This article covers all you need to know when paying a business profile from your Venmo app (or on the Venmo website). You can also pay business profiles outside of Venmo, with contactless payments using a compatible digital wallet or debit or credit card. Learn more about paying business profiles with contactless payments.
Can I add a tip when I pay a business profile?
Business profile owners decide whether to accept tips for payments sent to their profile. If you’re prompted to add a tip, you can select a preset amount or enter a custom amount to add to your payment total. Please note, the value of your tip can not exceed the lower of 5 times the original payment amount or $1000.
The full amount of your payment (plus any tip you’ve added) will be charged to a single payment method.
How can I pay a business profile?
Paying a business profile is as easy as paying your friends on Venmo. There are just a few important things to keep in mind to make sure your payment is sent to the right place:
- Search for the business profile using their name or username. Phone numbers and email addresses can’t be used to locate or pay a business on Venmo.
- After initiating a search, you’ll see a few results for Top Businesses, which will only include business profiles matching your query. You can tap on See more businesses or select the Businesses tab from the results page to view additional businesses. The People tab will only show personal profiles.
- If the business you want to pay has shared their QR code, you can alternatively go to the Me tab and tap the QR code next to your profile picture to scan their code. If the business has created a preset QR code, you’ll see an amount pre-filled for the payment on your screen. Otherwise, you can enter the amount you’ve agreed to pay and add a tip or relevant discounts before sending.
When you pay a business profile on Venmo, you’ll have an opportunity to customize the payment note and thank the business or provide a testimonial. If you share payment activity publicly or with friends, they’ll see your payment highlighted in the Venmo feed.
If you experience any issues when trying to pay a business on Venmo, we recommend first reaching out to the business to see if they have more information. If the issue persists, contact us so we can take a closer look.
Is sales tax included when I pay a business profile on Venmo?
When a business profile sends you a payment request, that business has the option of including sales tax and other applicable tax rates in the payment request. This doesn’t mean that you’ll see an amount different from what you intended to pay, but rather that the business has designated part of your payment total for tax purposes.
If a business sends you a payment request with sales tax included, you'll see “(includes sales tax)” prior to completing the request.
It’s not required for businesses to use this feature on Venmo, so not every payment you send or request you fulfill will have sales tax included.
How can I see whether sales tax was included in my purchase total?
Anytime a business profile has applied sales tax to a payment request, you’ll see “(includes sales tax)” alongside the request notification in your Venmo app.
To confirm whether sales tax was included on a past payment, you can also tap on that completed payment from your personal transactions feed or check the confirmation email you received after sending the payment. Under the Amount sent section of your payment details, you'll find the original amount of your payment along with any tax rates applied by the business.
A business charged me sales tax on a purchase that should be tax-exempt
If you believe that sales tax was included in error on a payment request you received from a business profile, we recommend getting in contact with the business.
Venmo is not responsible for nor determines sales taxes applied by a merchant. Buyers should not contact PayPal or Venmo for sales tax billed or omitted by a merchant.
Can I edit the payment note after I pay a business profile?
Payments you send to business profiles are automatically highlighted in the feed if you choose to share your activity publicly or with friends, so be sure to think about what to include in the note before completing your payment.
If you scanned a business’s QR code to pay, you’ll have a chance to edit and share your payment note after completing the payment. Once your note is shared, that’s it!
How can I update who sees payments I send to business profiles?
You can always choose to update the privacy settings for an individual payment before sending it. To do so, look for and tap on Private, Friends, or Public above the Pay button. From here, you can choose a different privacy setting for that specific payment.
Privacy settings can also be updated after a payment is completed, or you can adjust your default privacy preference in Settings. You can learn more about sharing and privacy on Venmo here.
How can I get refunded for a payment I sent to a business profile?
All you’ll need to do is contact the business to request a refund. It’s best to contact the business through any existing communications you may have with them, or you can locate their contact information on their Venmo profile.
Refunds are sent back to the original method used for payment. If you paid a business using money in your Venmo account, your refund will be added to your account once it’s issued by the business. If you paid using a bank account or card, please allow up to 5 business days for a refund to process.
Why am I seeing a business feature?
Venmo is providing the opportunity for business profiles to be featured in your feed. We are always looking for beneficial ways to highlight local businesses near you. Since you chose to share your location with Venmo, you are seeing this business feature and may see more in the future.
When viewing these features in the app you will be able to block the business or report an inappropriate post right from the feed. You always have control over your settings and can find more information about your location settings in our Help Center.