If you’re selling internationally, you may need to charge tariffs, duties, or import taxes. Here’s how this works with Ongoing Subscriptions and Shopify Markets.
What Ongoing Subscriptions Handles ✅
Subscription products and plans (billing frequencies, discounts, bundles, etc.)
Automatic recurring charges on schedule
Subscriber analytics and retention tools
👉 In short: Ongoing takes care of subscriptions.
What Shopify Handles 🌍
Tariffs, duties, and import taxes are managed directly by Shopify Markets.
These fees apply to both one-time purchases and subscription orders.
To enable them, go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Markets and turn on Prepaid duties and import taxes.
Costs to Know 💵
Shopify Markets (standard): free to use, with a 1.5–2% currency conversion fee on international orders.
Managed Markets: no setup fee, but Shopify charges per-order fees (6.5% transaction + 2.5% conversion).
These fees are handled entirely by Shopify. Ongoing Subscriptions doesn’t add anything extra.
Quick Takeaway
Subscriptions = Ongoing
Tariffs & duties = Shopify
✅ To make sure international customers see tariffs at checkout, check your Shopify Markets settings.
Need Help?
For subscription setup, reach out to Ongoing Support.
For tariffs and Markets configuration, contact Shopify Support.
Shopify's Advice for Setting up Tariffs with Subscriptions
To add tariffs to subscription orders, you should manage tariffs as part of your overall product pricing and checkout settings, since tariffs are calculated based on the product's origin, HS codes, and shipping destination, not specifically on the subscription order type.
Here’s what you can do:
Ensure that all your products have accurate Harmonized System (HS) codes and country of origin set in your Shopify admin. This is essential for correct tariff calculation.
Use Shopify’s duty calculator to display and collect duties and import taxes at checkout. This way, tariffs are included in the customer's total price upfront, which applies to subscription orders as well.
Consider duty-inclusive pricing, where tariffs are included in the product price, which can improve conversion rates.
If you use the Shopify Subscriptions app or any third-party subscription app (like Ongoing Subscriptions) tariffs and duties are handled through the checkout process, so setting up tariffs at checkout applies to subscription purchases.
Remember, tariffs are generally applied based on the product and shipping details, not the payment model (subscription or one-time). So, setting up tariffs correctly in your store’s tax and duties settings ensures they apply to all orders, including subscriptions.
For more detailed setup, review your store’s Taxes and Duties settings in the Shopify admin here.
To handle duties effectively, you have two main options:
Use Shopify Markets: This allows you to configure duties and taxes per market, including setting up duty collection at checkout, choosing how duties are displayed (included in prices or as separate line items), and managing tariffs based on specific regions. Shopify Markets also supports Managed Markets for U.S. merchants, which automates duty calculation, collection, and remittance, providing prepaid shipping labels and ensuring compliance.
Use Taxes and Duties settings: You can set up duties and taxes directly in your Shopify admin under Settings > Taxes and Duties. This includes adding Harmonized System (HS) codes, country of origin, and configuring how duties and taxes are collected and displayed.
If you are selling internationally and want to provide a seamless experience with accurate duty calculations and prepaid duties, using Shopify Markets with Managed Markets (if eligible) is recommended. Otherwise, configuring duties in Taxes and Duties settings is sufficient.
Both methods require accurate product information (HS codes, country of origin) and proper shipping carrier support for duties.
If you are in the United States, you can take advantage of Managed Markets for automated duty handling.
For more details, check your Shopify admin at Taxes and Duties and Markets.