Exemption Certificate Management (ECM), also known as CertCapture, helps you collect, validate, and store exemption certificates in one place. It reduces manual work and keeps certificate data accurate and easy to retrieve for audits.

Core capabilities

Collect and apply exemption certificates across online, in-store, and offline sales workflows.

Capture certificates across channels

Let customers upload certificates or enter details to generate and submit new ones.

Customer-friendly upload and collection

Validate certificate data at collection so required documentation is complete and audit-ready.

Reduce non-compliance risk

Apply exemptions when valid certificates exist to reduce rebills, credits, and manual fixes.

Improve billing accuracy at scale

Start with the API documentation and integration guides. Choose the path that fits your setup, new implementation or existing ECM account, then follow the integration steps to enable certificate collection and management.

Getting started

Integrate ECM into checkout, invoicing, and tax calculation workflows to capture and reference exemption data throughout the transaction lifecycle. Use APIs to submit, validate, retrieve, and manage certificate status.

How it integrates

What Exemption Certificate Management solves

When to use Exemption Certificate Management

Exemption Certificate Management

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AvaTax automates real-time sales and use tax determination across jurisdictions, enabling accurate tax calculation at the point of transaction. It removes the need to manually maintain tax rates, rules, and sourcing logic while keeping systems aligned with continuously updated tax content.

Calculate sales and use tax during checkout, invoicing, or order processing using jurisdiction-aware logic that reflects current tax rules and boundaries.

Real-time tax determination

Apply consistent tax logic across ecommerce, marketplace, POS, and ERP systems so transactions return accurate totals regardless of where they originate.

Compliance-ready transactions

Validate addresses and map transactions to the correct tax jurisdictions to reduce errors caused by incomplete or inaccurate location data.

Intelligent address and jurisdiction mapping

Support scenarios such as product taxability differences, exemption logic, shipping rules, and temporary tax changes without building custom rule engines.

Complex rule handling

Explore API endpoints, SDKs, integration guides, and MCP capabilities. A 90-day free trial is available for evaluation and sandbox testing.

AvaTax integrates through APIs and SDKs, enabling implementation within commerce platforms, billing systems, ERPs, and custom applications. It supports both direct API integration and broader compliance workflows.

AvaTax

New ECM Customer

This guide describes how to integrate Avalara's Exemption Certificate Management (ECM) into your system to store customer records.

Exemption Certificate Management (ECM)

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What This Category Includes

The classification suite helps businesses assign accurate HS and HTS tariff codes to products to support duty calculation, tax determination, and trade compliance.

Automated Tariff Code Classification

Self-Serve Tariff Code Classification

Managed and Premium Tariff Code Classification

Incorrect classification can lead to delays, penalties, and inaccurate duty calculations. This suite provides multiple classification approaches based on scale and complexity.

Product classification using HS and HTS codes

Classification suite

The calculation suite calculates duties, import taxes, and landed cost for cross-border transactions. It helps businesses present accurate pricing and reduce unexpected charges at delivery.

AvaTax Cross-Border (Estimator + Calculator)

Duty, tax, and landed cost calculation

Calculation suite

The compliance suite helps businesses manage trade regulations, restrictions, and tariff data for cross-border transactions.

Avalara Trade Compliance

Avalara Trade and Tariff Library

Trade regulations and tariff data management

Compliance suite

Avalara Cross-Border

When to use Cross-Border

AvaTax Cross-Border calculates duties, import taxes, and landed cost for international transactions. It helps businesses present more accurate pricing and reduce unexpected charges during cross-border sales.

This guide describes the steps you should follow to integrate AvaTax for Customs Duty and Import Tax into your system.

AvaTax Cross-Border (Customs Duty and Import Tax)

Calculate duties and import taxes during transaction time.

Landed cost calculation

Support both real-time and estimated landed cost scenarios.

Real-time and estimated calculations

Enable accurate pricing in ecommerce workflows.

Checkout integration

Support multiple countries and jurisdictions.

