Sales tax

Overview

Pembee enables you to collect tax on bookings with configurable settings for VAT, Sales Tax, GST, or custom tax types. Tax is displayed at checkout and in confirmation emails.

Enabling Tax Collection

Go to Settings > General, navigate to the Financial section, and toggle tax collection on. Configuration options include:

• Tax name: Select from VAT, Sales Tax, GST, or "Other" for custom naming
• Tax rate: Enter the percentage (e.g., 20 for 20%)
• Tax display mode: Choose how users see tax at checkout

> Note: Changing your tax settings only affects new bookings. Existing completed bookings retain their original tax settings.

Tax Display Modes

Inclusive

Tax is already included in your ticket prices. The tax amount is derived from the price rather than added on top.

Example: A €50 ticket with 20% VAT inclusive displays as €50 at checkout, with a note: "Includes €8.33 VAT"

Exclusive

Tax is added on top of the listed price. Users see a full breakdown with subtotal, tax line, and total.

Example: A €50 ticket with 20% VAT exclusive displays as: - Subtotal: €50.00 - VAT (20%): €10.00 - Total: €60.00

Confirmation emails mirror the same breakdown shown at checkout.

What Tax Applies To

Tax is applied to:

• Tickets — activity bookings
• Add-ons — any extras added to a booking
• All fees — including booking fees, registration fees, and any custom fees added by an admin user
• Deductions — deductions added by an admin user will have negative tax applied (the inverse of how fees are taxed)

Tax is not applied to account credit deductions.

Subscriptions and Tax

Subscriptions are managed by Stripe. When an admin user configures tax settings in Pembee (tax name, rate, and display mode), these settings are applied to all new and updated subscriptions in Stripe.

• New subscriptions are created with the current tax settings at the time of purchase.
• Existing subscriptions are updated to reflect changes in tax settings. When an admin updates their tax configuration, active subscriptions in Stripe are updated accordingly.
• Tax display mode (inclusive or exclusive) applies to subscriptions in the same way as bookings — inclusive means the price already contains tax, exclusive means tax is added on top.

Note: Since Stripe handles recurring billing, the tax information stored on the subscription in Stripe is what determines the tax charged on each renewal. If you change your tax settings in Pembee, those changes will be synced to Stripe for active subscriptions.

Calculation Order

Tax is calculated in the following sequence:

1. Ticket prices are set
2. Session pass deductions are applied (reducing the taxable amount)
3. Discounts are applied (reducing the taxable amount)
4. Tax is calculated on the remaining amount
5. Fees are added with tax applied
6. Account credit is deducted from the final total (no tax adjustment)

How Tax is Calculated

Tax is calculated at the individual line item level (each ticket, add-on, and fee), not on the booking total. This means the tax for each item is rounded individually before being summed.

Due to rounding, the total tax on a booking may differ slightly from what you'd expect if tax were calculated on the booking total as a whole.

How Discounts, Passes, and Credit Interact with Tax

Discounts are applied before tax is calculated, reducing the taxable amount. The tax shown on the receipt reflects the net amount after discounts.

Session passes reduce the taxable amount when redeemed against a booking — tax is calculated on the remaining balance only. Note that the original purchase of a session pass is taxed as normal.

Account credit is applied after tax has been calculated and does not affect the taxable amount. The user pays less out of pocket, but the tax amount remains the same.

Multi-Session Bookings

If sessions are removed from an "all sessions" booking, the tax amount is adjusted proportionally based on the number of sessions removed.

Cancellations and Refunds

When sessions are cancelled or refunded, tax amounts are adjusted proportionally to reflect the updated booking total.

Disclaimer

Whilst Pembee makes best efforts to ensure the accuracy of tax calculations, it is your responsibility to verify that the tax charged is correct and complies with your local tax laws and regulations. We recommend consulting with a tax professional if you are unsure about your tax obligations.