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Six questions about how and where you sell. We'll tell you whether a Merchant of Record, a direct processor, or a hybrid setup fits your business - and which platforms to look at.
The company legally responsible for a transaction - collecting payment, charging the correct local tax, filing and remitting that tax, handling refunds under local consumer law, and managing chargebacks. The MoR, not you, is legally recognized as the seller for tax and compliance purposes.
It depends mainly on how many international markets you sell into, whether your customers are self-serve or enterprise, and whether you have in-house capacity to handle VAT/GST registration and filing. The six questions above score exactly those factors.
No. Stripe is a payment processor. When you use Stripe, you remain the Merchant of Record - Stripe can calculate taxes with its Tax product, but filing and remitting stays your responsibility. Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, and FastSpring operate as a true MoR.