Rankd Tax Exemption Certificates for WooCommerce provides a complete, audit-ready tax exemption workflow for WooCommerce stores.<\/p>\n\n
Compatibility notice:<\/strong> This plugin cannot guarantee compatibility with plugins that write directly to the WooCommerce customer session object rather than using the standard FREE FEATURES:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n PRO FEATURES (via Freemius license):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n WooCommerce is the only required dependency.<\/p>\n\n Tax is removed from that customer's cart and checkout on their next page load.<\/p>\n\n Customer flow:<\/p>\n\n Admin flow:<\/p>\n\n Expiry:<\/p>\n\n Role compliance (Pro):<\/p>\n\n WooCommerce \u2192 Settings \u2192 Tax Exempt Certs:<\/p>\n\n Pro adds:<\/p>\n\n This plugin includes a developer filter for external systems to opt individual users out of its management entirely.<\/p>\n\n Example \u2014 wholesale plugin integration:<\/p>\n\n The plugin also supports additional exemption sources via:<\/p>\n\n Exemption is applied if ANY source returns active. This plugin never removes an exemption granted by another system.<\/p>\n\n USER META (wp_usermeta):<\/p>\n\n CUSTOM TABLES (Pro):<\/p>\n\n UPLOADS (Pro):<\/p>\n\n Tax exemption details are automatically added to PDF invoices for:<\/p>\n\n The notice includes: Organization name, Certificate number, Jurisdiction, Certificate expiry date. It always reflects the certificate that covered the order at purchase time, even if the customer's status changes later.<\/p>\n\n Developer filters:<\/p>\n\n Important:<\/strong> This plugin cannot guarantee compatibility with plugins that write directly to the WooCommerce customer session object rather than using the WooCommerce determines tax exemption via a single boolean flag on the customer session. This plugin hooks into this system at filter priority 20, which means:<\/p>\n\n This is by design. This plugin deliberately avoids overriding other systems that have already made an exemption decision.<\/p>\n\n If you are building or maintaining a plugin that manages tax exemption for certain users, you can tell this plugin to step aside entirely for those users using the When Fully supported. The plugin writes an .htaccess file to the certificate upload directory that blocks all direct HTTP access. No additional configuration required.<\/p>\n\n The .htaccess file has no effect on Nginx servers. If your site runs Nginx, add the following block to your server configuration to protect uploaded certificate files:<\/p>\n\n The plugin displays a persistent admin notice if it detects an Nginx server or a missing .htaccess file, with instructions for your hosting provider or server administrator. The notice can be dismissed once the configuration is confirmed.<\/p>\n\n A fallback index.php is also written to the directory to prevent directory listing on servers that process neither .htaccess nor Nginx location blocks.<\/p>\n\n Certificate expiry enforcement and warning emails run as daily scheduled actions via Action Scheduler<\/strong> \u2014 the background job system built into WooCommerce. No hosting configuration, wp-config changes, or extra plugins are required.<\/p>\n\n You can view, monitor, and manually run the plugin's scheduled actions at WooCommerce \u2192 Status \u2192 Scheduled Actions<\/strong> (search for \"rankd_tx\").<\/p>\n\n As a safety net, if the checks have not completed in over 36 hours the plugin displays an admin notice with a one-click Run checks now<\/strong> button, so a store manager can trigger the expiry check and warning emails immediately from the dashboard.<\/p>\n\n For additional reliability on very low-traffic sites, a server-side cron job in your hosting control panel is optional hardening:<\/p>\n\n Filters:<\/p>\n\n Actions:<\/p>\n\n By default, deleting the plugin via the WordPress admin Plugins screen removes\nNOTHING beyond scheduled tasks \u2014 deactivating never removes data, and neither\ndoes deleting, unless you explicitly opt in.<\/p>\n\n To permanently remove all plugin data on uninstall, enable \"Remove Data on\nUninstall\" at WooCommerce \u2192 Settings \u2192 Tax Exempt Certs before deleting the\nplugin. With that enabled, uninstalling removes:<\/p>\n\n Uploaded certificate files are never deleted automatically, even with this\nsetting enabled \u2014 remove them manually if required:\n wp-content\/uploads\/rankd-tax-exempt-certs\/<\/p>\n\n Uploaded certificate files in wp-content\/uploads\/rankd-tax-exempt-certs\/ are NOT automatically deleted as they may be needed for compliance records. Delete the directory manually if required.