Configuring ecommerce settings for taxes (and fees) – Checkfront

Using taxes and service fees ensures your business stays compliant, accurate, and professional while helping you recover costs and maintain healthy margins. Precise, automated calculations also improve transparency for guests and save you time on manual work.

Learn how to configure tax settings from the Taxes tab, including opting out for select inventory, opting out post booking, removing tax from a booking, and configuring the online Booking Fee calculation method.

New to Ecommerce Setup? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to Ecommerce Setup.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

Manage > Ecommerce Setup > Taxes

What more do I need to use this feature?

Admin permissions configure Taxes and Inventory. You can assign the Restricted permission to Modify Taxes independently.

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

This feature is available in both our classic items version (Inventory > Items) and our classic products version (Inventory > Products). → Learn more about products

Ecommerce setup taxes overview

The Ecommerce Setup page displays the Taxes tab showing active tax rates and configuration options.

You can define any applicable taxes or service fees you must collect here. Taxes configured apply to all inventory items/products, though you can also turn off taxes per category or item/product in tax settings.

By default, the system lists all Enabled taxes. You can filter the tax list by tax status: Enabled, Disabled, or All.

For each tax configured, the following information displays: ID, Name, Amount, Type, Applied (to), Account Number, and (Display) Order. We describe the settings in which this data matches below under Tax Setup.

You can sort the list in ascending or descending order. By default, the list sorts by tax name in ascending order (A-Z).

To configure a new tax in your system, click the +Create Tax button in the left sidebar.

If you use a third-party platform (like GetYourGuide or RezdyConnect) and change tax settings, you'll likely need to re-import your products in the third-party platform to reflect those updates across connected channels.

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Creating taxes

The Create Tax window allows users to define a new tax name, amount, and calculation method.

Go to Manage > Ecommerce > Taxes.
Select the +Create Tax button.
Complete fields as described below:

Entering a tax name

Enter a tax name in the Name field. The tax name appears on your invoices and reports, so select a name that makes sense to you and your Customers.

Configuring the tax amount

The Create Tax window shows the Amount field with a dropdown for selecting tax calculation types.

You can use the Amount settings to specify the tax amount to apply to bookings.

Select the $ button to apply a flat fee amount.
- Select a tax type from the dropdown menu that appears when choosing a fixed amount. The available options are as follows:
  - Percent (to switch back to the % option)
  - Flat Fee per Booking
  - Flat Fee per Item/Product
  - Flat Fee per Allocation (~ per day/night/timeslot/flextime. See example below.)
  - Flat Fee per Days
  - Flat fee per Quantity
Select the % option to apply a percentage and enter an applicable figure in the text field.

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Entering a tax account number

If you have a tax account number to include on your invoices, enter the value in the Account Number field provided.

Choosing taxable customers

The Create Tax window highlights the Apply Tax To field with options for customer groups and regions.

With the Apply Tax to setting, you can apply the tax to specific Customer segments.

You can apply the tax to

All customers
Only customers residing in your province/state/county
Only customers living in your country
Only international customers. The system references the locale settings in your system.

Configuring optional calculation methods

Use the Calculation Method setting to specify how this tax is calculated. Select from either of the following options:

Setting

Description

Example

Compound

A compound tax (sometimes called a "tax on tax") is applied on top of a price that already includes another tax, rather than on the original pre-tax amount.
When compounding taxes, order of application only matters when taxes use different calculation methods — one inclusive and one exclusive. If both taxes use the same method, order has no effect on the final result. Take care when mixing inclusive and exclusive taxes to ensure your configuration produces the correct calculated amount.

Product costs $100
Tax A (10%) is applied →$110
Tax B (5%) is applied on $110, not $100 → $115.50

Inclusive

An inclusive tax is already embedded in the displayed price, rather than added on top at checkout.
By default, this setting is unchecked, meaning the tax is treated as exclusive — calculated separately and added on top of the product price at the point of sale.
For inclusive taxes, you can also enable the Hidden to Guest option to prevent the tax from appearing on customer-facing invoices.

