1. Guesty Help Center
  2. Financials
  3. Taxes and Channel Commission
  4. Taxes

Setting up taxes

Set up taxes in Guesty, such as VAT or local tax, to automatically add them to the reservation total. You can set up taxes on the account or listing level for direct reservations (including those from the Booking Engine or Booking Engine API).

Important:

Taxes aren't applied retroactively. They only apply to new reservations after the tax is created or edited.

Where to create taxes

Decide where you want to set up your taxes:

  • Account Level: Configure here if the tax applies to all or most of your listings.
  • Listing Level:  Configure here for taxes that apply to specific listings. Use this level to sync taxes with Airbnb, as account taxes do not sync. 

Channel notes

Review how taxes sync (or don't) with each channel and their specific limitations. Not all tax types are supported by every channel, and the tax name may change when it syncs.

For example, only five tax types in Guesty sync with Booking.com. "Tourism tax" shows as "tourism fee" to the guest in Booking.com. Most tax types sync with Vrbo, but they all appear to the guest as "tax" in Vrbo. 

 Some advanced tax conditions apply to Vrbo, but not to other channels.

Airbnb limitations

Set taxes on the listing, not account, to sync them with Airbnb. When you create a tax, we dynamically show syncing details provided by Airbnb in two parts of the process.

1: How taxes are collected based on listing location

Airbnb collects taxes for the specific listing location in one of the following ways. This information is provided automatically by Airbnb. If you don't think the status is correct, contact Airbnb for more details.

Click here for details
  • Ineligible: You can't sync taxes from Guesty to Airbnb on this listing. 
  • No Airbnb collected tax: Airbnb does not collect taxes for reservations on this listing. You can set up the tax in Guesty and sync it to Airbnb. You're responsible for collecting and remitting this tax—not Airbnb.
  • Override: Airbnb collects and remits some taxes for reservations on this listing. If you create a tax in Guesty and sync it with Airbnb, it replaces the tax that Airbnb collects. You're responsible for collecting and remitting this tax—not Airbnb.
  • Stacked: Airbnb collects and remits some taxes for reservations on this listing. If you create a tax in Guesty and sync it with Airbnb, it's in addition to the taxes Airbnb collects. You're responsible for collecting and remitting this additional tax—not Airbnb.

Note the information provided for the next step.

2: If a tax type syncs or not

Not all tax types created in Guesty sync with Airbnb. If syncing is possible, you can choose to sync the tax or not with Airbnb. For example, if the Airbnb tax collection type for the listing is "Override," you may want to sync it, but if it's "Stacked," you may choose not to sync.

Create a tax on the account level

Step by step:

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
  3. Click Financial settings and select Tax configuration.
  4. To the right, click New tax.
  5. Enter the basic tax settings.
  6. (Optional) Click Set additional conditions for this tax, then enter the details.
  7. Click Continue.
  8. Sync tax to channels: We show your connected channels that sync this tax automatically.
    1. (Optional) Toggle on Deduct this tax from the accommodation fare for Airbnb reservations. (This tax is broken down from the accommodation fare, and is added as a separated line item in the guest folio.)
    2. (Optional) Toggle on Deduct this tax from the accommodation fare for direct reservations. (This tax is broken down from the accommodation fare.)
  9. Click Continue.
  10. In the top-right corner, click Save tax configuration.

Basic tax settings

Click here for details
  • Tax type: See which taxes sync with each booking channel to help you choose an appropriate tax. Tax types can be used multiple times.
    • Note: We recommend not using "Other" tax type, as it doesn't sync to any booking channels.
  • Name: Identifies the tax in Guesty. This appears as a line item in the guest folio and guest invoice.
  • Tax amount: Choose a percentage or fixed amount, and enter the amount.
  • Per: Determine if the tax is per night, per guest, per stay, or per guest per night.
  • Invoice items to tax: If a percentage tax, choose the items to include in the calculation. For example, tax accommodation fare only, or tax accommodation fare plus cleaning fee.

Advanced tax conditions

Click here for details

Tax conditions apply to direct reservations. Some conditions apply to Vrbo.

Most of the conditions are only available for fixed amount taxes.

A maximum of 15 tax rules is allowed. Each tax is one rule, and each condition is three rules. For example, a City Tax of $5 per stay (one rule) for less than 30 days (three rules) totals four rules. 

  • By night: Tax differently based on the order of nights in the reservation. For example, for nights one through four the tax is $8, and $4 for nights five until the end of the reservation.
  • Date range: Tax differently based on the time of year. For example, between May and October the tax is $10, and between November and April the tax is $5.
  • Night and date: Combine the previous conditions to tax differently based on the order of nights during a specific time of year. For example, between May and October only, for nights one through four the tax is $10, and $5 for nights five until the end of the reservation.
  • Length of stay (LOS): Reservations longer than a certain number of nights don't pay taxes.

If the condition you set up doesn't cover the entire reservation, the part that isn't covered gets the basic tax. For example, if you set a "By Night" condition for nights 1–4, nights 5–8 on an 8-night reservation receive the basic tax amount.

Create a tax for a specific listing

Step by step:

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
  3. Click Properties.
  4. Click the relevant listing. (If the listing is a multi-unit, edit the main settings of the multi-unit. The changes apply to all sub-units.)
  5. In the left-side menu, click Pricing & Policies, then select Tax configuration.
  6. If relevant, toggle off Use your account's default settings.
  7. If your account is connected to Airbnb, note the tax collection type to decide whether to sync the tax with Airbnb.
  8. Click New tax.
  9. Enter the basic tax settings.
  10. (Optional) Click Set additional conditions for this tax, then enter the details.
  11. Click Continue.
  12. Sync tax to channels: We show your connected channels that sync this tax automatically. If the tax syncs with Airbnb, choose one of the following:
    • Yes, sync to Airbnb. Enter the required business information.
    • No, do not sync to Airbnb. 
    1. (Optional) Toggle on Deduct this tax from the accommodation fare for Airbnb reservations. (The tax is broken down from the accommodation fare, and is added as a separated line item in the guest folio).
    2. (Optional) Toggle on Deduct this tax from the accommodation fare for direct reservations. this tax is broken down from the accommodation fare.
  13. Click Continue.
  14. In the top-right corner, click Save tax configuration.

Edit a tax

  1. Follow the steps above to reach the account or listing tax section. 
  2. Click the vertical ellipsisto the right of the relevant tax and select Edit tax.
  3. Edit the details as needed.
  4. At the top-right, click Save tax configuration.

Delete a tax

  1. Follow the steps above to reach the account or listing tax section. 
  2. Click the vertical ellipsisto the right of the relevant tax and select Delete tax.
  3. In the pop-up, click Yes, continue deleting.

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