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Jepeta/Guides/Risk Signal
Risk Signal · Base / 8453

How do I check buy and sell tax on a Base token?

Find transfer taxes that can affect entry or exit

Direct answer

Check the exact Base contract with a source that reports buy and sell tax separately, and keep unavailable values as unknown rather than zero. High or asymmetric taxes can materially change execution risk even when a token is not a honeypot.

Why separate buy and sell tax

A token can allow both directions but charge very different amounts. A low buy tax does not imply a low sell tax, and transfer behavior can change if contract parameters are mutable.

For trading decisions, the sell side is especially important because a token that can technically be sold may still impose economically damaging exit costs.

How Jepeta represents tax data

Jepeta reads token-security data from GoPlus and exposes buy_tax_percent and sell_tax_percent when available. Missing values remain null and generate warnings rather than being displayed as reassuring zeroes.

The decision policy can warn on elevated taxes. Tax fields sit beside honeypot, mintability, holder concentration, liquidity, and data quality so the user does not over-focus on one number.

Interpretation rule

Use tax as one input. Confirm the token contract, source freshness, liquidity depth, and whether the token has permissions that could change fees later.

A permanent evidence page is useful for seeing what was observed at a published timestamp; run a fresh scan before relying on the current tax state.

Practical checklist

  • Check buy and sell separately
  • Treat null as unknown
  • Watch for asymmetric exit cost
  • Check whether fees can change
  • Re-scan before execution

Limitations

This is educational risk-screening content, not investment advice. Token and market conditions can change after any snapshot. A PASS result or negative honeypot signal is not a safety guarantee.