Inclusive tax:

Item is priced at $100 — tax included
The tax (10%) is embedded in that $100. So the actual pre-tax price is ~$90.91, and the tax is ~$9.09
The Customer pays exactly $100

Exclusive tax:

Item is priced at $100 — before tax .
The tax (10%) is added on top of $100, so the tax is $10.
The customer pays $110

Setting the tax display order

Specify the display order of the tax by entering a numerical value.

Applying tax to inventory

The Create Tax window shows the Apply To Inventory section where users can assign taxes to products.

You can use the Apply to Item/Product setting to specify which inventory is affected.

Click the arrow to expand the inventory list.
Select each category or item/product that is tax-applicable.

Applying the tax by default

Optionally, check the Apply By Default (Opt out) box to automatically add the tax to new items/products in your inventory. This option lets you add new items/products without having to return to adjust the settings each time.

Opting out of taxes for select inventory

The Pricing section lists item taxes with toggle controls to enable or disable each tax status.

New taxes automatically apply to all items/products in your inventory.

You can remove taxes from specific items/products by turning them off or removing them from the item/product's Pricing tab (Inventory > Items > Edit Item or Inventory > Products > Edit Product).

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Opting out of tax post booking

The booking invoice for Lily Bernhard shows multiple paid items with change buttons for each entry.

You can opt out of taxes as a business, Staff, or Admin after the system creates the booking.

Opting out of taxes is done on an item/product basis by :

Go to the Booking Invoice.
Click on the Edit tab while viewing a booking.
Locate the required item/product.
Click the Change button.
Uncheck the taxes you wish to remove.
Click the Save button to save your changes.

This process removes the applicable tax for that item/product only. Any other items/products in the booking that are also opted into that tax remain opted in unless you repeat the process and remove the tax manually.

Removing a tax from a booking

The booking invoice for Lily Bernhard displays the Remove Tax button for deleting applied tax amounts.

If you wish to remove a tax from a booking, follow these steps:

Go to the Booking Invoice.
Click the Edit tab while viewing a booking.
Click the Remove button next to the tax.

This process removes that tax from all items/products in the booking that were previously opted into the tax. The invoice total is then updated.

Parent/child rules

When editing an item in a booking via the invoice, the following rules are valid:

Parent items show only the taxes that apply to them, not to their children.
Child items only show the taxes that apply to them, not from their parent.
Changing a parent item's taxes should affect only the parent, not the children.

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Configuring the Online Booking Fee Calculation Method

The Ecommerce Setup page lists enabled taxes including a booking fee applied to all customers.

If your account is on our legacy Flex or new Growth (Online Booking Fee) plan, you can see the online Booking Fee listed alongside any configured taxes. We use this online Booking Fee to collect payment for the cost of Checkfront services.

The Edit Tax window shows calculation method options for setting compound or inclusive tax types.

While the online Booking Fee is active by default, you can configure the online Booking Fee Calculation Method as follows.

Start by clicking the name of the online Booking Fee to access the Edit Tax modal.
From the Edit Tax modal, consider and select your Calculation Method options.

By default, the system does not set the online Booking Fee to be inclusive. The system adds the Fee to the invoice's Sub-Total, the amount displayed before the booking Total within the Create Booking, Payment, Booking Summary, and Booking Invoice pages.

Select the Inclusive checkbox if you want the fee to display after the booking Total within the Payment, Booking Summary, and Booking Invoice pages. In this case, the online Booking Fee is not charged on top of the Sub-Total, as the system presumes you have already included the tax in the product's asking price.

Choose to set the online Booking Fee as Inclusive and Inclusive Hidden to Guest if you need to hide the online booking fee on the invoice.

In all three cases, Stripe automatically deducts the fee from the amount paid and remits the amount to Checkfront.
Click the Save or Update button to save your changes.

When booking, the online Booking Fee is displayed to Guests and can be reported via the Transaction report (Reports > Transaction). The online Booking Fee is non-refundable at this time.

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