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NederlandsThis article answers common questions about how taxes work in Mews POS for North American properties, including how tax rates are populated, how taxes appear on bills, and how refunds are handled.
In this article, you can learn about:
- How do layered taxes work in the US?
- How do dependent taxes work in Canada?
- How does Mews POS populate tax rates?
- What do I do if a tax rate is missing or incorrect?
- How do taxes appear on bills and invoices?
- How do refunds and cancellations affect taxes?
- Where can I view tax reporting?
- Can a product have more than one tax profile?
- What happens if a product has no tax profile assigned?
- How do I view the tax charged on a specific order?
How do layered taxes work in the US?
In the US, a single item can carry multiple taxes simultaneously, one for the state, one for the county, and one for the city. Each rate is applied independently to the net price of the item, and the total tax is the sum of all applicable rates.
For example, a burger priced at $15.00 in New York City attracts a 4.00% New York State sales tax and a 4.50% New York City local tax. The guest pays $16.96 in total.
Mews POS handles this automatically when your tax profiles are set up correctly.
How do dependent taxes work in Canada?
In some Canadian provinces, one tax is calculated on top of another rather than each rate being applied independently to the base price. Quebec is the most common example, QST is applied to the net price plus GST, not to the net price alone.
For example, on a $100.00 item, GST of 5% adds $5.00. QST of 9.975% is then applied to $105.00, adding $10.47. The total tax is $15.47, and the guest pays $115.47.
Mews POS handles this automatically when your tax profiles are set up correctly.
How does Mews POS populate tax rates?
Mews POS populates tax rates for state, county, and city automatically based on your legal environment, which comes from your PMS setup. Rates are managed centrally through Tax Manager, which ensures a single source of truth across Mews and means future tax updates are handled centrally.
Note: It is not possible to edit tax rates directly in Mews POS.
What do I do if a tax rate is missing or incorrect?
If a tax rate is missing or incorrect in Mews POS, contact the Support team.
How do taxes appear on bills and invoices?
Mews POS uses net pricing. The system stores and displays product prices before tax is applied. On the order screen, tax is calculated in real time as items are added, and a tax summary is visible before you close the check.
The taxes displayed on printed or emailed bills vary by country.
How do refunds and cancellations affect taxes?
When you refund or cancel items, Mews POS recalculates taxes automatically. The refund amount includes both the product price and the applicable taxes, so no manual adjustment is needed.
Partial refunds are supported. If you refund one item from a multi-item check, only the taxes for that item are reversed, and the remaining items and their taxes are unaffected.
Where can I view tax reporting?
You can view granular tax reporting in Mews POS to see how much tax was collected by rate, product category, and time period. In Mews POS, go to Reports > Sales, set your date range, and filter as needed.
Can a product have more than one tax profile?
No. Each product and each product category can have one tax profile assigned at a time. However, a single tax profile can contain multiple rates, such as a state rate and a county rate, so you can model multi-layer taxation within one profile.
What happens if a product has no tax profile assigned?
A product with no tax profile assigned inherits the profile from its category. If the category also has no profile assigned, the default tax profile applies.
How do I view the tax charged on a specific order?
Open the relevant closed check in the Android application. You can also view additional details in Mews POS.