<\/p>\n\n\n Free is trust-based: mark a role as tax-exempt and every member of that role is exempted immediately, no evidence required. Pro adds a certificate-backed compliance layer \u2014 role members aren't exempted until there's an approved certificate on file covering the order's jurisdiction, or a recorded override accepting the risk. Individual users can always be excluded via the Never Exempt override regardless of tier.<\/p><\/dd>\n Usually not \u2014 this plugin is designed to defer to exemptions granted by other systems rather than override them. It can conflict with plugins that write directly to the WooCommerce customer session object instead of using the standard Deactivating never touches your data. Deleting the plugin also leaves all data in place by default \u2014 certificates, overrides, settings, and the audit log are only removed if you explicitly opt in via the \"Remove Data on Uninstall\" setting before deleting.<\/p><\/dd>\n Configurable at WooCommerce \u2192 Settings \u2192 Tax Exempt Certs \u2192 Who Can Manage Exemptions. Administrator is always included and can't be removed. Roles left out of that setting still get read-only access to certificate and status information, but can't make changes.<\/p><\/dd>\n Yes.<\/p><\/dd>\n A scheduled daily check automatically expires certificates past their expiry date and removes the customer's exemption. If Expiry Warning is configured, a reminder email goes out X days beforehand, and the customer sees a prefilled renewal form in My Account. A configurable grace period can keep exemption active while a renewal is under review.<\/p><\/dd>\n Yes (Pro) \u2014 certificates are jurisdiction-specific, and a customer can hold multiple certificates covering different states, provinces, or countries. Exemption is applied only when the order's destination matches an approved certificate's jurisdiction.<\/p><\/dd>\n In a protected directory outside direct web access (via woocommerce_customer_is_vat_exempt<\/code> filter. If your store uses such a plugin, this plugin may not function correctly for affected customers. See the Plugin Compatibility section below for details and resolution options.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Requirements<\/h3>\n\n
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Usage<\/h3>\n\n
Marking a customer as tax exempt (Free)<\/h4>\n\n
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Certificate submission workflow (Pro)<\/h4>\n\n
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Settings<\/h4>\n\n
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Wholesale & Third-Party Compatibility<\/h3>\n\n
add_filter( 'rankd_tx_skip_user', function( $skip, $user_id ) {\n \/\/ Tell this plugin to ignore users managed by your wholesale system.\n if ( has_wholesale_exemption( $user_id ) ) return true;\n return $skip;\n}, 10, 2 );\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\nadd_filter( 'rankd_tx_exemption_sources', function( $sources, $user_id ) {\n if ( has_wholesale_exemption( $user_id ) ) $sources[] = 'wholesale';\n return $sources;\n}, 10, 2 );\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\nData Storage<\/h3>\n\n
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_rankd_tx_is_exempt<\/code> \u2014 String. Per-user override: always<\/code>, never<\/code>, or absent (follow role rules). Legacy 1<\/code> values from the pre-1.5.0 checkbox are read as always<\/code>.<\/li>\n_rankd_tx_exempt_note<\/code> \u2014 String. Admin note. Never shown to customer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
{prefix}rankd_tx_certificates<\/code> \u2014 One row per certificate submission.<\/li>\n{prefix}rankd_tx_audit_log<\/code> \u2014 One row per status change event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
Invoice Plugin Integration<\/h3>\n\n
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rankd_tx_show_invoice_notice<\/code> \u2014 return false to suppress entirely<\/li>\nrankd_tx_invoice_document_types<\/code> \u2014 array of document types to show on (default: invoice, proforma, credit-note)<\/li>\nrankd_tx_invoice_notice_html<\/code> \u2014 replace the full notice HTML (args: $html, $order)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nPlugin Compatibility & Tax Exemption Conflicts<\/h3>\n\n
woocommerce_customer_is_vat_exempt<\/code> filter. These plugins bypass the filter system entirely and no priority adjustment will resolve the conflict.<\/p>\n\nHow this plugin handles conflicts<\/h4>\n\n
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Developer integration \u2014 excluding users<\/h4>\n\n
