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NowOS computes taxes automatically on every sale, based on your location’s configuration. When the location is created, your country’s rates come pre-filled (France and Morocco are supported today): in most cases there’s almost nothing for you to do. This page applies to both restaurant mode and retail mode.

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How it works

Three building blocks fit together:
  • A tax rate is a percentage: VAT 20%, VAT 10%, VAT 5.5%…
  • A tax group decides which rate applies. The simple case: a “Standard rate” group that always applies VAT 20%. The restaurant case: a “Packaged goods to take away” group that applies VAT 10% for dine-in and VAT 5.5% once the order leaves.
  • Every published item is linked to a tax group. Never directly to a rate: the group does the choosing. An exemption uses an explicit group linked to a 0% rate.
So when the law changes, you edit a rate or a group once — every item involved follows.

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Tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive prices

Your location runs either on tax-inclusive prices (tax is included in the displayed price — the case in France and Morocco) or on tax-exclusive prices (tax is added at payment time, as in North America). This setting comes from your location’s country and is fixed at creation; it can’t be changed in the backoffice. All your catalog prices are interpreted under this setting — the price field in the item editor even says tax incl. or tax excl.

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Where it happens

In the backoffice sidebar, open the Taxes section. It contains two screens:
  • Rates: the list of your rates.
  • Groups: the list of your groups.
As with the menu, your edits are saved to a draft and only reach the registers when you publish — see below.

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Tax rates

The Rates page lists each rate with its Receipt label, its Display name, its percentage, the number of groups using it, and its status. The Active and Archived tabs filter the list — replaced or disabled rates are kept for your fiscal records. To add a rate:
1

Click Add tax rate

The creation window opens.
2

Fill in the fields

  • Display name: the name used in the backoffice, e.g. “VAT 20%”. - Receipt label: the label printed on receipts — use the local abbreviation, e.g. “TVA 20%”. - Percentage: the percentage, whole number or one decimal (e.g. 20 or 5.5). - Enabled: leave it on so the rate can be used.
3

Click Add rate

The rate appears in the list. Then attach it to a group so it applies.

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Changing a percentage: Replace this rate

Once a rate is created, its percentage is locked — that’s what guarantees your past sales and their receipts keep, forever, the rate in force at checkout time. To change a percentage (e.g. a VAT moving from 19.6% to 20%):
1

Open the rate

Click its row in the Rates list.
2

Click Replace this rate

The Replace tax rate window opens.
3

Fill in the new rate

New name, new receipt label, new percentage.
4

Click Replace rate

The new rate is created, the old one becomes Archived, and every group that used the old rate switches to the new one automatically.

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Tax groups

The Groups page lists your groups with a summary of their rules, the number of items attached, and their status. Your location starts with a “Standard rate” group at the country’s standard rate. While it remains the only active group, new items receive it automatically; with several active groups, you choose the appropriate one. A group holds one or more rules, evaluated in order: the first one that matches wins, and the last one is always the Always (default) rule.
  • A shop usually only needs the default rule: “always VAT 20%”.
  • A restaurant in France only needs a conditional rule on packaged goods: “if the order is takeaway → VAT 5.5%; otherwise → VAT 10%”.
In France, the gap between 10% and 5.5% does not depend on dine-in versus takeaway, but on packaging. Food and drink sold for immediate consumption stay at 10% even when carried out — a takeaway sandwich is 10%. The reduced rate covers goods packaged in a container that lets them keep: a sealed bottle, a vacuum-packed dish, a tin.So never put a “takeaway → 5.5%” rule on your catering group: you would under-charge VAT on every takeaway sale. When in doubt about a product, ask your accountant.
To create or edit a group:
1

Click Add tax group (or an existing row)

The group editor opens.
2

Name the group

Display name, e.g. “Café food”. The Enabled switch controls whether it’s offered in the item editor.
3

Set the rules

The bottom rule, Always (default), picks the rate applied when no condition matches. Add condition adds a rule above it: When order type is followed by one or more order types (Dine-in, Takeaway, Standard) and the rate to apply.
4

Click Save group (or Add group)

The group is saved to the draft.
In retail mode, orders are always of type Standard: order-type conditions are pointless, so keep a single default rule. In Morocco, restaurants are at 10% for dine-in and takeaway alike: there too, one rule is enough.

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What you already have on day one

When your location is created, NowOS seeds your country’s rates and a set of ready-made groups matching your mode. In restaurant mode, in France: In Morocco: Restauration (10%), Boissons alcoolisées (20%) and Taux standard (20%) — catering there is taxed the same eaten in or taken away, so no conditional rule is needed. In retail mode, a single Taux standard group is created. These groups are a starting point: rename them, add your own, disable the ones you do not need. You remain responsible for the rates applied to your products.
Because several groups exist, a new item is not assigned one automatically: choosing between food, packaged goods and alcohol is yours to make. Publishing is blocked while a sellable item has no group — deliberately, as that choice must not be guessed.

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Attaching an item to a group

In the item editor (item library), the Tax group field offers your active groups. Configure before publishing means the draft is incomplete — not that the item is exempt. For an exemption, create and select an explicit group using the 0% rate. As soon as a group is chosen, a preview under the price shows the tax breakdown — and for a multi-rule group, one line per case (dine-in / takeaway), so the difference is obvious. See menu and items.

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On the register and on the receipt

Your staff has nothing to set up: tax is computed on its own.
  • On the order, at a tax-inclusive location, the totals panel shows Subtotal incl. tax, then one informational line per rate (“incl. TVA 10% …”) and the Total — identical to the subtotal, since tax is already included. At a tax-exclusive location, tax is added between the subtotal and the total.
  • In restaurant mode, the Dine-in / Takeaway button on the order switches the order type, and taxes recompute immediately on every line. In retail mode, this button doesn’t exist.
  • On the printed receipt, the breakdown appears rate by rate, with the Receipt label you chose, along with your location’s legal identifiers (SIRET, ICE…) configured in receipt settings — see settings.
Staff at the register cannot edit taxes: switching the order type (dine-in / takeaway) is the only lever. Every completed sale freezes its tax breakdown — reprinting a receipt or viewing a report always shows the rates from the day of the sale, even if you’ve changed them since.

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Publishing your changes

Rates and groups travel with the menu: your edits stay in the draft until you click Publish all changes in the global header, then follow the same path to the registers. The confirmation dialog reminds you that this button publishes the location’s entire draft, not only the page on screen. See menu and items and POS layout.
Until you publish, the registers keep charging with the old tax configuration. Remember to publish — then sync the main register — before the service it applies to. Publishing stays blocked while an item has no valid group; the blocking message opens the exact item or group to fix. The item library also flags it as Needs setup.