Setting Your Tax Rate
Configuring the default tax rate applied to every invoice, and what happens if you never set one.
Your default tax rate is applied automatically to every new invoice. Set it once and you won't have to think about it again — but until you do, invoices go out with no tax applied.
Setting the rate
- Go to Settings → Invoices
- Find the Default Tax Rate field
- Enter the rate as a decimal, not a percentage
| You charge | Enter |
|---|---|
| 8% | 0.08 |
| 8.25% | 0.0825 |
| 10% | 0.1 |
| No tax | 0 |
Entering 8 instead of 0.08 would mean 800% tax. The field caps at 1 (100%) to make that mistake hard to save.
Tax type
Pick the label that matches your jurisdiction: Sales Tax, Service Tax, VAT, GST, or Other. This is what prints on the invoice — it doesn't change the math.
Tax-inclusive pricing
Tax Inclusive Pricing changes how the tax is calculated:
- Off (default) — tax is added on top of your line items. A $5,000 package at 8% invoices as $5,400.
- On — tax is treated as already contained in the price. A $5,000 package at 8% invoices as $5,000, of which $370.37 is tax.
Most US venues leave this off. VAT and GST jurisdictions often turn it on. If you're unsure, check how you quote prices to couples — if the number you tell them is the number they pay, you want this on.
If you never set a rate
New invoices default to 0% tax, and the invoice form shows a notice telling you no default is configured, with a link back to Settings. This is deliberate: applying a guessed tax rate to a real couple's invoice is worse than applying none, because it's harder to notice.
If your venue genuinely doesn't charge tax, set the rate to 0 anyway. That records it as a decision rather than an omission, and the notice stops appearing.
Per-invoice and per-line-item overrides
The default is a starting point, not a lock:
- Per invoice — change the tax rate on any individual invoice before sending
- Per line item — each line item has a taxable checkbox, so you can exempt specific charges (a gratuity or a pass-through fee, for example) while taxing the rest
Changing the rate later
Updating the default only affects new invoices. Invoices you've already created keep the rate they were created with — which is what you want, since reissuing a sent invoice at a different tax rate would misstate what the couple agreed to.
Important: Tax rules vary by state, county, and sometimes by what you're selling — venue rental, food service, and rentals can be taxed differently. CeremonySync applies the rate you configure; it doesn't determine what rate you owe. Check with your accountant.
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