Most wholesale businesses need a different tax treatment for their B2B customers: a reduced tax rate, a specific tax class that maps to the correct rate for their industry, or no tax at all for certain roles. WooCommerce Wholesale Prices Premium gives you full control over how tax is applied to each wholesale role in your store.
There are three distinct approaches available, and they can be combined. You can exempt all wholesale roles from tax globally, configure per-role exemptions for finer control, or map each wholesale role to a specific WooCommerce tax class, applying a completely different rate to wholesale customers compared to retail. All of these settings are found in one place: Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → Tax.
This article covers each approach in turn, starting with the most common use case: applying a different tax rate via the Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping.
Requirements
- WooCommerce Wholesale Prices Premium installed and activated (the tax controls described in this article are exclusive to the Premium plugin).
- At least one wholesale role created and assigned to a customer. See Managing Wholesale Roles if you haven’t done this yet.
- For the Tax Class Mapping approach: a custom WooCommerce tax class created with its rates configured. The steps below walk you through this.
Apply a different tax rate to wholesale customers
The Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping lets you assign a specific WooCommerce tax class to each wholesale role. When a wholesale customer with that role shops on your store, WooCommerce applies the rates you have defined for the mapped tax class instead of the standard rate. This is the recommended approach when you need a genuinely different rate, not just zero tax, for your wholesale customers.
Step 1: Create a new tax class in WooCommerce
- Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Tax.
- Find the Additional tax classes field.
- Type a name for your new wholesale tax class (for example, Wholesale Rate) on a new line and click Save changes.
After saving, the new tax class appears as a tab under WooCommerce → Settings → Tax.
Step 2: Add tax rates for the new class
Click the new tax class tab that appeared after saving (for example, Wholesale Rate). You can now add one or more tax rates for this class, specifying the country, state, rate percentage, and any additional options. For a detailed guide on configuring WooCommerce tax rates, refer to the WooCommerce tax documentation.
Step 3: Map the wholesale role to the new tax class
- Go to Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → Tax.
- Scroll down to the Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping section.
- In the Wholesale Role dropdown, select the wholesale role you want to map.
- In the Tax Class dropdown, select the tax class you just created (for example, Wholesale Rate).
- Click Add Mapping. The mapping appears in the table below.
Repeat for each wholesale role that needs a different tax class. You can edit or remove any existing mapping using the edit and delete icons at the end of each row.
Wholesale only tax classes
This is a standalone option rather than a further step in the mapping process. The Wholesale Only Tax Classes checkbox, found at the top of the Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping section, hides your mapped tax classes from non-wholesale customers. When enabled, retail customers can no longer see or be assigned those tax classes.
If a product is set to use one of the mapped tax classes and a non-wholesale customer (or guest) views or purchases it, WooCommerce will fall back to the standard tax class for that customer.
Exempt specific wholesale roles from tax
If you need some wholesale roles to be fully tax-exempt but not others, use the Wholesale Role / Tax Exemption Mapping section. This lets you set tax exemption on a per-role basis and overrides the global Tax Exemption setting for the roles you map here.
- Go to Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → Tax.
- Scroll to the Wholesale Role / Tax Exemption Mapping section.
- In the Wholesale Role dropdown, select the role to configure.
- In the Tax Exempted? dropdown, select Yes to exempt the role or No to keep them taxable.
- Click Add Mapping.
Exempt all wholesale users from tax
To remove tax from every wholesale role at once, regardless of role, use the global Tax Exemption setting in the Tax Options section.
- Go to Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → Tax.
- Under the Tax Options section, find the Tax Exemption checkbox.
- Check the box labelled Do not apply tax to all wholesale roles.
- Click Save changes.
When this option is enabled, all wholesale prices display excluding tax throughout the store, cart, and checkout. The Display Prices in the Shop and Display Prices During Cart and Checkout settings below are ignored while this option is active.
Tax display settings
The Tax Options section also contains settings that control how wholesale prices are displayed to wholesale customers, independently of the actual tax rates applied. These let you show wholesale customers tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive prices even when they are not exempt.
Display prices in the shop
The Display Prices in the Shop dropdown controls whether wholesale customers see prices including or excluding tax on shop and product pages.
- –Use woocommerce default–: inherits the display setting from WooCommerce → Settings → Tax.
- Including tax: wholesale customers see tax-inclusive prices in the shop.
- Excluding tax: wholesale customers see tax-exclusive prices in the shop.
