A cart coupon is divided across product lines before tax

Confirm that the coupon is a fixed cart discount

Read the coupon's configured type and amount. WooCommerce distinguishes a fixed total discount for the cart from a fixed-product discount applied per eligible item and from a percentage discount. The wording in a promotional banner is not enough to establish which type the store used. For an existing order, preserve the coupon and order records before anyone edits the configuration.

Compare the configured restrictions with the actual product lines, including product or category scope and sale exclusions where relevant. Record other coupons present on the same order as separate inputs. If today's settings differ from the configuration recorded when the order was created, mark the historical setting as unresolved. Do not use a later configuration to assert how an earlier order was calculated.

Follow the discount into the product records

The coupon can be presented once in the cart summary while its effect is distributed across the products. WooCommerce's core coupon guidance places that discount before tax calculation. This explains why an item-level tax record may change even though the buyer entered only one coupon code. It does not mean each line receives the full configured cart discount.

For every actual product line, compare the recorded pre-discount amount with the post-discount amount using the same quantity and tax basis. Keep unit prices separate from extended line amounts. Where the order export identifies the allocated discount, retain that value; where it does not, do not label a guessed difference as an authoritative allocation. First establish what the relevant fields include.

Add the comparable line discounts and compare the result with the order's applied discount record. Do not subtract that discount again from a sum of line totals that already includes it. A mismatch is useful evidence only after you have checked that both sides represent the same coupon or combination of coupons and the same order state.

Keep tax, shipping and rounding questions identifiable

Read the tax amounts actually attached to the discounted lines and record whether the compared price fields include or exclude tax. A product price shown with tax and an order export field shown without it are not interchangeable inputs. The pre-tax coupon rule explains the sequence of operations; it does not establish which tax rate, exemption or jurisdiction should apply to this merchant or buyer.

Reconcile the discounted product amounts and their recorded tax with the rest of the order using the field definitions for the records in hand. Keep shipping, shipping tax and any separately recorded fee outside the product-discount comparison. Core WooCommerce coupons apply to cart items rather than shipping; a free-shipping offer has its own setup. Do not distribute a shipping amount among product discounts merely to force the totals to agree.

Do not conclude that a small residual is a rounding error just because it is small. The coupon documentation describes splitting the discount but does not provide the precise distribution, precision or rounding sequence needed to predict every line in your store. Preserve the raw available amounts, displayed amounts, WooCommerce version and relevant discount or tax extensions. Extensions or customizations can change behavior; a core documentation statement is not proof of the cause on an unseen installation.

Use the mismatch to choose a narrow investigation

If the recorded item discounts reconcile with the applied coupon and the defined totals also reconcile, the line changes are consistent with the documented allocation behavior. That arithmetic match does not certify the tax treatment. If the discount matches but the tax comparison does not, preserve the tax basis and configuration question separately. If the discount itself does not reconcile, identify the first unmatched line, its eligibility and the coupon records before changing tax settings.

Keep the original paid-order record intact while documenting the discrepancy. The comparison should identify a specific amount or missing field, not prompt a fresh charge or an unexplained order edit. For a Prism checkout-review consultation, provide the store platform, a non-sensitive description of the mismatch and the type of help requested. Confirm any configuration or implementation work, responsibilities and fees as part of the scope.

Coupon allocation comparison

Use the product-line rows for each genuine line in the affected order, keeping detailed amounts in your own records. Record anonymized findings here. Compare the same quantity, currency, tax basis and order state; an unresolved field definition prevents a reliable match and is not permission to invent an amount.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.