Below is a structured guide for evaluating tax automation vendors. Stripe Tax is included as a reference point throughout – a concrete example of what best-in-class global tax compliance looks like in 2026. The guide covers setup and implementation, geographical coverage, calculation accuracy, obligation monitoring, registration, filing and remittance, and commercials.

This template includes both section outlines and sample copy. You can design your own branded RFP document or use the copy provided.

Important note: This template doesn't constitute tax or legal advice. It's provided for informational purposes only. Consult your own tax, legal, and other advisers when you're deciding which tax software is right for your business.

Table of Contents

• Cover page
  
• Section A: Administrative instructions
  
• Section B: Overview and scope of work
  
• Section C: Proposal instructions
  
• Section D: Evaluation process
  
• Section E: Core requirements
  
• Section F: Implementation and support
  
• Section G: Commercials
  
• Section H: Vendor profile
  
• Section I: References
  
• Section J: Appendixes
  

Cover page

The goal of the cover page is to tell vendors exactly what they’re looking at and whom to talk to. Include the RFP title, your company’s name, a short confidentiality notice, and contact details for the person who manages the process. Dates matter, too. List the issue date and due date right up front so nobody can claim they missed them. Keep the cover page concise.

Contact information

Key dates

Submission format

All responses must be submitted electronically via email in PDF format. Pricing and scoring templates (provided separately in Excel) must be attached in their original formats.

File naming convention

[Vendor name]–[Project name]–RFP–Response–[Date].pdf

Purpose of this RFP

[Your company] is seeking a tax infrastructure partner capable of supporting secure, multicurrency transactions, integrating easily with internal systems via modern APIs, and delivering high reliability, proactive fraud detection, and data transparency across regions.

This document outlines the requirements, evaluation criteria, and process for submitting proposals.

Short confidentiality notice

This RFP contains confidential and proprietary information belonging to [your company]. It’s provided solely for the purpose of preparing a response. Distribution beyond those directly involved in preparing a proposal is prohibited. By accepting this RFP, the recipient agrees to protect this information with at least the same degree of care they apply to protect their own confidential information.

Section A: Administrative instructions

Tax compliance cannot wait for a slow vendor selection process – every day without accurate tax collection increases potential exposure. Set the ground rules clearly so vendors can respond quickly and precisely.

A.1 Statement of confidentiality and non-disclosure

All information in this RFP is confidential and intended solely to enable the vendor to prepare a response. Vendors must not disclose, reproduce, or distribute this document or any portion of it without prior written consent from [your company]. Proprietary information included in proposals should be clearly labelled; [your company] will treat it accordingly.

A.2 Limitation of financial liability

This RFP isn't an offer to contract. [Your company] is under no obligation to award a contract or reimburse costs incurred in preparing a response. Vendors are solely responsible for their own expenses throughout this process.

A.3 RFP timeline

A.4 Submission guidelines

• All proposals must be submitted by email to [contact email address].
  
• Vendors must acknowledge receipt within three working days of issue.
  
• Questions must be submitted in writing by the date listed in A.3.
  
• All communication must go through the designated RFP manager. Direct contact with other [your company] employees during the evaluation period might result in disqualification.
  

A.5 Required submission documents

A.6 Evaluation overview

[Your Company] will evaluate proposals on implementation speed, geographical coverage, calculation accuracy, obligation monitoring, Registration Support, filing and remittance capabilities, platform Integration, and pricing transparency. Vendors must demonstrate capabilities with production Evidence. Claims without data or documentation will not be scored.

A.7 Vendor acknowledgment

Vendors must complete and return the acknowledgement below within three working days of receiving this RFP.

We acknowledge Receipt of the RFP titled “[RFP name]” and confirm our intention ☐ to submit / ☐ not to submit a response.

Company name: ________________________

Authorised representative: ________________________

Title: ________________________

Date: _______

Section B: Overview and scope of work

Tax compliance complexity grows with every new market, product type, and business model you add. Give vendors the specific context they need to assess whether they can actually serve your business – today and as you grow.

