Taxes

Taxes are set up in Catalog setup → Taxes in two parts:

• Tax rates — a single tax with a percentage, for example VAT 18%.
• Tax groups — what you give a product. A group combines one or more rates. An empty group means no tax (for exempt or zero-rated items).

Caution

Confirm your rates with your accountant before you start selling.

The quick way: Add VAT 18%

On the dashboard’s setup checklist, the Tax step has a button Add VAT 18%. It creates the rate VAT (18%) and the group VAT 18% (code VAT18) in one go.

Add a tax rate

1. Under Tax rates, select New tax rate.
2. Enter a Code (for example VAT or SSCL — cannot be changed later) and a Name.
3. Enter the Rate (%) — up to 4 decimals, for example 18 or 2.5.
4. Choose Applies from — today or a future date.
5. Save.

Change a rate (for example a new VAT rate from 1 January)

1. Select Change rate next to the rate.
2. Enter the new Rate (%) and the date it Applies from.
3. Save.

The new rate applies from the chosen date. Earlier rates are kept for past sales and reports. Select History to see all rates and their dates.

Add a tax group

1. Under Tax groups, select New tax group.
2. Enter a Code (for example STANDARD or EXEMPT — cannot be changed later) and a Name.
3. Tick the Rates included. Leave all unticked for tax-exempt or zero-rated items.
4. Save. Combined today shows the total rate.

Then choose the Tax group on each product, or put the group code in the tax_group column of your import file.

Prices include tax?

By default, prices include tax: the shelf price is what the customer pays and the tax is worked out of it. Change this in Settings → Products and prices → Prices include tax. The till shows incl. tax or plus tax next to prices accordingly.

Deactivating a rate

Remove a rate from all active tax groups before deactivating it.