rankd_tx_skip_user<\/code> filter:<\/p>\n\nadd_filter( 'rankd_tx_skip_user', function( $skip, $user_id ) {\n if ( my_plugin_manages_this_user( $user_id ) ) {\n return true;\n }\n return $skip;\n}, 10, 2 );\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\nrankd_tx_skip_user<\/code> returns true for a user:<\/p>\n\n\n
Recommended approach for site owners<\/h4>\n\n
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rankd_tx_skip_user<\/code> to exclude users managed by the other plugin. This is the cleanest solution and eliminates the conflict at the source.<\/li>\nwoocommerce_customer_is_vat_exempt<\/code> filter, adjusting its priority relative to this plugin (priority 20) may resolve the conflict. Contact the other plugin's developer for guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\nServer Compatibility<\/h3>\n\n
Apache \/ LiteSpeed<\/h4>\n\n
Nginx<\/h4>\n\n
location ~* \/uploads\/rankd-tax-exempt-certs\/ {\n deny all;\n return 403;\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\nOther servers<\/h4>\n\n
Scheduled Tasks<\/h3>\n\n
curl -s \"https:\/\/yoursite.com\/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron\" > \/dev\/null<h3>Developer Reference<\/h3>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n
rankd_tx_skip_user<\/code> \u2014 Return true to exclude a user from this plugin.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_exemption_sources<\/code> \u2014 Add external exemption sources.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_tax_id_labels<\/code> \u2014 Modify the per-country tax ID label map.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_exemption_types_map<\/code> \u2014 Modify the per-country exemption type lists.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_generic_exempt_types<\/code> \u2014 Modify the generic exemption type fallback list.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_settings<\/code> \u2014 Add\/modify settings fields.<\/li>\nrankd_tx_review_queue_per_page<\/code> \u2014 Change review queue page size (default 50).<\/li>\nrankd_tx_show_invoice_notice<\/code>, rankd_tx_invoice_document_types<\/code>, rankd_tx_invoice_notice_html<\/code> \u2014 see Invoice Plugin Integration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
rankd_tx_certificate_submitted<\/code> \u2014 Fires on new submission. Args: $user_id, $cert_id<\/li>\nrankd_tx_certificate_approved<\/code> \u2014 Fires on approval. Args: $user_id, $cert_id, $expiry_date<\/li>\nrankd_tx_certificate_rejected<\/code> \u2014 Fires on rejection. Args: $user_id, $cert_id, $reason<\/li>\nrankd_tx_certificate_revoked<\/code> \u2014 Fires on revocation. Args: $user_id, $cert_id, $reason<\/li>\nrankd_tx_certificate_expiry_warning<\/code> \u2014 Fires on warning. Args: $user_id, $cert_id, $expiry_date<\/li>\nrankd_tx_certificate_expired<\/code> \u2014 Fires on expiry. Args: $user_id, $cert_id<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nUninstalling<\/h3>\n\n
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_rankd_tx_is_exempt<\/code>, _rankd_tx_exempt_note<\/code>)<\/li>\n_rankd_tx_was_exempt<\/code>, _rankd_tx_sources<\/code>, _rankd_tx_cert_id<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n
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What's the difference between the Free and Pro exemption models?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Will this conflict with my wholesale plugin or another tax\/VAT plugin?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
woocommerce_customer_is_vat_exempt<\/code> filter. See the Plugin Compatibility section below if a customer's exemption isn't applying correctly.<\/p><\/dd>\nWhat happens to my data if I deactivate or delete the plugin?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Which staff roles can manage tax exemption?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Is this compatible with High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS)?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
What happens when a certificate expires?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Can a customer be exempt in some states\/jurisdictions but not others?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Where are uploaded certificate documents stored, and are they secure?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
.htaccess<\/code> on Apache, with an Nginx compatibility notice shown if detected), served only through a permission-checked download handler \u2014 never a public URL.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n\n1.1.2<\/h4>\n\n
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1.1.1<\/h4>\n\n
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1.1.0<\/h4>\n\n
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