Global tax coverage

Developers can integrate duty and tax calculation APIs by passing transaction details such as origin, destination, and product classification. Setup typically includes configuring product data, destinations, and integrating calculation APIs into checkout or order workflows.

Avalara APIs provide REST interfaces for billing, subscription, ERP, and custom applications. They support scalable tax determination and high-volume processing so you can embed compliance into your existing workflows.

AvaTax Cross-Border

Determine required licenses and registrations based on business activity and location.

Requirement identification

Capture key business details through a structured questionnaire.

Guided data collection

Provide details on required licenses, forms, fees, and authority information.

Comprehensive reporting

Enable transition from discovery to registration or license filing workflows.

Upgrade to filing services

Identifies required licenses and registrations

Avalara License Guidance helps businesses identify required licenses and registrations based on their location and business activity. It simplifies understanding compliance requirements before taking action.
Determining licensing obligations across jurisdictions can be complex and time-consuming. Avalara License Guidance centralizes this process by generating structured insights into required licenses, permits, and registrations.

Initiate workflows through APIs or onboarding flows.
Submit business details to generate a licensing report.

Avalara License Guidance integrates with onboarding workflows and partner systems through APIs to submit business details and retrieve licensing insights.

Avalara License Guidance

Register for sales tax across multiple states through a unified workflow.

Multi-jurisdiction sales tax registration

Prepare, submit, and track applications with tax authorities.

End-to-end registration processing

Support registrations triggered by economic or physical nexus thresholds.

Nexus-driven registration enablement

Access tax IDs, filing frequencies, return due dates, and jurisdiction account details.

Registration details and outputs

Registers businesses for sales tax obligations

Avalara Sales Tax Registrations (STR) helps businesses register with state and local authorities where they are required to collect and remit sales tax. It ensures businesses are set up correctly before initiating taxable transactions.
As businesses expand and establish nexus across jurisdictions, registration requirements increase. Avalara STR streamlines this process by managing applications, submissions, and approvals across multiple states.

Initiate registration workflows through APIs or onboarding systems. Avalara manages the filing process and returns registration details upon completion.

Avalara Sales Tax Registrations integrates with onboarding systems, ecommerce platforms, and compliance workflows through APIs to support order creation, data submission, and status tracking.

Sales Tax Registrations

Register for payroll tax, unemployment insurance, and related obligations across jurisdictions.

Payroll tax registration

Handle registrations across states and local authorities where employees are based.

Multi-jurisdiction coverage

Prepare, submit, and track applications with relevant authorities.

End-to-end registration workflow

Registers businesses for payroll tax obligations

Avalara Payroll Tax Registrations (PTR) helps businesses register with state and local authorities for payroll tax obligations. It ensures compliance before processing payroll in jurisdictions where employees are located.
Hiring employees across different states introduces additional registration requirements. Avalara PTR centralizes and manages these processes to reduce complexity and help ensure proper setup.

Initiate workflows through APIs or partner integrations.
Submit required business and employee data, then Avalara manages the registration process.

Avalara Payroll Tax Registrations integrates with payroll providers, HR systems, and partner platforms through APIs to support order creation, data submission, and status tracking.

Payroll Tax Registrations

Obtain new licenses and complete required initial filings across jurisdictions.

License acquisition and initial registrations

File and process renewals to keep licenses active and compliant.

License renewals

Prepare and submit filings based on business activity, location, and regulatory requirements.

Jurisdiction-specific filing

Obtains and renews business licenses and tax registrations (including sales and payroll)

Avalara License Filings (ALF) helps businesses obtain and renew licenses and tax registrations, including sales and payroll, required to operate across jurisdictions. Avalara manages the end-to-end filing process based on their business activities, locations, and regulatory requirements to reduce manual work and the risk of missed or late filings.

Initiate filing workflows through APIs or onboarding systems.
Avalara manages the filing lifecycle and provides completed license details and updates.

Avalara License Filings integrates with onboarding workflows and partner systems through APIs to support order creation, status tracking, and retrieval of license details.

Avalara License Filings

Tax Registrations and Business Licenses help you identify, obtain, and manage the registrations and licenses required to operate across jurisdictions. This includes understanding obligations, completing filings, and maintaining compliance over time.

