Mews POS uses a multi-layer tax model to support the complexity of North American tax environments. Taxes in the US operate at the state, county, and city levels, and rates can differ by product category. For example, alcoholic beverages are often taxed at a different rate than food. In Mews POS, you manage this by creating tax profiles and assigning them to categories and products, so the correct rates are applied automatically at the point of sale.

 

In this article you can learn about how to set up taxes in Mews POS for properties in North America:

• Prerequisites
  • Step 1: Create a tax profile
  • Step 2: Assign a tax profile to a category
  • Step 3: Assign a tax profile to an individual product

 

Prerequisites

Before setting up taxes in Mews POS, make sure you have:

• Manager or Admin access in Mews POS
• PMS integration completed the legal environment and tax rates are pulled from your PMS setup
• A clear understanding of which products or categories require different tax treatment, such as, alcohol or food

Step 1: Create a tax profile

Once tax rates are available in POS, you can create a tax profile. You create a tax profile for each product type, for example, food items or alcohol. You can create an unlimited number of tax profiles.

1. In Mews POS, go to the main menu   > Settings > Taxes.
2. In the Tax profile tab, click Add tax profile.
3. In the new side-window, enter the following details:
   • Name: Enter a profile name that reflects the tax usage, for example, “Food”, “Alcohol” or “Non-alcoholic beverages”. Note: Use consistent naming conventions across all profiles so they are easy to identify when assigning them to products.
   • Default profile: Click the slider switch to use this profile as the default when you have not manually selected another tax profile for a category or product.
   • Note:
     • The first tax profile you create is automatically set as a default and cannot be deleted until you set another profile as the default.
     • If you change default tax profile, the system automatically applies the new default profile to all categories and products that use it.
4. Included rates: Click to select the relevant Rate for each taxation.

5. Click Create.

This creates a tax profile. A single tax profile can contain multiple rates, such as a state rate and a county rate. When you assign the tax profile to a product, the system applies all rates in that profile together.

Step 2: Assign a tax profile to a category

You assign a tax profile to a category to apply the profile to all products within that category, unless you set a product-level override.

1. In Mews POS, go to the main menu   > Products > Categories.
2. Click Add category to create a new one or select an existing one to update.
3. In the new side-window, under Taxes, select one of the following options:
   • Name: Enter a name for the new category.
   • PMS code: Enter the code your PMS uses to identify this category, up to 32 characters. This field is required if your PMS is Mews PMS.
   • Tax profile: All products in this category use the tax profile you select below.
   • Tax exempt: All products in this category are tax-exempt.
   • Select tax profile: If you select Tax profile, you can select a specific tax profile from the drop-down or click:
     • Use inherited tax profile: To use the default profile. If the default profile changes, the system automatically updates this category.

4. Click Save.

This assigns a tax profile to a category.

Step 3: Assign a tax profile to an individual product

Products inherit the tax profile from their assigned category by default. If a specific product needs different tax treatment from its category, you can override the profile at the product level.

1. In Mews POS, go to the main menu   > Products > Products.
2. Select the product you want to update and confirm it has a category assigned.
3. Click Edit.
4. Under Taxes, in the Tax profile field, the product displays the profile inherited from its category. You can also select a different profile from the dropdown.

5. Click Save.

This assigns a tax profile to an individual product. If you assign a tax profile to a product directly, this takes precedence over the category-level profile. You cannot assign a tax profile to products in a tax-exempt category.