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A pre-order follows the checkout flow, with a long gap between payment and shipment. The tax is charged at checkout, and the sale is recorded when it ships.

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1. Quote and charge at checkout

Quote with POST /calculations as for any order, and charge the buyer the returned tax_amount. Keep the lines, discounts and tax you charged with the order. Nothing is recorded at payment. The sale is recorded once it ships, with the actual shipping date.

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2. Record the sale when it ships

Send POST /transactions with status: finalized, and:
  • transaction_date: when the order shipped.
  • tax_amount: the tax you charged at checkout. Don’t quote again at shipping.
For example, a pre-order paid on January 1 and shipped on March 1 is recorded with a transaction_date of March 1 and the tax charged on January 1. If a rate changes between checkout and shipping, the tax due at the shipping date can differ from what you collected. The response shows both: tax_amount is what you sent, and tax_calculation.tax_amount is the tax at the shipping date’s rates. The buyer isn’t charged again or refunded for the difference.

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Cancelled before it ships

Nothing was recorded. To find the tax to refund, quote the cancelled lines with transaction_date set to the checkout time, so the rates match what the buyer paid. See Cancellations.

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Refunded after it ships

Record a credit linked to the sale. When you quote the refund with POST /calculations, set transaction_date to the sale’s date, which is the shipping date. See Refunds.