Overview
Properly configuring Taxes and Fees in your Zaui system ensures accurate pricing and compliance with tax regulations. This article will guide you through setting up taxes and fees, defining different types, and understanding when to use them.
This Article Covers:
- Creating a Tax or Fee
- Different types of Taxes/Fees and when to use them
- Surplus Fees and how they differ from taxes
-
Creating a Tax or Fee
To create a new tax or fee in your Zaui system:
- Navigate to Settings > Pricing > Taxes & Fees.
- Click Create New Tax from the shortcuts panel.
- Enter the Name of the tax or fee (e.g., GST).
- Select what the tax/fee should apply to (e.g., Products/Activities and Packages).
- Choose whether it should be a flat rate or a percentage.
- Enter the tax/fee amount.
- Specify if the tax/fee should be taxable.
- Set the date range during which the tax/fee will be applied.
- Use the Restrict by Destination flag if the fee is only applicable to a specific destination (e.g., an airport pick-up fee).
- Click Save.
-
Different Types of Taxes and Fees
Administrative Fee
- Flat fee per person
- Used for additional service fees (e.g., conservation fees, airport fees).
- Tax can be applied to this fee.
- Can be restricted by pick-up and drop-off locations for transportation services.
- Applied at the activity level, calculated based on the subtotal.
- Cannot be included in discounts or promotional codes.
Example: A Conservation Fee for a whale-watching tour or an Airport Fee for shuttle services.
EFTPOS / Debit Transaction Surcharge
- Can be set as a flat or percentage fee.
- Only applied in Zaui Core (Back Office).
- Applied at the booking level when processing payment.
Example: A debit transaction surcharge to cover processing costs.
Entire Reservation Fee
- Can be set as a flat or percentage fee.
- Applied to the entire booking, not per person.
Example: A flat fee for large group bookings.
Per Person Per Day Fee
- Can be set as a flat or percentage fee.
- Requires enabling the "Apply all per person per day charges" flag in activity settings.
- Unlike Administrative or Product/Activity taxes, which apply only on the first day, this tax applies each day for multi-day activities.
Example: A hotel accommodation tax applied per night.
Products/Activities and Packages Tax (Most commonly used tax in Zaui!)
- Can be set as a flat or percentage fee.
- Applied at the activity level.
- Calculated based on the subtotal of the activity.
- Tax can be applied to this fee.
Companies often use this tax for state, provincial, or federal taxes.
Example: GST, VAT, or sales tax.
What Are Surplus Fees and How Do They Differ From Taxes?
What is a Surplus Fee?
A surplus fee is an additional charge included in the total cost of an activity, covering externally imposed costs.
Examples include:
- Government land use fees
- National park fees
- Third-party transportation costs (e.g., ferry fees)
These fees can be taxable or non-taxable, depending on the type of charge.
How does a surplus fee differ from a tax?
Surplus Fee | Tax |
---|---|
Flat amount only | Can be flat or percentage amount |
Included in the total cost of the activity |
Most taxes are calculated on top of the total cost of the reservation (except for Administrative and Products/Activities and Package fees which are also included in the total cost of the activity) |
Affiliates have the ability to receive commission | Affiliates have the ability to receive commission |
Surplus fee can be optionally included in discounts and promo codes | Administration fees are not included in discounts and promo codes |
Once your taxes and fees are created, you will need to select which ones are applicable to each of the activities you create.
Next Steps
Now that you’ve set up your Taxes and Fees, ensure they are correctly assigned to the relevant activities in your Zaui system.
You may also want to:
- Review and adjust taxable vs. non-taxable fees based on your business needs.
- Confirm fee restrictions (e.g., per destination, per person, per day).
- Run test bookings to verify correct tax and fee applications.