B.1 Company background

[Your company] is a [B2B / B2C / marketplace / SaaS / e-commerce] business that’s operating in [insert current markets]. We process about [X] transactions per month across [X] countries and [X] US states. Our product mix includes [physical goods / digital goods / SaaS / services (describe)]. We currently [do / don’t] have a tax solution in place. Our primary challenge is [describe (e.g., we’re approaching economic nexus thresholds in multiple US states, we’re expanding into the EU and need VAT compliance, we have no visibility into where we have tax obligations)].

Here are some additional details you can include to customise:

• Headquarters and primary markets today
  
• Markets you plan to enter in the next 12–24 months
  
• Primary product and service types sold
  
• Split of B2B vs. B2C transactions (relevant for VAT reverse charge and exemption handling)
  
• Current payments and billing infrastructure (important for integration scope)
  
• Internal teams involved (e.g., Finance, Tax, Engineering, Legal)
  

B.2 Project’s purpose

This RFP exists to identify a tax compliance partner that can automate our tax obligations as we grow. Here’s our current situation: [describe the gap (e.g., we’re calculating tax manually and approaching the point where this is no longer sustainable, we have received a notice from a tax authority, we’re preparing for an audit or funding round and need to close our compliance gaps)].

Our ideal partner will enable:

• Accurate, real-time tax calculation at the point of transaction, using precise customer location data
  
• Visibility into where we have tax obligations before we inadvertently exceed thresholds
  
• Registration support in new markets so our team doesn’t have to work through local processes from scratch
  
• Automated or partner-enabled filing and remittance so our team isn’t manually compiling reports for each jurisdiction
  
• Coverage for our full product mix across all current and planned markets, including digital goods, SaaS, and physical goods
  
• Implementation in days or weeks, not months
  
• A solution that integrates with our existing payment and billing stack without requiring a separate platform
  

B.3 Scope of work

Core deliverables

• Real-time tax calculation: Accurate tax rates at checkout across all current markets, achieving rooftop-level precision using customer location data
  
• Obligation monitoring: Automated tracking of our transaction volume against registration thresholds in each jurisdiction, with alerts before thresholds are exceeded
  
• Registration support: Assistance with tax registration in new markets, including prefilled applications and guidance on local requirements
  
• Filing and remittance: Jurisdiction-specific reports formatted for each tax authority, and access to filing partner integrations that enable us to hand off the filing process
  
• Product tax code coverage: Accurate tax classification for our full product mix – [insert products (e.g., digital goods, SaaS, physical goods, services, ticketing)]
  
• B2B tax handling: Automated VAT ID validation and reverse charge application for European and Australian business customers
  
• Unified dashboard: Real-time visibility into tax collected, obligations, registration status, and filing deadlines in one place
  

Additional deliverables

• API access for custom integrations: The ability to calculate and report tax on payments processed outside the vendor’s native platform
  
• Support for [insert required currencies and payment methods]
  
• No-code setup options for nonengineering teams: Tax collection via dashboard toggle or invoice-level configuration
  

B.4 Out-of-scope work

Define what’s excluded so vendors don’t price or assume responsibility for it. Here are some examples:

• Corporate income tax, transfer pricing, or direct tax compliance
  
• Customs duties and import tax beyond VAT or GST at the point of sale
  
• Payroll tax compliance
  
• Tax advisory or legal opinion on specific transactions
  

B.5 Desired outcomes

• Live tax calculation across all current markets within [X] weeks of contract execution
  
• Zero instances of incorrect tax rates applied to transactions (measured against a postlaunch accuracy audit)
  
• Obligation monitoring alerts that fire before thresholds are exceeded in any jurisdiction
  
• Filing reports available in each required jurisdiction’s format, with no manual reformatting required
  
• Engineering time spent on tax maintenance reduced by [X]% within 90 days of going live
  
• Tax registration completed in new markets within [X] business days of a threshold alert
  

Section C: Proposal instructions

Tax vendors often lead with coverage lists and feature grids. Require production outcomes instead: implementation timelines from comparable businesses, accuracy audit results, and evidence that their jurisdiction coverage is real, not theoretical.

