Manage tax settings in the Back Office to ensure the correct sales tax or GST amount will be charged at the POS for every order. Enter the different tax rates your restaurant charges, then set up tax profiles to determine when each tax will be charged. Assign tax profiles to accounting groups to control which categories of items each profile will apply to.

Adding and editing tax rates

Add a separate tax rate to the Back Office for each rate the restaurant charges customers. Edit an existing tax rate to change its Description or Accounting reference.

Important: Once a tax rate is added to the Back Office, it cannot be deleted. By default, one tax rate will be automatically created in your account based on your business location.

1. Log in to the Lightspeed Back Office as an admin user or user with the User can manage taxes permission.

   Only admins or users with the User can manage taxes permission enabled can edit tax settings. To learn how to update permissions for existing users, see Editing or deleting Back Office users.

2. From the navigation menu, go to Configuration > Settings > Taxes.
3. Click Add a new tax, or select the Code for an existing tax to edit.
   
   
4. Configure the tax's settings. For a description of each field, see the Tax rate settings table. 
   

   If editing an existing tax, be aware that only the Description and Accounting reference fields are changeable.

   
5. Click Next to continue.
6. Review and confirm your tax rate details.

   Important: Tax rates cannot be deleted after they are added to the Back Office. To make changes before saving a new tax, click Back to return to the previous screen.

   
7. Click Save new tax or Save tax to save changes.
8. Add tax profiles to control when each tax rate will be charged. For detailed steps, see Adding and editing tax profiles.

Tax rate settings

Adding and editing tax profiles

Add tax profiles in the Back Office to set the rules for when each tax rate or combination of tax rates will be charged at the POS. For example, tax profiles can apply tax rates based on account profile, item price, or order total. Edit a tax profile to change its name, rules, conditions, or settings.

Important: Once a tax profile is added to the Back Office, it cannot be deleted. Tax profiles will only apply to items in the accounting groups they are assigned to.

1. Log in to the Lightspeed Back Office as an admin user or user with the User can manage taxes permission.
   To learn how to update permissions for existing users, see Editing or deleting Back Office users.
2. From the navigation menu, go to Configuration > Settings > Tax profiles.
3. Click New tax profile, or select the name of an existing tax profile to edit.
   
   
4. If prompted, read the summary of how to create tax profiles, and click Got it to proceed.
   Tax profiles contain one or more tax rules. Each tax rule applies a specific tax rate based on conditions set within the rule. Tax rules are applied in the order listed within the profile.
5. Fill in the tax profile Name and Description fields in the General section.
   • Name: How the tax profile will be identified in the Back Office.
   • Description: Explains what the tax profile will be used for.
   
6. Configure the Tax rate, Account profile, Apply to refunds, and Apply next matching rule settings in the Tax rules section.
   • Tax rate: The tax that will be charged.
   • Account profile: Applies the tax rule only to orders where the selected account profile is used or to all account profiles.
   • Apply to refunds: Controls whether the tax rule is applied to order items with a negative price, such as refund items. 
   • Apply next matching rule: Controls how the POS functions after this tax rule is applied to an order. When enabled, the next tax rule with its conditions met in the tax profile will be applied. When disabled, no further tax rules will be applied after this one is used.
7. Click Add condition and select a condition from the drop-down.
   Conditions determine when the tax rule will be applied to items that are assigned to the tax profile, such as only to items within a specific price range. For a description of each condition, see the Tax rule conditions table.
   
   
8. Configure the selected condition. For more information, see the Tax rule conditions table.
9. (Optional) To add additional conditions to the tax rule, repeat steps 7–8 as needed. All conditions must be met before the tax rule will be applied at the POS.
10. (Optional) To add additional tax rules to the profile, click Add new tax rule and repeat steps 6–9.
    Use multiple tax rules to apply more than one tax rate to certain items or to apply a different tax rate when a separate set of conditions is met.
11. (Optional) Use the arrows next to a tax rule to change its ranking within the tax profile.
    At the POS, the first listed tax rule with its conditions met will be applied. Additional tax rules will be applied based on the configuration of the Apply next matching rule setting (see step 6). 
12. Click Save to save changes.
    
    
13. Assign tax profiles to accounting groups to control which categories of items each profile will apply to. For detailed steps, see Assigning tax profiles to accounting groups.

Tax rule conditions

Assigning tax profiles to accounting groups

Assign a tax profile to each accounting group in the Back Office to determine which categories of items will be affected by the tax profile.

1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed Restaurant account credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, go to Menu management > Accounting groups.
3. Add or edit an accounting group. For detailed steps, see Adding accounting groups or Editing or deleting accounting groups.
4. Select a tax profile to apply to items in the accounting group.
5. Click Save to save changes.
   
   

What's next?

Learn how to view reporting that contains tax information in the Back Office and at the POS.