🛠 Fix WooCommerce Shipping Rounding with Gross VAT-Inclusive Pricing

Fix WooCommerce shipping rounding issues by entering gross (incl. VAT) costs directly. This plugin splits shipping totals into net and tax accurately, eliminating rounding errors at checkout and in orders.

🚩 The Problem With WooCommerce Shipping Rounding

WooCommerce expects shipping costs to be entered excluding VAT, and then calculates the tax amount on top. But this approach causes issues when:

You’re given gross shipping costs from couriers or external systems
Your store displays VAT-inclusive prices by default
Rounding errors result in shipping tax mismatches or admin confusion

In short: you can’t directly enter the final shipping price you want the customer to see.

🔍 Technical Considerations

There are several quirks to consider:

WooCommerce calculates shipping tax based on the cost setting in your shipping method.
If you override just the visible price, reports, invoices, and order data may remain inconsistent.
Using formulas (like [qty] * 2 + [fee]) is supported in WooCommerce, but only for net values — not for gross.

To fully support gross input:

The cart needs to calculate net = gross − tax, not the other way around.
Shipping tax totals must be recalculated after the order is created (especially in HPOS mode).
Order getter methods like get_shipping_total() should return the full gross amount.

✅ The Solution

This plugin introduces a new field:

Cost (incl. VAT)

You’ll find it under each shipping method’s settings. You can enter:

A simple gross price like 9.99
Or a dynamic formula using tokens like [qty], [cost], and [fee percent="x" min_fee="y"]

The plugin will:

Automatically split the gross amount into net and tax
Store the gross value in order metadata
Fix post-checkout tax totals for HPOS
Override WooCommerce’s shipping total and tax getters to reflect the corrected values

Fully documented, WordPress-compliant, and safe.

⚠️ Known Limitation

This plugin assumes that only one tax rate is applied to shipping. If your WooCommerce store uses multiple tax rates on shipping simultaneously, the gross-to-net split may be inaccurate.

In such cases, WooCommerce applies all matched shipping tax classes and distributes the total tax — which this plugin does not yet account for. Use with caution if you’re in a multi-rate shipping tax scenario.

📥 Download WooCommerce Shipping Rounding Fixer Plugin

You can download the plugin here:

👉 Download Woo Shipping Rounding Fixer

To install:

Upload the ZIP in your WordPress admin (Plugins → Add New → Upload)
Activate the plugin
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping, choose your method and enter your gross cost in the new field

🔗 Further Reading on WooCommerce Shipping Rounding

🧾WooCommerce Shipping Rounding Conclusions

If you’ve ever run into a WooCommerce shipping rounding error — where the tax calculation doesn’t quite match the gross amount you expect — you’re not alone. WooCommerce calculates shipping tax based on net values, which can create discrepancies when your pricing is tax-inclusive. This plugin offers a reliable fix by letting you define shipping costs as gross (incl. VAT), then automatically calculating and applying the correct net and tax amounts. It works seamlessly with WooCommerce’s shipping methods and ensures accurate totals in the cart, order, and admin screens.

Whether you’re dealing with fixed-rate shipping or dynamic fee-based rules, the plugin smooths out rounding inconsistencies that often frustrate store owners and accountants alike. It’s lightweight, compliant with High Performance Order Storage, and easy to integrate into any setup. For stores operating in VAT-regulated markets or syncing with external shipping data, this tool ensures your totals always match expectations.

Keep in mind, the current version assumes a single tax rate is applied to shipping. If your store applies multiple tax classes to shipping simultaneously, results may be less precise. We recommend testing in staging environments before deploying to production.

Eliminate that persistent WooCommerce shipping rounding error and give your customers — and your reporting — numbers you can trust. Download and try it today.