses the HighLevel API to dynamically update the checkout price and tax line item before the customer clicks the final purchase button, or it modifies the payment intent sent to Stripe.
The beauty of this approach is that the customer stays on your HighLevel funnel page, preserving your conversion rate, but the actual payment sent to Stripe is already calculated with the legally correct, country-specific VAT amount.
This API-driven custom solution is excellent because it is dynamic – the tax changes based on where the customer is – compliant – you have the necessary location evidence and correct rates – and seamless – it doesn’t break your funnel with redirects.
This setup allows you to automate a legally required feature that your all-in-one platform is currently missing.
About The Author