C.1 Submission format and structure

Each proposal must follow this structure:

• Executive summary (three pages maximum)
  
• Responses to all requirements in Section E, numbered to match
  
• Completed pricing template in Excel
  
• Vendor profile and financial summary
  
• Minimum of three client references from comparable businesses
  
• Supporting documents: compliance certifications, case studies with documented implementation timelines, geographical coverage list, product tax code coverage list, and filing partner list
  

C.2 Formatting requirements

• Narrative responses as PDF; pricing template as Excel file
  
• Minimum 11pt font, one-inch margins, page numbers required
  
• All monetary figures in GBP unless otherwise specified
  
• File naming: [Vendor name]–Tax–RFP–[Date].pdf
  

C.3 Proposal content guidance

Executive summary

• Lead with documented outcomes from comparable deployments: implementation timelines, accuracy rates, number of jurisdictions supported, and filing partner coverage. Don't describe your product. Show what it produces.
  
• Include your vision for this partnership over three years: specifically, how your platform handles tax rule changes, new jurisdiction coverage, and product tax code expansion without requiring engineering work from our side.
  

Solution overview

• Describe how your platform covers the full tax compliance lifecycle (obligation monitoring, registration, calculation, collection, and filing) in a single integration. Explain specifically what's automated and what requires manual work from our team.
  
• Describe your approach to tax rate accuracy: how rooftop-level precision is achieved, how tax rule changes are incorporated, and how quickly updates are applied after a jurisdiction changes its rules.
  
• Describe your integration model. A solution built into an existing payments or billing platform is materially faster to implement than a stand-alone product.
  

Geographical coverage

• Provide a complete, current list of every country and US state where you support tax calculation and collection today. "Supported" means ready for production, not in development and not via a partner with separate onboarding.
  
• For each market, specify whether coverage includes digital goods, SaaS, physical goods, and services. Coverage gaps by product type in a given jurisdiction are as significant as gaps in jurisdiction coverage itself.
  

Filing and remittance

• List every jurisdiction where you offer filing support today, whether it's native or via a partner. For partner-supported jurisdictions, name the partner, describe the handoff process, and confirm whether our team needs to create a separate account with that partner.
  
• Describe the experience for a business that's filing in a jurisdiction for the first time. What does our team need to do and how long does it take?
  

C.4 Clarification and questions

Questions must be submitted in writing by [question deadline] to [RFP manager's email]. Answers will be distributed simultaneously to all participants. No informal discussions with other [your company] employees are permitted during the process.

C.5 Proposal validity

Proposals must remain valid for 90 days from the submission deadline unless extended by written mutual agreement.

C.6 Right to reject or negotiate

[Your company] reserves the right to reject any proposal, request clarifications, or conduct parallel negotiations with one or more vendors. Participation doesn't constitute a commitment to purchase.

Section D: Evaluation process

Transparency in scoring pushes vendors to respond with evidence rather than coverage lists. Every criterion maps directly to requirements in Section E.

D.1 Evaluation methodology

All proposals will be reviewed by a cross-functional team including Finance, Tax, Engineering, Legal, and Operations.

The evaluation runs in three stages:

• Compliance review: Confirm all required documents are present and meet formatting requirements.
  
• Qualitative assessment: Score each submission against weighted criteria using a 1–5 scale (5 = exceptional, backed by production evidence; 1 = fails to meet baseline). A score of 5 requires documented production outcomes, not feature descriptions.
  
• Demonstration and final review: Short-listed vendors present live platform demonstrations. Demos must use a production-parity environment, not a scripted walkthrough with preloaded data.
  

D.2 Evaluation criteria and weights

D.3 Demonstration requirements

Short-listed vendors will demonstrate the following live in a production-parity environment:

• Tax calculation at checkout for a transaction in each of the following jurisdictions: [insert your key markets]. Show the rate applied, the product tax code used, and how the customer's location was determined.
  
• Obligation monitoring dashboard – show the current threshold status across all jurisdictions and demonstrate what an alert looks like when a threshold is approaching.
  
• Adding a new country – walk through the steps to enable tax collection in a new market from scratch. The benchmark for best-in-class platforms is enabling a new state or country in seconds after registration.
  
