A VAT, or value added tax, can be applied to items with fees in your Eventsforce event. Different tax jurisdictions may require the adding of a Sales or VAT to transactions. If you are organizing an event in a new jurisdiction you may need to set up a specific tax code and rate. While VAT are more common outside of the United States, VAT codes can also be used to add a ‘Sales tax’ for events within the US when needed.
Note: VAT codes are available to all events in your account. Changing a VAT code could impact other events using that code. We suggest creating new codes instead of changing the rate of an existing code.
Adding a VAT code or Sales tax
When adding the VAT code, you should already know the tax rate and the code/symbol you want to use. Take the following steps to add a VAT code:
Go to Setup > Finance > VAT Codes
Click “Add”
Add a ‘Description’ (example: GST)
Add a ‘Code’ (example: Goods and services tax)
Add a ‘VAT Rate’ as a percentage (example: “10” for 10%)
Add a ‘Date from’ for when the VAT should start applying
Add any additional rates with different start dates if needed
Click “Save”
Assigning the VAT code to your event
Once the new code and rate are created, they will be available to all events. By default, the VAT code marked as “Default” will be used for your event. You may need to update the finance settings in your event to ensure the proper VAT code is used. Take the following steps:
Go to Setup > Finance > Settings
Use the “VAT Code (optional)” dropdown and choose the VAT code to be used
Click “Save”
Once the VAT is applied, there are other settings you may want to configure. You may choose to have a separate VAT code used for cancellations, or exclude the VAT based on an answer to a certain question.
Note: A common configuration is to exclude VAT when “Country” is equal (or not equal to) a certain list of values, as VAT may not apply to all countries.
Using different VAT codes for different items
Eventsforce allows a different VAT code to be applied to bookable items, sessions, award categories, and quantity bookable items in your event. This is referred to as an “overriding VAT code”, as the code overrides the default assigned to the overall event. You can assign an overriding VAT code to a bookable item by taking the following steps:
Go to Website > Content > Registration Pages
Click to “Edit” the page containing your bookable item
Hover over the ‘Edit’ icon and select “Edit”
Select the answer alternative with a fee and click “Advanced”
In the ‘Price and Discount Information’ section, select an ‘Overriding VAT code’ from the dropdown
Click “Save”
Note: When using an overriding VAT code for bookable items, grand total discounts are limited to percentages.