> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.agentaos.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How Merchant of Record Works
> What a Merchant of Record is, why it matters when you sell software across borders, and how AgentaOS becomes the legal seller on every transaction.
When you sell digital products across borders, you don't just owe tax at home. You typically owe VAT or sales tax in your buyer's country too, and you're responsible for registering, collecting, and filing it correctly in every one of those countries. AgentaOS removes that problem by becoming the legal seller of record on every transaction you make through us. If you're new to AgentaOS, start with the [introduction](/introduction).
## What a Merchant of Record is
A Merchant of Record (MoR) is the company that is legally responsible for a sale. It appears on the receipt, it collects the payment, and it owes the tax authority for that transaction. Most payment processors don't do this: they move money for you, but you stay the seller of record and you stay responsible for the tax.
AgentaOS is different. We stand in as the seller of record on every payment. Our Estonian entity is the legal seller your buyer transacts with, not you. That one change is what lets us calculate, collect, and remit tax on your behalf instead of leaving it to you.
## Why it matters
Cross-border tax compliance doesn't scale for a small team. Tracking rates, registering in each country, filing returns, and issuing tax-correct invoices in every buyer's jurisdiction is a job most founders don't have time for, and getting it wrong carries real financial and legal risk.
A Merchant of Record takes that job off your plate entirely. You sell. We handle the tax.
## How a payment flows
```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
A[Buyer pays
card or digital wallet] --> B[AgentaOS is seller of record
Estonia]
B --> C[Tax calculated
and collected]
B --> D[Your balance
EUR or USD]
D --> E[You pay out
bank or wallet]
```
Your customer checks out by card or digital wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay). They see AgentaOS as the seller on the payment page and the receipt.
We calculate the tax due based on what's being sold and where the buyer is, and collect it as part of the payment.
Your share of the payment, after fees, settles into your AgentaOS balance in EUR or USD. Tax is already accounted for, you don't set it aside yourself.
Move your balance to your bank account, in EUR or USD, or your wallet, on your schedule. See [Payouts](/payouts/overview).
## Merchant of Record vs. payment processor
| | Payment processor (used directly) | Merchant of Record (AgentaOS) |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Legal seller on the receipt | You | AgentaOS |
| Who owes VAT / sales tax | You, in every country your buyers are in | AgentaOS registers, collects, and remits |
| Who issues the invoice | You | AgentaOS, tax itemized on every invoice |
| Compliance filings | Your responsibility | Off your plate |
| What you integrate | Payments only | Payments, tax, invoicing, and payouts, in one |
A payment processor and a Merchant of Record aren't the same thing, and they aren't mutually exclusive. Under the hood we use a payment processor to move the money, the same rails you could plug into directly. The difference is that we sit in front of it as the legal seller, so we carry the tax, compliance, and chargeback liability that going direct would leave with you.
## What stays yours
* Your product, your pricing, your customer relationship.
* Your payout schedule and destination, bank or wallet.
* Your own company's income tax and bookkeeping. AgentaOS handles the tax on the sale itself, not your business's own tax return.
## Refunds and chargebacks
Disputes are part of selling online. As your Merchant of Record, AgentaOS also handles refunds and chargebacks on your behalf: when a buyer disputes a charge with their card issuer or bank, AgentaOS responds to it as the seller of record, so you are not the one fielding the dispute or wiring money back yourself.
## FAQ
No. A payment processor used directly leaves you as the seller of record, responsible for tax. AgentaOS is a Merchant of Record: we become the seller of record and handle VAT, sales tax, and invoicing for every sale.
Our Estonian entity appears as the seller of record on the payment page, the receipt, and the invoice. See [Invoices](/payments/invoices).
Probably, for your own company's books and income tax. What you won't need to do is register for or file VAT and sales tax on the sales you make through AgentaOS. We handle that as the seller of record.
It settles into your AgentaOS balance in EUR or USD. From there you pay out to your bank account or your wallet. See [Payouts](/payouts/overview).
See [Supported countries](/mor/supported-countries) for where you can sell and get paid, and [Tax](/mor/tax) for where we're registered to collect and remit.
## Next steps
The AgentaOS overview, if you're just getting started.
Where you can sell and where you can get paid.
Destination VAT, where we're registered, and what shows up on the invoice.
How the per-transaction fee works.
What a tax-correct invoice looks like, and how to export one.
Move your balance to your bank or wallet.