• B2B transaction – show VAT ID validation and reverse charge application for a European business customer.
  
• Filing report – generate a filing report for [insert a jurisdiction you file in] and walk through how it maps to that jurisdiction's filing requirements.
  
• Implementation path – show the code required (or confirm no code is required) to collect tax on a new transaction type.
  

Vendors must provide temporary demo access that's valid for at least 10 business days after the demonstration.

D.4 Negotiation and contract award

[Your company] reserves the right to conduct clarification sessions, request best-and-final offers, and conduct parallel negotiations. No contract is binding until executed by both parties.

⚑ Evaluator notes – remove before sending to vendors

• Score independently before group deliberation. A score of 5 requires documented production outcomes – not feature lists or coverage tables.
  
• Probe geographical coverage market by market. For every jurisdiction on your list, ask whether coverage includes your specific product types (e.g., digital goods, SaaS, physical goods). A jurisdiction listed as "supported" that excludes digital goods isn't supported for your business.
  
• Ask vendors to walk through the full implementation timeline from contract signature to first transaction with tax collected. Ask for specific examples from comparable businesses, not projected timelines.
  
• Ask how long it takes to add a new country after completing registration. Best-in-class platforms enable this in seconds. A process that takes days or requires engineering work is a significant operational drag as you expand.
  
• For filing support, ask whether your team needs to create separate accounts with third-party filing partners or whether the handoff is simple from the vendor's dashboard. The friction of a separate onboarding with a partner compounds at every new jurisdiction.
  
• Ask specifically about tax rule update latency. When a jurisdiction changes a rate or rule, how quickly is it reflected in calculations? Ask for examples from the last 12 months.
  
• Require a live demo of the obligation monitoring dashboard. Ask what triggers an alert, how early it fires relative to the threshold, and what information it provides to your team.
  

Section E: Core requirements

This is the most important section. Require factual, evidence-backed responses. Any vendor worth deploying can point to documented outcomes from real implementations. For each requirement, vendors must indicate: Standard (in production today), Configurable (requires setup), Custom (requires development), or N/A.

E.1 Setup and implementation

Compliance risk increases the moment you have a tax obligation and aren't collecting. A solution that takes months to implement is a liability extension. The benchmark for best-in-class tax infrastructure is same-day to one-week setup: one line of code, one dashboard toggle, or one API call. For example, Keap deployed Stripe Tax in eight weeks; with its previous provider, the same implementation took 24 weeks.

E.2 Geographical coverage

Tax obligations don't wait for your coverage list to catch up. Before you exceed a threshold in a new market, your tax solution needs to be ready to collect there. Over 80% of startups on Stripe sell into more than 20 states and countries. Coverage gaps – whether by jurisdiction or by product type within a jurisdiction – are compliance risks.

E.3 Calculation accuracy and tax content

An incorrect tax rate on a transaction is both a customer experience problem and a compliance issue. For digital goods especially, the rules are complex: over 100 countries tax them differently, SaaS is taxable in some US states but not in others, and European businesses that sell digital products must collect two pieces of nonconflicting location evidence per customer. The tax content engine behind the calculation is what separates a solution that holds up across your full product mix from one that requires manual overrides.

E.4 Tax obligation monitoring

The most expensive tax problem is the one you didn't see coming. US sales tax registration thresholds vary from US$100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in most states to US$500,000 in California, New York, and Texas. European registration thresholds vary from €0 in Spain to £90,000 in the UK. Non-EU businesses must collect VAT from their very first sale into the EU. If you don't collect tax when you're obligated to, you'll pay past-due taxes out of your own pocket – plus interest and penalties that can surpass 30% of the tax due. Your tax solution must monitor your obligations proactively, before you exceed a threshold.

E.5 Registration support

Registering to collect tax is often the most difficult step of entering a new market. In the US, each state has different registration processes and requirements. Outside the US, some jurisdictions require a local tax representative. In the UK, about 17% of VAT registration requests with HMRC were rejected in 2025. Remote sellers in Canada might need up to five separate registrations. The right vendor reduces this burden materially by prefilling application details, guiding your team through local requirements, and completing registrations as quickly as possible.

