Update Tax-Exempt Status on Company Locations Using Shopify Customer Tags

When customer tags are updated in Shopify (tags added, removed, or modified through admin, API, or apps), this trigger activates the workflow and captures the customer ID and complete current tag list. The includeFields parameter limits the trigger to only fire when tags actually change (not on every customer update), improving efficiency. No configuration is required—it's pre-connected to your Shopify store and monitors tag changes automatically.

Use case: B2B merchants can tag customers with specific tax exemption codes (like "CA_BC_COMMERCIAL_FISHERY_EXEMPTION" for British Columbia commercial fishing exemptions) and have those exemptions automatically apply to all company locations associated with that customer.

This custom JavaScript step processes the customer's tag list to extract tax exemption tags.

Tag format requirement: Exemption tags must follow Shopify's tax exemption naming convention and contain the word "EXEMPTION" (like CA_BC_COMMERCIAL_FISHERY_EXEMPTION, CA_BC_CONTRACTOR_EXEMPTION, US_CA_RESELLER_EXEMPTION). The code splits the comma-separated tags, trims whitespace, checks each tag for the string "EXEMPTION", and returns an array of matching exemption tags.

// Splits tags, trims whitespace
let tags = vars.shopify.tags.split(',').map(element => element.trim());
// Filters to only tags containing "EXEMPTION"
for (let tag of tags) {
  if (tag.includes('EXEMPTION')) {
    exemptionTags.push({"tag": tag})
  }
}

The filtered exemption tags are returned as an array where each element contains a tag property ready for processing.

This loop iterates through the array of exemption tags from the previous step. For each exemption tag, the loop executes the subsequent company location retrieval and update steps. This ensures that if a customer has multiple exemption tags (like both CA_BC_COMMERCIAL_FISHERY_EXEMPTION and CA_BC_CONTRACTOR_EXEMPTION), all exemptions are properly applied to their company locations.

This custom JavaScript step queries Shopify's B2B system to find company locations associated with the customer using the customer ID. In Shopify Plus B2B, customers can be assigned to multiple company locations (different business addresses, warehouses, branches), and tax exemptions need to apply across all relevant locations. The code uses ShopifyUtil.companyLocationsForCustomer to retrieve the location list and returns an array of company location objects.

B2B context: A single customer might be associated with multiple company locations if they represent a business with several branches or shipping addresses. Each location may need the same tax exemptions applied.

This loop iterates through the array of company locations from the previous step. For each location, the loop executes the location retrieval and tax exemption update steps using the company location ID. This nested loop structure (outer loop for exemption tags, inner loop for locations) ensures every exemption is applied to every relevant location.

This step retrieves the full company location record from Shopify Plus using the company location ID from the loop. It returns complete location information including current tax exemption status, location details, and associated company data. This information is used in the subsequent update step to properly apply the tax exemption.

Shopify Plus requirement: This step uses Shopify Plus B2B features. The workflow requires a Shopify Plus account with B2B capabilities enabled.

This custom JavaScript step updates the company location's tax exemption status. The code uses ShopifyUtil.assignTaxExemptStatusToLocation with the company location ID and the exemption tag to apply the exemption through Shopify's GraphQL API. This updates the location's tax configuration so that orders placed by contacts at this location receive appropriate tax exemptions based on the assigned exemption codes.

Tax exemption application: Shopify maintains a list of valid tax exemption codes for different regions and exemption types. When applied to a company location, these exemptions automatically affect tax calculations during checkout for orders associated with that location.