Choosing How Kintsugi Handles Exempt Products from Your Integrations
Choose whether Kintsugi keeps a product's exempt status from your source or runs its own AI classification instead. See how the setting works and our advice.Updated last month
We've improved how Kintsugi handles tax-exempt products synced from your integrations. Previously, products that were marked as exempt in your source system (e.g., your ecommerce platform or ERP) were automatically carried over as exempt in Kintsugi without further review. Now, you have control over whether Kintsugi should use its AI-powered product classification instead — helping ensure your tax liability is calculated accurately.
This article explains what the setting does and how you'll benefit from it.
How This Setting Works
Setting OFF (default for new accounts): Kintsugi's product classification AI will review and classify the product, even if it's marked as exempt in your source system. This helps catch potential misclassifications and ensures accurate compliance.
Setting ON: Products will retain their exempt status from your source system, bypassing Kintsugi's classification.
How Updates Sync After the Initial Import
When this setting is ON, Kintsugi continues to reflect taxability changes you make in your source system. How quickly the change appears in Kintsugi depends on your integration level:
Tax engine integrations: Changes appear in Kintsugi almost instantly through webhooks.
Read-only integrations: Changes are picked up during regular sync cycles, typically within 20 to 30 minutes.
When this setting is OFF, products sync as taxable by default. The Tax Exempt column in Kintsugi will show "No" even if the product is marked as tax exempt in your source system, and Kintsugi's AI classification determines taxability instead.
Approved Products Are Not Updated
Kintsugi only applies source taxability updates to products with a Partially Approved status. Once you approve a product in Kintsugi, that product is locked: Kintsugi will not overwrite your approval, even if you later change the product's taxability in your source system and this setting is ON.
Approval is treated as a deliberate manual decision, so Kintsugi preserves it. If you need an approved product to accept source updates again, contact our support team and we can revert the product to Partially Approved. You can then adjust its category and subcategory and re-approve it.
TIP: Before approving products, review their categories and subcategories carefully. A common mismatch is a product marked tax exempt at the source but classified under a taxable category, which leads to confusing tax results.
Who is Impacted
This setting is available to all users.
If you currently have exempt products synced from an integration, the setting is ON by default to avoid any disruption. You may keep this ON if you prefer, but we highly recommend switching it OFF.
For all other accounts (and any new accounts), the setting is OFF by default.
Important Notes
If you prefer enabling this setting, please keep the following in mind:
This setting relies entirely on the accuracy of your source data.
If a product is set up incorrectly or marked as exempt at the source by mistake, Kintsugi will not catch or correct that error.
Leaving the setting on may lead to inaccurate tax liability calculations if your source data is not properly maintained.
We recommend reviewing your product exemption statuses at the source before enabling this setting, just to be safe. If you are unsure whether your source data is accurate, we suggest leaving this setting OFF and letting Kintsugi's classification handle it instead.
How to Enable/Disable the Setting
To enable or disable the settings for this new feature, "Use Product Tax Exemption Status From Source," just follow these 6 simple steps:
Log in to your Kintsugi account.
Navigate to Configuration.
Select Settings.
Locate the toggle labeled "Use Product Tax Exemption Status from Source".
Switch the toggle ON/OFF to enable/disable the setting.
What Do We Recommend?
We highly suggest switching the setting OFF so Kintsugi's AI can review those products for accurate liability calculation and compliance.
Click Confirm to save your changes.
That's it. Kintsugi will now honor the exemption status from your source system for eligible products.
Need Help?
For further concerns, we're always here to help. If you can't find the answer you're looking for, just reach out to us using the chat in the bottom right corner of your screen.