Seven percent and nineteen in the same package.

A coffee set of beans and a mug carries two tax rates. The discount hits both — but not in the same way for every discount type. This is the point where a wrong choice ends up in your VAT return, which is why it comes before everything else here.

The difference

Only the percentage discount splits proportionally.

Shopware knows two ways of representing a reduction in the cart. Which one the plugin uses depends solely on the discount type you chose — and that decides which tax rate the discount line carries.

What each discount type producesBehaviour of the discount line in the cart
Discount typeKind of line itemTax on the discount
Percentagea percentage line itemsplit across all rates in the package
Fixed amountan amount line itemthe main product's rate, on the whole amount
Fixed package pricean amount line itemthe main product's rate, on the whole amount

The percentage discount hands Shopware a percentage and leaves the split to it; the other two hand over a finished amount, and an amount can only carry one tax rate.

Worked through

The same package, two routes, two tax figures.

Coffee beans at 24.00 euros with 7 percent, a mug at 16.00 euros with 19 percent. Goods value 40.00 euros, reduction 10 percent, so 4.00 euros. The figures are deliberately round so the difference stays visible.

Percentage discountThe reduction splits in proportion to the net values
Line itemTax rateShare of the discount
Coffee beans7 %− 2.40 €
Mug19 %− 1.60 €
Discount in total− 4.00 €

Every article is relieved by the same percentage. The tax shown drops proportionally in both rates — the split most people expect.

Fixed amount or fixed package priceThe whole reduction carries a single tax rate
Line itemTax rateShare of the discount
Coffee beans (main product)7 %
Mug19 %
Discount line7 %− 4.00 €

The discount line takes the tax rate of the main product — 7 percent here, because the beans are the main product. The 19-percent line stays at its full value even though the customer pays less.

The consequence

What this means for your accounting.

The final amount is the same either way: 36.00 euros. What differs is the split of the tax shown between the two rates. On a single order that goes unnoticed; across a year and a few thousand packages it shifts the figures that appear per tax rate in your return.

Changing the main product also changes the tax rate of the discount line. That is not a bug but the consequence of an amount being able to carry exactly one rate — but it is a decision worth making deliberately rather than in passing.

  • One tax rate in the package: all three discount types behave identically, the question does not arise.
  • Mixed rates and accounting in mind: use the percentage discount, and Shopware splits proportionally.
  • Mixed rates and a round package price as the message: use the fixed price, and talk the shift through with your tax adviser first.

Common questions

How does a bundle discount split across mixed tax rates?

Proportionally only with the percentage discount. There the plugin hands Shopware a percentage, and Shopware relieves every article by the same share — the tax shown drops proportionally in both rates. A fixed amount and a fixed package price produce an amount line item instead, and that carries exactly one tax rate.

Which tax rate does the discount line carry with a fixed amount?

That of the bundle's main product, and for the entire discount amount. In a package of coffee at 7 percent and a mug at 19 percent, the discount line carries 7 percent if the coffee is the main product.

Does that change the final amount?

No. The customer pays the same either way. What differs is the split of the tax shown between the rates.

What happens if I swap the main product?

With a fixed amount and a fixed package price, the tax rate of the discount line changes with it. With the percentage discount nothing changes, because it splits proportionally anyway.

Does this apply to packages with a single tax rate?

There it makes no difference. If every component carries the same rate, all three discount types lead to the same result.

Can I define the split myself?

No. The split follows from the discount type, and you choose that per bundle. There is no separate allocation per tax rate.

The example in the demo shop.

Mixed tax rates, all three discount types, each with the tax shown.