E.6 Filing and remittance

For most businesses, filing is the most operationally burdensome step of tax compliance. Each jurisdiction has different formats, deadlines, and submission processes. The best solution produces jurisdiction-specific reports that match the exact format required for filing, provides due date reminders so your team never misses a deadline, and connects to filing partners that can handle filing for your team.

E.7 Platform integration and developer experience

A tax integration that requires months of engineering work or is an ongoing maintenance burden is a cost that compounds with every new market and product type you add. The best solution fits into your existing stack without requiring a separate platform, and gives your engineering team the tools to go live quickly and stay live without manual upkeep.

E.8 Reporting and analytics

Tax reporting is an operational function. Your Finance and Tax teams need real-time visibility into tax collected, obligations, and filing status across every market, without running manual queries or exporting spreadsheets.

E.9 Security and compliance

Tax infrastructure processes sensitive financial and customer data on every transaction. Security and compliance aren’t optional.

E.10 Vendor certification

I hereby certify that all responses are accurate as of the submission date and that capabilities marked Standard or Configurable are currently available in production environments. Claims not supported by documentation or a live demonstration will not be evaluated.

Note: This template doesn't constitute tax or legal advice. Vendor responses shouldn't be relied on as tax or legal advice. [Your company] should consult its own advisers.

Authorised representative: ________________________

Title: ________________________

Date: _______

⚑ Evaluator notes-remove before sending to vendors

• A score of 5 on any criterion requires documented production outcomes. A coverage list isn't evidence.
  
• For every jurisdiction on your list, ask whether coverage includes your specific product types. A jurisdiction listed as "supported" that excludes SaaS or digital goods isn't supported for your business.
  
• Ask vendors to walk through a live tax rate calculation for your most complex product type in your most complex jurisdiction. If they cannot do so in the demo, they cannot do so in production.
  
• Ask for documented implementation timelines from comparable businesses – not projected timelines. The difference between eight weeks (Stripe Tax with Keap) and 24 weeks (Keap's previous provider) is significant.
  
• For filing support, ask whether your team needs to create separate accounts with third-party filing partners. The more partners involved, the more onboarding friction compounds with each new jurisdiction.
  
• Ask specifically about tax rule update latency. When a jurisdiction changes a rate or introduces a new rule, how quickly is it reflected in calculations? Ask for examples from the last 12 months.
  
• Ask about the lead time for an obligation monitoring alert. An alert that fires after you've already exceeded a threshold provides no compliance protection.
  

Section F: Implementation and support

Every day without correct tax collection increases compliance exposure. This section establishes whether the vendor has the methodology, resources, and support model to get you live quickly and keep you compliant as your business develops.

F.1 Implementation approach

Vendors must describe:

• The typical implementation journey from contract signature to first transaction with tax collected, including documented timelines from comparable client implementations (the benchmark is days to weeks)
  
• What information [your company] needs to provide during setup and what the vendor provides or prefills
  
• How tax calculations are tested before going live, including whether a sandbox environment mirrors production behaviour exactly
  
• How they handle a situation where a business already has uncollected tax obligations at the time of implementation – what guidance is provided and what the recommended remediation path looks like
  

F.2 Resourcing and governance

Vendors should specify:

• Named account manager and tax specialist assigned to this engagement
  
• Escalation hierarchy and decision-making cadence during implementation
  
• Whether the implementation team is the same team that handles postlaunch support – the handoff is often where service quality drops
  

F.3 Training and documentation

Vendors should describe:

• Training available for Finance, Tax, Engineering, and Operations teams, particularly for nontechnical users who will manage registrations, review obligations, and access filing reports
  
• Self-serve learning resources (documentation, tutorials, and help content that enable your team to answer questions without creating support tickets)
  
• How documentation and training materials are updated when new jurisdictions, product tax codes, or filing integrations are added
  

F.4 Support model and SLAs

Vendors must specify:

• Support tiers and what’s included – a tax rate error on a live transaction or a missed filing deadline is a Severity 1 issue that requires a rapid response
  
• Response time SLAs by severity, with contractual commitments
  
• How clients are notified when tax rules change in a jurisdiction where they’re collecting, and what action, if any, is required on their part
  
• Historical Severity 1 response time data (not just the SLA)
  

F.5 Continuous compliance

Tax law changes constantly. Describe specifically how your platform monitors regulatory changes across all supported jurisdictions, how quickly updates are applied, and what – if anything – [your company] needs to do when a rule changes. Provide examples from the last 12 months of significant rule changes and how they were handled.

