# Configure payment and tax

commercetools Frontend comes with an integrated [Checkout](/checkout) solution. You need to configure a few settings for payments and taxes in the Merchant Center before you are ready to go.

## Payments

The integrated Checkout application handles payment processing for the B2C Retail Checkout component. For more information about payment processing and how to configure payment connectors in the Merchant Center, see the [Payments](/frontend-development/b2c-checkout.md#switch-checkout-modes) section of the **Store Launchpad for B2C Retail Checkout** page.

## Taxes

Calculating tax is a core part of any commerce system. Taxes can be calculated either internally by commercetools or by a third-party tax calculation service. The option you choose generally depends on how complex the taxes are in the areas where you sell your products.
For example, in the United States or Canada, each state or province may have different tax rates. In addition, tax rates can differ depending on the products being sold. In these cases, merchants typically choose to use a third-party tax calculation service.

In a B2B context, you can configure commercetools to handle net prices, with taxes calculated automatically. This allows B2B companies to purchase and sell based on net prices, while still maintaining the tax information needed for certain processes or services.

### Tax calculation configuration

To view and manage your Project's tax configuration, do the following:

1. Open the Merchant Center.
2. Go to **Settings** > **Project settings**.
3. Select the **Taxes** tab.

In the **Taxes** tab, you can configure Tax Categories, which store individual Tax Rates like VAT or sales tax. When you define a Tax Rate, you have the option of including the tax in the price of each product. To do this, select the **Included in price** checkbox. However, if you're using a third-party tax calculation service, be sure to leave this option unselected to ensure prices are properly displayed. Find examples for tax configuration in the Getting Started guide about taxes for [B2C](/merchant-center/getting-started/explore-b2c-sample-data.md#taxes) and [B2B](/merchant-center/getting-started/explore-b2b-sample-data.md#taxes) projects.

Learn more about taxes in our self-paced Model your taxes module.

### Third-party tax calculation

If you decide to calculate taxes externally using a third-party tax calculation service, we recommend that you select one from our [Integration Marketplace](https://marketplace.commercetools.com/integrations/financial-services). The marketplace provides pre-configured integrations for use in your Project. Once you've chosen an external service, see our [Tax integration](/tutorials/tax-integration.md) guide to get set up.

## Further reading

To learn more about the checkout process, see the [Implement a custom checkout](/learning-implement-checkout/custom-checkout/overview.md) learning module.

## Related pages

- [Area overview page with navigation](/tutorials.md)
- [Previous page: Integrate third-party services](/tutorials/implementation-guide/integrate-third-party-services.md)