Set VAT and the service fee
Choose your VAT and service fee rates, whether prices already include them, and whether pickup orders pay the fee.
On this page
VAT and the service fee are set once for the organization, in SettingsTaxes & tips. Every order, and the totals guests see in their cart, are worked out with these rates. A location can set its own rates — see A location's settings.
Who can do this: Owner and Admin
Set the rates
Open the settings
Open SettingsTaxes & tips.
Enter VAT
Type the rate in VAT rate, then choose Included if your menu prices already contain VAT, or Excluded if it is added on top.
Enter the service fee
Type the rate in Service fee and choose Included or Excluded the same way. Leave it at 0 if you charge none.
Choose who pays the fee
Under Service fee applies, choose At tables only or At tables and for pickup.
Save
Select Save changes at the bottom of the page.
- Beside VAT rate: Included if your prices contain VAT, or Excluded to add it on top.
- The same choice for the Service fee.
- Service fee applies: at tables only, or for pickup too.
- Enable cart & ordering lets guests put dishes in an order. Keep it on: without it, guests can't order.
A rate can have up to two decimals, such as 7.5 or 8.25.
How an order's total is worked out
- An added service fee is a percentage of the dishes, shown on its own line. An included one adds nothing: your prices already contain it.
- Added VAT is a percentage of the dishes and the service fee together, shown on its own line. Included VAT adds nothing; the order shows how much VAT its total contains.
- A tip is never taxed and is worked out on the dishes alone, before the service fee and VAT. Whether guests are offered one is set in SettingsOrdering — see Table service.
For example, with dishes worth 40.00, a 10% service fee added and 8% VAT added:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dishes | 40.00 |
| Service fee, 10% of 40.00 | 4.00 |
| VAT, 8% of 44.00 | 3.52 |
| Total | 47.52 |
With 20% VAT included and no service fee, the same dishes cost 40.00 in total, and the order notes that this includes 6.67 of VAT.
Pickup and the service fee
With At tables only, only orders to a table pay the service fee; pickup orders don't. Choose At tables and for pickup to charge it on pickup orders too. VAT applies to both.
When you change a rate
Orders placed after you save use the new rates. Orders already placed keep the rates they were placed with.
What guests see
Before they send an order, guests see the service fee and added VAT as lines of their own under the dishes, in their cart and on the order page. On the order page, included VAT shows as a note under the total. The receipt lists the same charges — see Email receipts.