F.6 Vendor attestation

I certify that all implementation and support details are accurate as of the submission date and reflect current production practices.

Authorised representative: ________________________

Title: ________________________

Date: _______

⚑ Evaluator notes – remove before sending to vendors

• Ask for specific implementation examples from comparable businesses (similar transaction volume, number of markets, or product mix). Reject projected timelines.
  
• Ask what happens if a tax rule changes in a jurisdiction where you’re live. Does your team need to do anything or is the update automatic? The right answer is automatic.
  
• Ask whether the implementation team is the same team that handles postlaunch support.
  
• Ask what guidance the vendor provides if [your company] already has uncollected tax obligations. A vendor that helps only with future compliance isn’t a complete solution.
  
• Request Severity 1 response time actuals from the last 12 months.
  

Section G: Commercials

Tax software pricing varies significantly, from Transaction-Based models to flat Monthly fees and consumption Tiers. Standardise disclosure so you’re comparing real economics, not headline rates. usage-Based pricing is the most flexible model for growing businesses: you shouldn’t pay the same amount in a slow month as you do in a peak month.

G.1 Pricing structure overview

Vendors must provide:

• Itemised pricing for every component, including Tax calculation, obligation monitoring, Registration Support, filing partner access, API calls, additional jurisdictions, and add-ons
  
• A narrative that explains pricing assumptions (Transaction volume, number of jurisdictions, product mix, and filing frequency)
  
• Clear identification of any minimum monthly commitments, volume thresholds, or tiered pricing that affects the total cost
  
• All figures in USD, including conversion logic if other currencies are quoted
  
• Explicit disclosure of all fees (Support, implementation, upgrades, additional jurisdictions, and filing partner fees)—hidden fees discovered after contract execution might be treated as a material misrepresentation
  

G.2 Pricing components

G.3 Volume sensitivity

G.4 Pricing model

• Is pricing based on usage (per transaction) or subscription (flat monthly), or is it a hybrid model? Describe the model and its implications for a business with seasonal volume variation.
  
• Can [your company] switch between pricing models without penalty? Describe the process and any conditions.
  
• Does pricing scale down automatically if transaction volume decreases?
  

G.5 Contract terms

• Available contract lengths and any pricing incentives for longer commitments
  
• Minimum spend requirements
  
• Exit clauses and data portability – how tax transaction history, registration records, and filing reports are returned on exit, in what format, and on what timeline
  
• Annual price escalation caps
  

G.6 Vendor certification

I certify that all pricing and commercial information is complete and accurate as of the submission date, including all fees a client would be expected to pay.

Authorised representative: ________________________

Date: _______

⚑ Evaluator notes – remove before sending to vendors

• Reconcile the pricing narrative against the Excel sheet. Discrepancies are a signal.
  
• Ask specifically about filing partner fees. These are often not included in the headline price and compound with every jurisdiction.
  
• Ask whether pricing covers tax calculation for payments processed outside the vendor's native platform (external processor API calls). This is often priced separately.
  
• Ask what happens to pricing when you add a new country. Is it included or is each new jurisdiction another line item?
  
• Data portability on exit is the real lock-in mechanism for tax software; your filing history and registration records need to be portable. Assess exit terms before you sign.
  
• Usage-based pricing is more favourable for growing businesses than flat fees. Model the total cost at 10× your current volume.
  

Section H: Vendor profile

Your tax infrastructure partner sits in the compliance path of every transaction. Understand the company as a whole: its financial health, depth of tax expertise, pace of coverage expansion, and track record with businesses that look like yours.

