---
type: Glossary Term
title: "Buyer of Record & Merchant of Record (Agentic Commerce)"
description: "In agentic commerce, the Buyer of Record (BoR) and Merchant of Record (MoR) define which legal entities bear tax, chargeback, refund, and regulatory responsibility when an AI agent or harness executes a purchase on a user's behalf."
resource: "https://agenticweb.wiki/terms/buyer-of-record/"
tags: ["glossary", "pay"]
status: stable
generated: { by: agenticweb-builder/1.0, at: 2026-10-24T00:00:00Z }
verified: { by: process:agenticweb-engine, at: 2026-10-24T00:00:00Z }
stale_after: 2026-11-23T00:00:00Z
sources:
  - id: ref-1
    resource: "https://gruv.ai/blog/merchant-of-record-ai-agents-buyer-of-record"
    last_modified: 2026-06-01T00:00:00Z
  - id: ref-2
    resource: "https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol"
    last_modified: 2026-04-17T00:00:00Z
  - id: ref-3
    resource: "https://ucp.dev"
    last_modified: 2026-08-21T00:00:00Z
---

# Buyer of Record & Merchant of Record (Agentic Commerce)

In agentic commerce, the **Buyer of Record (BoR)** and **Merchant of Record (MoR)** define which legal entities bear tax, chargeback, refund, and regulatory responsibility when an AI agent or harness executes a purchase on a user's behalf [^ref-1]. Neither the AI chat interface nor the wallet or card credential initially debited automatically determines MoR or BoR status: an agentic checkout flow ([Agentic Commerce Protocol](/protocols/agentic-commerce-protocol/), [Universal Commerce Protocol](/protocols/ucp/), [AP2](/protocols/ap2/)) must explicitly name the seller of record, the principal buyer of record, and the cryptographic mandate ([Verifiable Intent](/protocols/vi/), [Trusted Agent Protocol](/protocols/tap/)) authorizing the agent to accept order terms and trigger settlement [^ref-1][^ref-2][^ref-3].

# Knowledge Graph

* **Related standards**: [Agentic Commerce Protocol](/okf/protocols/agentic-commerce-protocol.md), [Universal Commerce Protocol](/okf/protocols/ucp.md), [Agent Payments Protocol](/okf/protocols/ap2.md), [Verifiable Intent](/okf/protocols/vi.md), [Visa Trusted Agent Protocol](/okf/protocols/tap.md), [x402](/okf/protocols/x402.md), [Machine Payments Protocol](/okf/protocols/mpp.md)

[^ref-1]: https://gruv.ai/blog/merchant-of-record-ai-agents-buyer-of-record (https://gruv.ai/blog/merchant-of-record-ai-agents-buyer-of-record)
[^ref-2]: https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol (https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol)
[^ref-3]: https://ucp.dev (https://ucp.dev)