Tax Calculation Issues

If tax on a cafe item comes through as zero, or at the wrong rate, when it’s added to the cart in POS Cafe, the cause is usually the item’s Product Category in Shopify.

A Shopify POS issue can make a product with a category calculate tax incorrectly. We’ve reported it to Shopify and it’s still open as of October 2026. Clearing the category on the affected product fixes it in a couple of minutes.

Clear the product category

Two parts: clear the category in Shopify admin, then refresh POS Cafe on your devices.

Part 1: Update the product in Shopify admin

1. Log in to your Shopify Admin on your computer or mobile device.

2. Navigate to Products and click on the specific cafe item that is experiencing the tax issue (e.g., Cappuccino).

3. Scroll down to find the Product Category field (Shopify sometimes auto-fills this for you).

4. Delete the existing category so that the field is empty.

5. Click Save to apply your changes. After saving, the field should now read as Uncategorized.

Part 2: Refresh POS Cafe on your devices

Refresh POS Cafe on each POS device so the change is picked up straight away. See Refreshing POS Cafe.

About product categories

Shopify’s product category documentation explains what categories are used for. Cafe items sold through POS Cafe don’t need one.