Tax — inclusive vs exclusive pricing, and which to pick

There are two ways to price services and products: tax-inclusive (the menu price already contains tax) or tax-exclusive (tax is added at checkout). Pick under Settings → General → Tax.

This guide is the difference between the two and which to pick for your jurisdiction.

Tax-inclusive

A "$100" service costs the customer exactly $100. You're declaring that of that $100, $X is tax (e.g. $9.09 GST in Australia at 10%) and the rest is your revenue.

• Customer-friendly: prices on the menu = prices on the receipt.
• Receipt shows the tax breakdown ("$100.00 incl. $9.09 GST") for compliance.
• Standard in Australia, UK, NZ, most of Europe.

Tax-exclusive

A "$100" service costs the customer $110 ($100 + 10% GST). Tax is shown as a separate line on the receipt.

• Customer-surprising at checkout: "wait, the haircut said $100".
• Common in the US (sales tax varies by state, often shown separately).
• Required in B2B contexts where customers reclaim tax.
• Some Australian B2B businesses use it for credibility.

Which to pick

Setting it up

Settings → General → Tax:

• Tax enabled — turn on if you're tax-registered.
• Tax rate — your jurisdiction's rate (10% for Australian GST).
• Tax label — what to call it ("GST" / "VAT" / "Sales Tax").
• Tax inclusive — toggle. The whole tenant flips between inclusive and exclusive.

Don't switch this mid-year. Existing receipts keep their original tax math (the breakdown is stored per-line at the time of checkout). New receipts use the new rule. Reports show consistent totals in either mode.

What changes when you flip the toggle

Inclusive → exclusive

• Menu prices stay the same numbers but now mean "before tax".
• Booking page customers will pay 10% more than the displayed price.
• The /booking page shows "(+ 10% GST added at checkout)" beneath the total.
• Receipts split the line into "Subtotal $X / GST $Y / Total $Z".

Exclusive → inclusive

• Menu prices stay the same numbers but now mean "tax-included".
• Customers pay exactly the displayed price.
• The /booking page shows "Prices include 10% GST".
• Receipts show the tax-included total with the breakdown ("$100.00 incl. $9.09 GST").

In both cases, rebuild your menu prices to match what you actually want to charge. Don't just toggle and assume the math works out — a $100 inclusive price becomes a $90.91 exclusive price for the same total to the customer, but only if you re-enter it.

Mixed taxable / non-taxable items

Each service / product has an Apply Tax flag. Turn off for items that aren't taxable (gift cards in Australia are taxed at redemption, not at sale; some food items are GST-free). Receipts handle a mixed cart correctly — the tax line shows only the taxable portion.

Tipping and tax

Tips are not subject to GST in Australia. Trimsy handles this automatically — tips are reported separately on the receipt and excluded from the tax base.

Booking deposits

Deposits paid online via Stripe are tax-aware:

• Inclusive tenant: a "30% deposit on a $100 service" charges $30. The receipt at completion shows GST on the full $100, deducts the deposit (which already had its own GST line), and balances out.
• Exclusive tenant: a "30% deposit" charges $30 + tax = $33. Same balancing at completion.

If you change the tenant from inclusive to exclusive while a deposit is pending, the math will be correct because each invoice locks its own tax mode at creation. But UX-wise it'll surprise the customer — minimise mid-cycle changes.

Reports

The financial report breaks down:

• Gross sales (the customer-facing total)
• Net sales (revenue you keep — pre-tax in inclusive mode, equal to gross in exclusive mode)
• Tax collected (your liability to remit to the ATO / IRS / HMRC)

Use the Net figure for your P&L. Use Tax collected for your BAS / sales tax filing.

Compliance

Tax law differs by country and region. Trimsy gives you the mechanics; you're responsible for filing. Common rules:

• Australian businesses with > $75k annual turnover must register for GST.
• A receipt must show the tax breakdown to count as a Tax Invoice (compliance is on by default).
• Keep receipts for 5 years (Australia) — Trimsy stores indefinitely.
• If you're not tax-registered, leave Tax enabled off — receipts will say "No tax applied" and you don't show a misleading GST line.