Tax drift is what we call it when a tax rate changes on one side and its link to the other side no longer holds. A percentage gets corrected in WooCommerce, or a rate is replaced on Clover, and the two records that used to describe the same tax stop agreeing.
Read every warning on this page against one fact: your customers keep paying exactly the tax WooCommerce calculated, and the payment goes through as normal. What a drift warning affects is naming, meaning whether Clover records the tax under the rate's name or as an amount. WeeConnectPay never edits a rate for you in either system, so your tax configuration always stays exactly what you set.
The notice in your WordPress admin
When a link stops holding, WeeConnectPay shows a dismissible notice in your WordPress admin:
"WeeConnectPay: a WooCommerce tax rate no longer matches its linked Clover tax rate." followed by "Payments are not affected and tax amounts stay correct, but Clover stops naming that rate on charges until the link is fixed." and a Review tax rate links link that takes you to the settings.
You can dismiss it. It comes back only if a link degrades again after your dismissal, so a dismissed notice does not hide a new problem.
The notes on an order
Two tax notes can appear on a WooCommerce order, and both of them state that the money is right.
Tax rate link mismatch detected. "A WooCommerce tax rate on this order no longer matches its linked Clover rate, so Clover did not record that rate by name for this charge. The charge and its tax amount are correct." followed by "Review the tax rate links in the WeeConnectPay settings to restore it." The note also lists which rate on the order is in that state.
Tax breakdown could not be verified. "The tax details sent with this charge did not add up, so no tax information was forwarded to Clover. The charge and the WooCommerce tax amounts are correct and unaffected. Check the WeeConnectPay debug log for details." Enable Debug Mode and send us a debug log covers how to produce that log for support.
Healthy payments write no note at all, so an order with no tax note is an order where everything reported as expected.
The statuses on your dashboard Taxes page
Your WeeConnectPay dashboard has a Taxes page listing every store tax link and its status. Three statuses come with their own explanation on the page, reproduced here in full.
Rate mismatch
- What it means: "This store rate and its linked Clover rate no longer match. The name or percentage changed on one side."
- What it affects: "Payments are not blocked and customers are still charged the exact tax WooCommerce calculates. Until the link is healthy again, this tax is sent to Clover as an amount without a rate name, so it stops appearing by name in Clover reports."
- What to do: "Compare the two rates. Update the rate on Clover or in WooCommerce so they match again, or relink in the WeeConnectPay plugin settings."
Deleted on Clover
- What it means: "The linked Clover tax rate was deleted on Clover."
- What it affects: "Payments are not blocked and customers are still charged the correct WooCommerce tax. The tax amount is still sent, but it can no longer be attributed to a named rate in Clover reports."
- What to do: "Recreate the rate on Clover (or pick another one), then relink it in the WeeConnectPay plugin settings."
Deleted in store
- What it means: "The store tax rate behind this link was deleted in WooCommerce."
- What it affects: "This link is inactive and no longer affects payments or reports."
- What to do: "If you recreated the rate in WooCommerce, link the new rate in the WeeConnectPay plugin settings. Otherwise this entry can be removed there."
The setup notices on your dashboard Taxes page
Two more notices are about your reporting setup rather than a broken link. They appear in an amber band above the link table.
When a detailed reporting choice is on and nothing is linked yet, the band reads: "The Automatic forwarding mode is on, but no store tax rate is linked to a Clover rate yet, so tax attribution cannot attach to your payments." The mode named in the sentence is whichever mode your store is currently on, so you may see Full attribution or Linked rates only in its place.
When some rates are linked but others cannot currently carry a name, the band reads: "The Automatic forwarding mode is on, but 2 registered store tax rates cannot currently carry attribution. Review the tax rate links below." Again, the mode name and the count reflect your own store.
Alongside them, an empty link table on a store that needs links says: "This store's forwarding mode needs linked rates, but none are linked. Clover receives no rate attribution until rates are linked in the plugin settings."
All three point at the same next step: link your rates in the plugin. Linking your tax rates to Clover walks through it.
How a warning clears
There are three ways a link comes back to healthy, and you are in control of all of them:
- Make the two percentages equal again. Correct whichever side changed. A correction in WooCommerce rechecks the link as soon as you save. A correction on Clover is picked up on the next sync rather than instantly, so click Refresh Clover rates in the plugin's Rate linking section to pull your current Clover rates, or relink the rate as in the next step if you would rather clear it on the spot.
- Relink the rate. In the plugin's Rate linking section, pick the Clover rate that now matches and link it.
- Remove a link you no longer need. A link left behind by a deleted rate can simply be removed.
Editing, adding, or deleting a WooCommerce tax rate rechecks its link right away, so you usually see the status update as soon as you save.
If a warning stays after you have made both sides match, email support@weeconnectpay.com with your store address and the rate involved, and we will trace what each side is reporting.