Apply Avalara-maintained tax rules and rates tailored to your product category and jurisdictions.

Industry-specific logic

Support tiered pricing, bundled offerings, exemptions, and multi-jurisdiction calculations without custom engines.

Complex scenarios

Stay current with evolving requirements through regularly updated content and configuration options.

Regulatory alignment

Integrate with billing, ERP, and custom apps using REST APIs built for high-volume transaction processing.

Operational scale

Initiate workflows through Avalara onboarding or partner integrations. Start with a guided questionnaire, then Avalara prepares and submits applications and returns registration or license details upon completion.

Integrates with onboarding workflows, partner platforms, and compliance systems to enable end-to-end registration and licensing. APIs support order creation, questionnaire prefill, status tracking, and retrieval of registration and license details.

Tax Registrations and Business Licenses

Avalara Managed Returns API enables partners and platforms to embed tax return preparation and filing into their workflows. It helps automate compliance by allowing businesses to manage returns without leaving their systems.

This guide describes the steps you should follow to integrate Avalara Managed Returns API for EMEA jurisdiction.

Avalara Managed Returns API (EMEA)

This guide describes the steps you should follow to integrate Avalara Managed Returns API for U.S. and Canada jurisdiction.

Avalara Managed Returns API (U.S. and Canada)

Enable return preparation, filing, and remittance within partner or platform environments without requiring separate interfaces.

Embedded returns workflows

Consolidate transaction data from ecommerce platforms, marketplaces, and business systems into a unified returns workflow.

Multi-channel data aggregation

Prepare returns and manage payments across jurisdictions through integrated, automated processes.

Automated filing and remittance

Enable partners to extend compliance capabilities to multiple customers while maintaining consistent workflows and visibility.

Scalable partner enablement

Access Avalara Managed Returns API documentation and integration guides in the developer portal.

Setup involves configuring data flows, authentication, and mapping transaction data into returns workflows.

Avalara Managed Returns API integrates through APIs with partner platforms, marketplaces, and ERP systems to ingest transaction data and manage return workflows.

It acts as an embedded layer on top of Avalara Returns capabilities, enabling automated compliance within existing systems.

Avalara Managed Returns API

Avalara Tax Content (ATC) provides centralized, regularly updated tax data to support accurate tax calculation across systems. It delivers jurisdiction-specific tax rates, rules, and taxability logic that integrate with ERP, point-of-sale (POS), billing, and custom applications.

Deliver consistent tax rates, rules, and jurisdiction mappings across systems using a standardized content source.

Centralized tax content platform

Calculate tax in offline or edge environments without real-time API calls. Receive updated tax content to reflect regulatory changes.

Offline and POS-ready tax support with automated updates

Extend tax content with user-defined fields to align with internal data models, reporting needs, or system requirements.

Flexible data model and customizations

Support multiple industry use cases through specialized content models, including retail, lodging, and car rental.

Industry-specific extensions

Access ATC APIs, configuration endpoints, and integration guidance in the developer portal.

Setup involves configuring business locations, selecting content templates, and integrating tax data delivery into downstream systems.

Avalara Tax Content integrates with POS systems, ERP platforms, billing systems, and custom applications by delivering tax data in standardized or system-aligned formats.

Content is delivered through APIs or file-based methods (such as SFTP) and ingested into target systems to support consistent tax calculation workflows.

Name	Description	Sample prompt
get_certificates	Retrieves certificates for a company with filtering, pagination, and include options. Supports listing all certificates or retrieving a specific certificate by ID.	Get all valid certificates for company {company_id}, or show me the expired certificates.
get_customers	Retrieves customers for a company with filtering, pagination, and include options. Supports listing all customers or retrieving a specific customer by ID.	Get all active customers for company {company_id}, or show me customer details with certificates included.
search_companies	Searches companies by name to retrieve company IDs, which are required for other ECM operations.	Find companies with avalara in the name to get the company IDs.

Exemption Certificate Management

Avalara Exemption Certificate Management MCP server

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MCP client setup

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