Managing your tax settings allows you to apply the correct tax, configure individual tax rates, create tax groups, and assign them to products. This is essential for accurate pricing, reporting, and keeping your business compliant with local regulations. 

What's in this guide?

Applicable taxes by country
Configuring tax settings
Adding a tax rate
Creating group taxes
Assigning taxes to products
Frequently asked questions

Applicable taxes by country

Different countries have specific tax rules and requirements, and understanding them is essential for applying the correct rates to your products. Below is an overview of the primary taxes applicable in Australia and New Zealand for Lightspeed Restaurant (O-Series). 

Australia

• Goods and Services Tax (GST): The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) defines the GST as a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services, and other items sold or consumed in Australia. You can refer to their website to see a full list of taxable and GST-free food. 
• Wine Equalisation Tax (WET): According to the ATO, WET is a tax of 29% of the wholesale value of wine. It is generally only payable if you are registered or required to be registered for GST. You can refer to their website for a list of products that this tax applies to.

New Zealand

• Goods and Services Tax (GST): Inland Revenue defines the GST as a 15% tax added to the price of most goods and services in New Zealand, including most imported goods and some imported services. You can refer to their website for a list of where GST can and cannot be charged.

Configuring tax settings

Configuring tax settings ensures your menu prices are accurate, streamlines bookkeeping, and ensures transparency at checkout.

If your menu was originally created using tax-inclusive pricing and you decided to switch to tax-exclusive, make sure to download a backup copy of your product menu file first. Once the setting is changed, your menu prices will be recalculated without GST, which will alter the current pricing. Having a backup ensures you can reference your original prices and make any necessary adjustments.

To configure your tax settings:

1. Log in to Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, select Company settings > Details.
3. Under Tax Settings, you can select either:
   • Use Tax Inclusive Prices: Shows item prices with GST already included. The amount the customers see is the final price they pay.
   • Use Tax Exclusive Prices: Shows item prices before GST. GST is added at checkout and appears as a separate tax line.
4. Click Save.
   

Adding a tax rate

Before you can assign taxes to products, you need to create the tax rate in Back Office. Add as many tax rates as required to match the tax rules in your region.

To add a tax rate: 

1. From the navigation menu, select Company settings > Taxes. 
2. Click Add a New Tax. Here, you can add: 
   • Tax Name: The name for the tax. 
   • Tax Code:  A unique identifier for the tax,  such as GST, WET, or FRE. This is what shows up when assigning a tax to individual products.
   • Tax Rate:  The percentage rate for the tax. Enter only the number, and no need to include %. 
3. Click Add Tax. 

Creating group taxes

Group taxes are collections of individual taxes that can be applied together to products, with each tax shown separately on the customer's invoice. Ensure the individual taxes are created before adding them to a tax group. 

To create a tax group: 

1. From the navigation menu, select Company settings > Taxes. 
2. Click Add Group Tax. Here, you can add: 
   • Group Tax Name: The name for this tax group. 
   • Tax Code: A unique identifier for the tax group. This is what shows up when assigning a tax group to individual products. 
   • Select taxes: Select the individual taxes that will be included in the group. 
   • Tax Group Rate: This is a combined rate that's automatically calculated based on the selected individual taxes. 
3. Click Add Tax Group.

Assigning tax rates to products

The steps below guide you through adding or changing the tax rate for existing products. You can also assign the tax rate as you add a product in Back Office. Tax rates are set at the company level, so if you manage multiple sites, any tax rate you assign to a product on one site will apply to all sites.

To assign tax rates to products:

1. From the navigation menu, select Products.
2. Using the search filter, locate the product you want to assign a tax rate to.
3. Under the Sell Tax column, choose the tax code to assign to the product from the drop-down menu. Changes made here will automatically be saved. 

You can assign tax-based tags to products to make it easy to filter and manage these items when updating taxes. 

Frequently asked questions

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