H.1 Company overview

Provide a two- to three-paragraph summary of your history, mission, and market position. Focus on your experience with businesses in [your segment (e.g., SaaS, digital goods, e-commerce, marketplace)]. Describe your track record of keeping pace with regulatory change as tax laws have developed globally, particularly regarding digital goods and SaaS taxation.

H.2 Customer base and track record

Provide specific data on your customer base:

• Number of businesses that use your tax solution
  
• Markets where businesses use your platform in production today
  
• Industries and product types represented in your customer base
  
• Documented implementation timelines for comparable businesses
  
• Evidence of tax calculation accuracy from production deployments
  

H.3 Tax expertise

Describe the team responsible for monitoring and incorporating tax law changes globally. For a tax solution, a robust, responsive content team is as important as an engineering team.

Describe:

• The size and composition of your tax research team
  
• The process for monitoring regulatory changes across all supported jurisdictions
  
• How quickly rule changes are incorporated and deployed to all clients
  
• Your track record on significant tax law changes in the last 12 months (provide examples)
  

H.4 Financial stability

Provide audited financial statements or equivalent evidence of solvency. Private companies should have a CFO letter that certifies liquidity. Describe your funding structure.

H.5 Certifications and compliance

H.6 Pace of coverage expansion

Describe how your geographical coverage and product tax code library have expanded in the last 12 months. Which jurisdictions or product types were added and when? Describe your road map for the next 12–18 months and how you prioritise coverage expansion.

H.7 Vendor statement of accuracy

I certify that all information in Section H is accurate as of the submission date and that [vendor] has the financial, technical, and operational capacity to perform the described services.

Authorised representative: ________________________

Date: _______

Section I: References

References from businesses with comparable product mixes and market footprints are more valuable than any demo. A vendor that has successfully implemented for a SaaS company that sells into 30 US states and 15 countries has references that can speak to real outcomes – not projected ones.

I.1 Reference requirements

Vendors must provide a minimum of three references that meet these criteria:

• Comparable business model to [your company] – same industry or product type (e.g., SaaS, digital goods, e-commerce, marketplace)
  
• Comparable transaction volume or market footprint at the time of implementation
  
• At least one reference that's expanded into new markets after initial implementation
  
• At least one reference that uses filing partner support
  
• Active customer in production for at least 12 months
  

I.2 Reference table

I.3 Reference outcome summary

For each reference, provide documented outcomes: implementation timeline, number of jurisdictions supported, accuracy of tax calculations, time saved compared to a manual process, and any near miss compliance situations that the platform helped avoid. Provide specific figures, not ranges.

I.4 Reference validation

I confirm that each client has consented to serve as a reference and that all information is accurate. [Your company] reserves the right to contact references directly.

Authorised representative: ________________________

Date: _______

⚑ Evaluator notes – remove before sending to vendors

• Call at least two references by phone. Written summaries are curated by the vendor.
  
• Ask references specifically whether the implementation timeline in the proposal matches what they experienced. Ask for the actual dates from contract signature to first transaction with tax collected.
  
• Ask whether the tax rates applied in production were accurate and whether references ever encountered an incorrect calculation.
  
• Ask about the experience of adding a new market after initially going live. How long did it take and how much engineering work was involved?
  
• Ask about the filing experience: did the reports match the jurisdiction's requirements exactly or did their teams need to reformat data?
  
• Flag references from noncomparable businesses. A reference from a physical goods retailer tells you little about SaaS or digital goods tax complexity.
  

Section J: Appendixes

J.1 Submission checklist (vendor use)

Attach as the first page of your response packet. Incomplete submissions might be excluded from evaluation.

J.2 Glossary of terms

J.3 Evaluation scoring matrix

J.4 Requirements quick-reference checklist

For vendor self-assessment before submission.

