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Tourist tax: setting up the calculation

Country preset and city rate, base and method, dated rates, minimum and night limit, exemptions, the tax line on the bill

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Tourist tax: setting up the calculation

The system can charge the tourist tax (city tax, resort fee) as a separate line on the guest bill. This article explains how to set up the calculation and mark exempt guests. The rates and the rules themselves come from your country's law and your city's decision: the system calculates from what the hotel entered and does not guarantee that the setup complies with the law.

Who it's for: hotel owners and managers; the front desk can mark exempt guests on a booking.

What the system does#

  • Every night the night audit charges a "Tourist tax" line to the bill of each occupied room — by the rule you set up.
  • At check-out the system settles the tax for the whole stay if the rule requires it (a minimum per stay, the rate on the date of full settlement, a contract-based exemption) — with one adjustment line.
  • The front desk marks exempt guests in the booking card — the system subtracts them from the payers.

The tax line is visible on the guest bill and on the printed bill.

Turn the tax on and pick the country preset#

  1. Open Rooms → the hotel settings gear → the "Payments & taxes" section.
  2. The "Tourist tax" block shows a summary: "Status" ("Charged" / "Not charged"), the rule, the "Rate" and warnings. Click "Configure".
  3. Turn on "Charge tourist tax".
  4. In "Country preset" choose the "Country" and the "Preset", then click "Apply preset". The preset fills in the rule from the country's law.
  5. If you see the "rate is set by the city" badge, enter your city's rate in the "Rate" section.
  6. Click "Save".

Presets exist for 21 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay. For Georgia the preset is "No tourist tax". For any other country you see that there is no preset yet and you set the rule manually below.

The preset shows a reference: "Legal guide" (limits), legal limits by year, city examples and the date it was checked, with the source type — "primary source", "our dossier", "secondary source" or "unverified — check".

Base, calculation method and rate#

"Rate" section → "How it is calculated" field:

Method What it means
% of the room night price A percentage of the night price
Amount per guest per night A fixed amount from each payer
Amount per room per night A fixed amount per room
% of the night price per guest A percentage counted for each payer
Brackets by night price per guest / room The amount depends on the night price; above the last bracket an amount is added for each started step

Then:

  • "Rate, %" or "Amount" — the main rate. The currency is the location currency.
  • "Dated rates (seasons, years)" → "+ Period" — if the rate changes during the year. Outside the periods the main rate applies; an empty "To" means open-ended; periods must not overlap.
  • "Night price in the base" — "Including VAT" or "Excluding VAT"; for "excluding VAT" enter the VAT percentage in the night price.
  • "Cap per person per night" — the tax from one payer per night is no more than this amount (for a percentage tax, where the preset requires it).

Minimum and night limit#

  • "Minimum" — the minimum tax amount per night. What it applies to is chosen in "More settings":
    • "Minimum is per": room or payer;
    • "Minimum applies to": "every night" or "the whole stay (topped up at check-out)".
  • "Charge only the first nights" — for example, only the first 7 nights. Empty — no limit.

Exemptions#

In the "Exemptions" section:

  • "Children younger than (years) do not pay" — the system counts by the children's ages in the booking;
  • "Exempt categories the front desk can mark" — categories from the country catalogue or your own code;
  • in "More settings":
    • "Residents of these countries do not pay" — ISO codes separated by commas;
    • "Partial exemptions" → "+ Partial exemption" — the guest pays a share (0.5 — half): by the age of a child in the booking or by a code the front desk marks;
    • "Exemption works": "Per guest — an exempt guest does not pay for themselves" or "By contract party — an exempt payer frees the whole booking".

Mark an exempt guest on a booking#

  1. Open the booking card. The "Tourist tax" block shows "everyone pays" or "N of M guests pay".
  2. Click "Exemptions" → "+ Exempt guest".
  3. Choose the "Reason" (a category, "Resident", a partial exemption or "Other reason…") and the number of "Guests".
  4. If the tax follows the contract, mark the guest as "This guest is the party to the contract (the payer of the booking)".
  5. Optionally add a "Comment for the booking log" and click "Save".

Put the supporting document (ID, certificate) in the booking notes — it is not stored in this block.

If the guest is already staying:

  • with a normal setup, nights already charged are not recalculated — reverse the extra tax lines on the bill;
  • if the tax follows the contract or the full settlement date, the tax already charged is recalculated at check-out with one line.

Recalculation at check-out#

In "More settings", "Which date picks the rate": "Date of the night" or "Date of full settlement (recalculated at check-out)". This only matters when you have dated rates.

At check-out the system compares the tax for the whole stay under the rule with what has already been charged and posts the difference as one line on the current day. A repeated check-out or an extension does not double the line, and closed business days are not changed. If the front desk reversed the adjustment line, the system does not override that.

Line name and tax on the receipt#

  • "Line name on the bill" — empty means "Tourist tax" in the property language. You can set the name in several languages ("+ Language").
  • VAT on the tax itself — a flag only; it does not change the tax amount.
  • "VAT rate of the tax line on the receipt" — how the tax line is printed on the fiscal receipt when the bill is closed: "as accommodation", "no VAT" or "explicit rate". More about the receipt — Hotel account, payment and fiscal receipt.

Check the setup#

The form has no calculator. Check on a booking:

  1. Before saving, read the "Check before saving" block — for example, "Your city's rate is not entered" or "above the legal limit". You can still save, but you confirm the rate.
  2. Check in a test booking and the next morning open its "Stay bill": there should be a tax line for the night.
  3. Mark an exempt guest and make sure the booking block now says "N of M guests pay".

Where the hotel checks the rate#

The preset is built from our legal dossier and shows the date it was checked and the source type. But the rate is most often set by the city, and it changes: check it against your municipality's or tax office's decision, not against the preset.

The system only calculates from your setup. It does not decide whether your hotel must collect the tax, which guests are exempt or when the tax must be paid over. Settle these questions with your accountant under your country's and city's law.

FAQ#

The tax was turned off — what happens to exempt guest marks? The marks are kept, but no tax is charged: "The tourist tax is off for this property — marks are kept but not charged."

Why can I save if the rate is above the legal limit? Warnings do not block saving: the hotel confirms the rate. Check it and correct it if needed.

Can I mark an exempt guest after check-out? No: "The booking is closed — exemptions can no longer be changed."

Does a discount on the bill reduce the tax? Not the tax line: on the fiscal receipt the bill discount is spread over the other lines and does not reduce the tourist tax.

In which currency is the tax? In the location currency. If the law sets the rate in another currency, enter the amount in the bill currency yourself.

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