Setting up taxes

You can set up taxes in Guesty, such as VAT or local tax, to add the expense to the reservation total. Taxes can be set up on the account level (Pro users) or listing level (Pro and Lite users):

  • If the tax is relevant to all or most of your listings, create it on the account level.
  • If the tax is only relevant to specific listings, create it on the listing level (if only that listing needs a tourism tax, for example).
  • Even if the tax is relevant to all or most of your listings, if you want to sync it with Airbnb, you must create it on the listing level, as account-level taxes do not sync. 

Important:

Taxes are not applied retroactively. Once created or edited, they will only be applied to newly created reservations.

Guesty Lite user limitations

Taxes can be created on the listing level, not on the account level. You only need to set up taxes in Guesty to sync with reservations made via:

Taxes in Guesty do NOT sync with:

Channel notes and limitations

Tax conditions (e.g. different tax amount per night or per date range) only apply for direct reservations, they do not sync with channels.

Before setting up your taxes, it's important to understand how taxes do or don't sync with each channel, and specific limitations per channel. See detailed information here.

Create a tax for all/most listings on the account level (Pro only)

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. In the top-right corner, click Edit.
  5. Scroll down and click Add new.
  6. Set up the basic tax settings:
    • Tax type: Read this article to see which taxes sync with each booking channel and help you choose an appropriate tax. 
      • Tax types can be used multiple times.
      • We do not recommend using the "Other" type, since it does not sync to any booking channels.
    • Name: Will be used to identify the tax in Guesty.
    • Tax amount: Choose a percentage or fixed-amount tax, and enter the amount.
    • Per: Decide if the tax is per night or per guest, for example.
  7. If you are setting up a percentage tax, you need to choose how to calculate it - under "Which invoice items to tax", decide if the calculation should be based on the accommodation fare only or a mix of the accommodation fare and specific additional fees, for example.
  8. Tax conditions: Optional for direct reservations only, do not sync with channels. If you want certain direct reservations not to pay taxes or if you want the basic tax amount you set up to adjust automatically, click Set additional conditions for this tax and choose the condition. If you do not set any conditions, the basic tax will apply to all of your reservations.
    Available tax conditions

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

    • By night: Tax differently based on the order of the nights in the reservation. For example: For nights 1 through 4 the tax is $8, and $4 for nights 5 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 & Date: Combine the previous conditions to tax differently based on the order of nights during a specific time of year. For example: For nights 1 through 4 the tax is $10, and $5 for nights 5 until the end of the reservation - but only between May and October.
    • Length of stay: Reservations longer than X number of nights will not pay taxes.

    If the condition you set up does not cover the entire reservation, the part that is not covered will get the basic tax. For example: If you set up a "By night" condition for nights 1-4 and the reservation has 8 nights, nights 5-8 will get the basic percentage/amount you entered.

  9. Account-level taxes do not sync with Airbnb, but if you want to see a breakdown of the tax in Guesty turn on the Deduct tax from the accommodation fare for Airbnb reservations toggle. The tax will be added to the invoice as a positive and negative amount, ensuring the accommodation fare does not increase.

Create a tax for a specific listing

Pro users Lite users

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, make these changes by editing the main settings of the multi-unit. The changes will apply to all sub-units.
  5. In the left menu, click Pricing & Policies and select Tax configuration from the dropdown menu.
  6. Scroll down to the "Tax" section and click Edit to the right.
  7. Make sure the Use your account's default settings toggle is OFF, or the listing will use taxes set up on the account level. If you need to turn it off, read the information in the pop-up and click Confirm.
  8. If your account is connected to Airbnb, we will show you how they collect taxes for this listing. Use this information to decide if you want to sync the tax or not:
    Airbnb tax collection types
    • Ineligible: You cannot 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 your taxes in Guesty and sync them to Airbnb. You are 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 will replace the tax that Airbnb collects. You are 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 will be in addition to the taxes Airbnb collects. You are responsible for collecting and remitting this additional tax - not Airbnb.
  9. If the listing's collection type allows it AND you want to be responsible for collecting and remitting the tax, click New tax to set it up.
  10. Set up the basic tax settings:
    • Tax type: Read this article to see which taxes sync with each booking channel and help you choose an appropriate tax. 
      • Tax types can be used multiple times.
      • We do not recommend using the "Other" type, since it does not sync to any booking channels.
    • Name: Will be used to identify the tax in Guesty.
    • Tax amount: Choose a percentage or fixed-amount tax, and enter the amount.
    • Per: Decide if the tax is per night or per guest, for example.
  11. If you are setting up a percentage tax, you need to choose how to calculate it - under "Which invoice items to tax" decide if the the calculation should be based on the accommodation fare only or a mix of the accommodation fare and specific additional fees, for example. 
  12. Tax conditions: Optional for direct reservations only, do not sync with channels. If you want certain direct reservations not to pay taxes or if you want the basic tax amount you set up to adjust automatically, click Set additional conditions for this tax and choose the condition. If you do not set any conditions, the basic tax will apply to all of your reservations.
    Available tax conditions

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

    • By night: Tax differently based on the order of the nights in the reservation. For example: For nights 1 through 4 the tax is $8, and $4 for nights 5 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 & Date: Combine the previous conditions to tax differently based on the order of nights during a specific time of year. For example: For nights 1 through 4 the tax is $10, and $5 for nights 5 until the end of the reservation - but only between May and October.
    • Length of stay: Reservations longer than X number of nights will not pay taxes.

    If the condition you set up does not cover the entire reservation, the part that is not covered will get the basic tax. For example: If you set up a "By night" condition for nights 1-4 and the reservation has 8 nights, nights 5-8 will get the basic percentage/amount you entered.

  13. Click Continue.
  14. If your account is connected to Airbnb, you will need to decide if you want to sync the tax and be responsible for collecting and remitting it instead of Airbnb:
    • No: Taxes on Airbnb will not change. If you want to see a breakdown of the tax in Guesty turn on the Deduct tax from the accommodation fare for Airbnb reservations toggle. The tax will be added to the invoice as a positive and negative amount - ensuring the accommodation fare does not increase.
    • Yes: You will be asked to provide information such as your business ID to complete the process.
  15. Click Continue.
  16. In the top-right corner, click Save tax configuration.

Edit a tax

To edit an existing tax, follow the steps above to edit the listing's tax section. Click on the relevant tax then update and save the settings as needed.

Delete a tax

To edit an existing tax, follow the steps above to edit the listing's tax section. Click on the relevant tax then click Delete tax. In the pop-up, click Remove.

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