Setup and implementation

• Documented implementation timeline from comparable businesses
  
• No-code setup via dashboard toggle
  
• Low-code setup via single line of code
  
• API integration for custom workflows and external processor payments
  
• Native integration with existing payments or billing platform
  
• Sandbox testing with production parity before going live
  
• Self-serve documentation with code snippets and examples
  

Geographical coverage

• 100+ countries supported in production today
  
• All US states and DC covered
  
• Coverage confirmed by product type within each jurisdiction (e.g., digital goods, SaaS, physical goods, services)
  
• Rooftop-level location precision
  
• Dynamic rate selection based on precise customer location
  
• Ability to add a new country in seconds after registration
  
• Registration support (directly within the US and via a named partner outside of it)
  

Calculation accuracy and tax content

• 600+ product tax codes – full coverage list provided
  
• Automatic tax content updates – no action required from your team
  
• B2B VAT ID validation and reverse charge – accuracy rates from production
  
• Two-piece location evidence collection for EU-bound digital goods
  
• Exemption certificate handling
  
• Checkout tax display using available location signals before full address is entered
  
• Prorations, discounts, and credit notes handled accurately
  

Obligation monitoring

• Automated threshold tracking across all jurisdictions
  
• Proactive alerts before thresholds are exceeded
  
• Obligation dashboard – real-time threshold status without manual queries
  
• Historical transaction lookback for prior obligation identification
  
• Alert delivery via dashboard, email, and webhook
  

Registration support

• US registration automated with prefilled applications
  
• Non-US registration via named partner (e.g., Taxually)
  
• Prefilled applications for subsequent registrations
  
• Registration status tracking in platform dashboard
  
• Post-registration activation in seconds
  

Filing and remittance

• Jurisdiction-specific report formats with no reformatting required
  
• Automated due date reminders per jurisdiction
  
• Filing partners listed with jurisdictions covered
  
• Handoff can be completed from vendor dashboard without a separate data export or upload
  
• Self-filing support with instructions per jurisdiction
  

Platform integration and developer experience

• Single platform – no separate login or API key
  
• 99.999%+ uptime – 12-month historical data
  
• Automatic tax content updates with zero action required
  
• Webhook support for tax events
  
• External processor API access
  
• No code configuration for Finance and Tax teams
  

Reporting and analytics

• Unified dashboard for obligations, collections, registrations, and filings in one view
  
• Transaction-level tax detail with rate, code, and location
  
• Jurisdiction-level aggregate reporting
  
• Data warehouse export (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift)
  
• Complete audit trail
  

Commercials

• Usage-based pricing that scales with transaction volume
  
• All fees disclosed (calculation, monitoring, registration, filing partners, and support)
  
• No hidden fees for upgrades or additional jurisdictions
  
• Data portability on exit (filing history, registration records, and transaction data)
  

J.5 Vendor submission certification

I certify that this submission is complete and that all information provided is accurate to the best of my knowledge. [Your company] reserves the right to verify any claims made in this response. This submission doesn't constitute tax or legal advice.

Company name: ________________________

Authorised representative: ________________________

Title: ________________________

Signature: ________________________

Date: ________

How Stripe Tax can help

Stripe Tax reduces the complexity of tax compliance so you can focus on growing your business. Stripe Tax helps you monitor your obligations and alerts you when you exceed a sales tax registration threshold based on your Stripe transactions. In addition, it automatically calculates and collects sales tax, VAT and GST on both physical and digital goods and services – in all US states and in more than 100 countries.

Start collecting taxes globally by adding a single line of code to your existing integration, clicking a button in the Dashboard or using our powerful API.

Stripe Tax can help you:

• Understand where to register and collect taxes: See where you need to collect taxes based on your Stripe transactions. After you register, switch on tax collection in a new state or country in seconds. You can start collecting taxes by adding one line of code to your existing Stripe integration or add tax collection with the click of a button in the Stripe Dashboard.
  
• Register to pay tax: Let Stripe manage your global tax registrations and benefit from a simplified process that prefills application details – saving you time and simplifying compliance with local regulations.
  
• Automatically collect tax: Stripe Tax calculates and collects the right amount of tax owed, no matter what or where you sell. It supports hundreds of products and services and is up-to-date on tax rules and rate changes.
  
• Simplify filing: Stripe Tax seamlessly integrates with filing partners, so your global filings are accurate and timely. Let our partners manage your filings so you can focus on growing your business.
  

Learn more about Stripe Tax or get started today.