Taxes: Rule Setup

Effortlessly manage taxes with Campspot's intuitive setup, ensuring accuracy and transparency in your financial transactions.

Summary

Explore the steps to set up and use the Taxes feature in Campspot, ensuring accurate and efficient tax management for reservations, reservation fees, online booking fees, and more. Follow the comprehensive guide to navigate the Pricing Rules and create distinct tax rules for various scenarios.

New to Tax Setup in Campspot? Check out these articles as well:

Uses

  • Tax Customization: Tailor tax rules for different site types, add-ons, and reservation durations to accommodate diverse scenarios.
  • Financial Precision: Link taxes to specific financial accounts and deferred financial accounts, ensuring accurate reporting on Journal Entries.
  • Transparent Invoicing: Create customer-facing tax names for clear identification on invoices, enhancing transparency in financial transactions.
  • Fees for OTA Bookings: Apply fees for bookings made through an OTA and/or Marketplace

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Navigate to Pricing Rules

  1. Using the primary navigation button, click on Rules
  2. Click on the Pricing tab
  3. Select Taxes

Taxes Page

Step 2: Create New Rule

From this page you can either update existing rules or create a new one using the New Variation form. To setup a new rule, follow the directions below:

  1. Click New Variation
  2. Complete the form (example of blank below)
  3. Once complete, click Save

Best Practice:

Create separate tax rules for each tax type for manageable reporting.

Tax Variation Form 

New Variation Form Fields

Rule Name

Choose a descriptive name for easy identification.

Site Types/ Add-on Types

Define which site types or add-ons the rule applies to.

Note: You can only select either Site Types or Add On Types for a single rule.

Expiration Date

Specify when the rule should expire.

If Stay is…

First, select from the drop-down menu one of the following options:

  • Greater than (no repeat): The reservation must be for more than the nights entered for the package to apply.
  • Equal to (repeats): The reservation must be for exactly the number of nights entered for the package to apply, and it can repeat if the requirements are met multiple times.
  • Equal to (no repeat): The reservation must be for exactly the number of nights entered for the package to apply, and it cannot repeat, regardless of the number of nights the guest is staying.
  • Less than (no repeat): The reservation must be for fewer nights than entered for the package to apply.

Then, select the number of night(s).

Tax Rate

Enter the tax rate into the field, can enter up to four (4) decimal places.

Select if the tax is either a percentage (%) or dollar ($) amount.

Note: The tax rate that you charge at your campground should be based on local or state laws. If you have questions, please contact your tax authority.

Applies

Select one of the below options from the drop-down menu:

  • Flat Rate for Eligible Period: the tax rule will apply as a flat charge for the eligible period selected in the next step.
  • Flat Rate for All Days: the tax rule will apply as a whole to the entire reservation.
  • Daily Rate for Eligible Period: the tax rule will apply to the daily rate for the eligible period selected in the next step.
  • Daily Rate for All Days (most commonly used): the tax rule will apply to the daily rate for all days of the reservation.
Eligible Period

If Flat Rate for Eligible Period or Daily Rate for Eligible Period were selected in the previous step, a number of nights needs to be determined to create the eligible period.

Financial Account

Select the financial account from the drop-down menu in which the taxes will be reflected on the Journal Entry reporting.

Deferred Financial Account (Accrual)

Select the deferred financial account from the drop-down menu in which the taxes will be reflected on the Journal Entry reporting. Even if running on a cash-based accounting system, this drop-down is still required.

Tax Applies To

Select any and all items that are to be taxable on the reservation:

  • Campsite Reservation – will apply the tax rule to only the reservation dollars.
  • Locked Site Fees – will apply the tax rule to the locked site fee (if site is locked).
  • Pet Fees – will apply the tax rule to any pet fees associated with the reservation.
  • Occupancy Fees – will apply the tax rule to any occupancy fees associated with the reservation.
  • Reservation Surcharges – will apply the tax rule to any reservation surcharges association with the reservation.
  • Marketplace Service Fee
  • OTA Fees

Note: If creating a tax rule for add-on type and an add-on type is selected, the Tax Applies To option for Add-on Reservation will be available for selection, for tax rules that are for site types, that option is grayed out.