Display prices during cart and checkout
The Display Prices During Cart and Checkout dropdown works the same way but applies specifically to the cart and checkout pages.
- –Use woocommerce default–: inherits the WooCommerce cart and checkout display setting.
- Including tax: wholesale customers see tax-inclusive prices in the cart and checkout.
- Excluding tax: wholesale customers see tax-exclusive prices in the cart and checkout.
If the global Tax Exemption checkbox is enabled, these display settings are overridden. Wholesale prices will always display excluding tax.
Price suffixes
Two optional text fields let you customise the price suffix that wholesale customers see:
- Override Regular Price Suffix: overrides the price suffix shown on the original retail price for wholesale users. Leave blank to use the WooCommerce default. You can use
{price_including_tax}or{price_excluding_tax}as dynamic substitution values. - Wholesale Price Suffix: sets a specific suffix shown after the wholesale price. Leave blank to use the WooCommerce default. This field also accepts the
{price_including_tax}and{price_excluding_tax}dynamic substitution values.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Tax Exemption Mapping and Tax Class Mapping?
Tax Exemption Mapping removes tax entirely for the mapped wholesale role. Tax Class Mapping assigns a different WooCommerce tax class to a wholesale role, which can carry its own rates: lower, higher, or zero. Use Tax Class Mapping when you need a specific rate rather than a full exemption.
Does the Tax Class Mapping override the tax class set on individual products?
Yes. When a wholesale role is mapped to a tax class, that class is applied to their orders regardless of the tax class set on individual products. The role-level mapping takes precedence over product-level tax class settings.
Can I map different wholesale roles to different tax classes?
Yes. The Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping table supports multiple entries. Each role can be mapped to a completely different tax class, so you can have one wholesale tier pay a reduced rate while another tier pays a different rate.
If I enable the global Tax Exemption, do the per-role exemption mappings still apply?
The per-role exemption mapping takes precedence. For any wholesale role you have mapped in the Wholesale Role / Tax Exemption Mapping section, the per-role setting wins over the global Tax Exemption checkbox. So a role mapped to Tax Exempted? No stays taxable even when the global exemption is enabled. The global Tax Exemption setting only applies to wholesale roles that do not have a per-role mapping. This matches the plugin’s own setting description, which notes that the per-role mapping “Overrides general Tax Exemption option above.”
What happens to retail customers if I enable Wholesale Only Tax Classes?
Retail customers and guests can no longer see or be assigned the mapped tax classes. If a product is assigned one of those tax classes, WooCommerce will fall back to the standard tax class for any non-wholesale customer. Keep this in mind if some of your products are sold to both retail and wholesale customers.
Does the tax mapping apply to the cart and checkout as well as shop pages?
Yes. Both the Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping and the Wholesale Role / Tax Exemption Mapping apply throughout the entire shopping process: product pages, shop pages, the cart, checkout, and on completed orders.
I set up a tax class mapping but wholesale customers are still seeing the original tax rate. What should I check?
First, confirm the mapping was saved by checking that an entry appears in the Wholesale Role / Tax Class Mapping table. Then verify the tax class has at least one rate configured under WooCommerce → Settings → Tax → [Your Tax Class]. Also check that the global Tax Exemption checkbox is not enabled. If it is, the class mapping is bypassed. Finally, clear any caching (page cache, object cache) and test with a fresh browser session logged in as a wholesale user.
Can I use both Tax Exemption Mapping and Tax Class Mapping at the same time?
Yes. You can have one wholesale role mapped to a custom tax class and a different role set as fully tax-exempt using the exemption mapping. Each role’s setting is evaluated independently.
Does changing the tax settings affect the wholesale prices set on products?
No. The tax rate and display settings only affect how tax is calculated and shown on top of (or within) wholesale prices. The wholesale prices themselves are managed separately on each product and are not changed by these settings.
How do I test that the correct tax rate is being applied to my wholesale customers?
Create a dedicated test user assigned to your wholesale role. Log in as that user, add a product to the cart, and check the tax line in the cart and checkout. Compare it against the rates you configured in WooCommerce → Settings → Tax → [Your Tax Class]. See the guide on creating a wholesale test user for more details.
Help & support
We have a dedicated support team for Wholesale Suite who knows our products, WooCommerce, and the industry very well. You’re welcome to make use of their expertise at any time, worldwide.
If you are an existing customer please go to the support ticket request form and send us a message.
If you are a free plugin user, please send us a support request on the forum. We actively monitor the WordPress.org support forums for the free plugin and help our users there as best as we can.
