We have a problem with configurable products and UK VAT, we need to be able to apply 0% tax on children sizes and the standard 20% tax on adult sizes but configurable products do not respect the tax class id set on the simple products used.
I checked out the BCP module but that does not handle this unfortunately.
I think a custom module is required that bypasses the configurable products tax class and instead grabs the tax class id of the simple product that has been selected.
Having not had to deal with Magento core very much I have tried to find a way to over-ride the tax class id used but so far no luck, would some body be able to point me in the right direction or better still if I've missed another solution to this?
Best Answer
I know this doesn't answer your question from a Magento/Coding point of view, but having done UK clothing and childrens products my advice would be to split the item into two configurable products. Definitely.
If you split the product into two configurables, one (childrens) with zero VAT and the other adults with standard VAT you not only solve this problem but it allows you to categorise your products more effectively. Normally in any bricks and mortar shops childrenswear is separated from adults wear - this makes logical sense, they are targeted at two different consumer groups. It should be the same in your e-commerce site, as it's what buyers have been conditioned to expect, they will look for children's products in a children's section.
You can then add the childrens product to the childrens categories of your site and the adults one to the normal category. The only reason for lumping the childrens sizes in with the adults ones would be to reduce duplicate content for SEO purposes I would say.