Introduction
I recently received a warning that my Google Merchant Center account was at risk of being suspended. The reason? “Inaccurate tax information in GMC.” I had no idea what this meant, so I dug into the details. Turns out, Google Merchant Center has strict requirements for the shipping and tax settings in your product data and would reject any products that don’t meet those requirements. These were the words from one of my clients who was surprised by the email from Google.
Don’t be caught off guard by this error.
Your data is one of the most important assets of your account. If you don’t know where it came from, how you’re using it or why it’s there, you can be caught off-guard by any number of errors. And even if everything seems fine now, things can change at any time — so being prepared will help make sure your team stays on top of their game.
One common error that many GMC users face is an “account warned for violation of feed specification: inaccurate tax information” when they log into their account. This error happens when there are inconsistencies between what’s on file with the GMC and what Google’s bots have discovered from the product page. In other words: It means that the total price for a product is different at the checkout page than what is being sent to GMC.
Google Merchant Center has strict requirements for the shipping and tax settings in your product data.
Google Merchant Center has strict requirements for the shipping and tax settings in your product data. If you don’t have the correct tax information, Google Merchant Center will reject your product data.
To ensure that your products meet this requirement, we recommend that you set tax in your Merchant Center the same as you have in your stores admin section. This will allow you to make sure that all of your products include accurate tax information.
If you aren’t sure how to fix your tax problem, hire a professional.
If you aren’t sure how to fix your inaccurate tax information problem, hire a professional. Feed optimization is complicated and not everyone has the right experience and knowledge to get it right. If you need feed optimization, hiring a professional can be the best way to get your feed up and running. They’ll know what they’re doing when it comes time for them to fix your feed. Don’t worry about having yet another expert on board—just sit back and let them work their magic! You can also contact us, we are professionals that have dealt with many accounts and solved each one of them.
How to change the settings within GMC?
Login to your account by going to merchants.google.com, you should be redirected to your account dashboard. At the top right corner, you will see “settings” icon, go ahead and click on it. From the drop-down menu, click on Sales Tax. Once you are on the Sales Tax settings page, you have two options: “Use the same settings as the main account” and “Specify my own settings.” Furthermore, you can set the tax rate up for each state that you charge sales tax for. For every state, you can let Google determine the rate or you can set up your own rate. Just make sure those rates are the same as the rates you have setup within your store.
Google Merchant Center can reject your merchandise if it isn’t offered at the right price.
If you don’t know how to fix the problem, hire a professional. If you still don’t fix the problem, Google will reject your merchandise.
The best time to check for this error is when you run the validation step in Feed Optimization or Content Optimization on your product feed. This will tell you if there are any errors in pricing or tax information that need correction before submitting your feed for approval by Google.
Conclusion
Google Merchant Center is a great tool for e-commerce businesses that want to expand into the world of shopping. It can be intimidating, but with some careful planning and attention to detail, you can avoid common account warnings. The most important thing is to create a plan for your feed before you begin uploading items. Check out other feed errors to ensure you are addressing every possible warning and errors in your feed.
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