Merchant of record vs Stripe Tax (2026): the MRR where filing your own VAT pays off

A merchant of record costs a few hundred dollars a month at $10k MRR, and you only get that money back if filing yourself costs less. The break-even… Aliteq Ledger · Payments & Deals Editor

For a US seller on a $29 plan, a merchant of record costs about $11 to $33 a month extra at $1,000 MRR and $1,090 to $3,250 at $100,000, over plain Stripe with Billing and Stripe Tax. Filing…

First question: do you owe tax at all? EU and UK consumers owe VAT from the first sale for a non-EU, non-UK seller

Fee gap per $29 subscriber: Paddle about 32¢, Lemon Squeezy about 68¢, Stripe Managed Payments about 94¢ a month (half US, half international cards)

Break-even formula: MRR = 29 × monthly filing cost ÷ extra fee per subscriber

Surprise: with mostly international customers, Paddle's flat fee is within pennies of plain Stripe plus Stripe Tax

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