Choosing How Tax Is Added to a Charge
no screenshots needed. Verify each visual renders in Intercom's preview before publishing. When you set up or edit a recurring charge, you now pick one of three tax options. Each does something...
Last updated
no screenshots needed. Verify each visual renders in Intercom's preview before publishing.
When you set up or edit a recurring charge, you now pick one of three tax options. Each does something different, so pick based on how the amount you're entering relates to tax.
The three choices
No tax (default)
The charge has no tax at all. The amount you enter is exactly what gets billed, with nothing added.
Use this when: the charge isn't taxable, or tax doesn't apply in this jurisdiction.
Tax on top
Tax is calculated on top of the amount you enter and added to it. If you enter $500.00 and the tax rate is 13%, the resident is billed $565.00 in total: $500.00 for the fee, $65.00 in tax.
Use this when: you want to enter the base price and have tax added visibly, the way a sales receipt usually works.
Tax included
The amount you enter is treated as the FULL amount the resident should be charged, tax already folded in. The system works backward from that total to figure out how much of it is the fee and how much is tax. If you enter $500.00 at a 13% rate, the system determines the fee portion is $442.48 and the tax portion is $57.52 - together they still add up to exactly $500.00.
Use this when: you already know the total price you want to charge (for example, a flat monthly fee that's meant to come out to a round number) and don't want to do the tax math yourself.
| You enter | $500.00 |
| Tax on top (13%) | $500.00 + $65.00 = $565.00 billed |
| Tax included (13%) | $442.48 fee + $57.52 tax = $500.00 billed |
Same entered amount, two different results, depending on which choice you make.
Switching between choices is safe
If you change your mind after entering an amount, switching between Tax on top and Tax included recalculates automatically from what you've already entered, so you don't lose your place or have to redo your math. Editing an unrelated field (like the description) on an already-set-up charge never changes its tax setting - your tax choice stays exactly as you left it unless you deliberately change it.
Custom fixed-dollar tax amounts
If you enter a specific tax dollar amount instead of picking a named tax rate, that's supported too. The collected amount is tracked in a general tax-collection account rather than a specific named tax's account, since there's no specific tax rate to attribute it to.