Taxes & Fees — Paloma POS 2

This article is about Paloma POS 2 — the new touchscreen Paloma cash-register app. It covers the Taxes & Fees screen: how to see which taxes and fees the register applies at checkout, how "included in price" differs from "added on top", how the default tax works, and how to add, edit or delete a tax or fee right on the register. If you are not sure this is your app, start with “How to tell you have Paloma POS 2”.

Overview

• The Taxes & Fees screen shows the catalog of tax rates and fees the register uses when calculating a check. The list is split into two sections: Taxes and Fees.
• Each row shows the name, the percentage rate (e.g. 8.875%) and badges: Included — the tax already sits inside the displayed item price, Added — it is added on top of the price at checkout, Default — this row applies to items with no tax assigned.
• You can open the screen three ways: the Taxes & Fees tile on the main menu screen, the Taxes & Fees entry in the side menu, or from the Management hub → Catalog section → Taxes & Fees.
• The catalog is shared with the back office: changes made in the web dashboard arrive on the register via sync, and changes made on the register are sent back — this works even without a constant internet connection. See “Sync and offline”.
• At the bottom of the screen there is a separate Auto-gratuity card (automatic service charge). Here it is view-only — it is edited via the Manage auto-gratuity button, see “Tips and service charge”.

Access rights

What an employee can do on this screen depends on their rights:

• The view right for taxes opens the screen read-only: the list is visible, but there is no add button and rows do not open.
• Adding, editing and deleting require a separate edit right for taxes. An administrator grants it in access types — see “Employees and roles”.
• Rights are re-evaluated when a different employee signs in by PIN: if an employee without the edit right takes over the register, the screen immediately becomes read-only.

“Included in price” vs “Added on top”

This is the main choice when configuring a tax or fee — How it applies:

• Added on top — the shelf price excludes the tax; the tax is added at checkout. Example from the editor's live preview: at a 10% rate, “On a 10.00 item, adds +1.00 (total 11.00)” — the guest pays 11.00.
• Included in price — the tax is already inside the price the guest sees. At the same 10% rate: “A 10.00 item includes 0.91” — the guest pays exactly 10.00, and the register accounts 0.91 of it as tax.

The register computes taxes in exact money units (no floating-point cents), rounding half-away-from-zero, so totals match the classic register's receipts for the same configuration. For how taxes appear on the receipt, see “Receipt and bill”.

The default tax

The row with the Default badge applies to items that have no tax of their own assigned. Only one row can be the default: when you turn on Set as default on another row, the register clears the badge from the previous one automatically (the helper text under the switch reads “Replaces the current default tax.”).

You can assign a specific tax to an item in the item editor — the Tax field with the Account default option or a specific rate, see “Item editor”.

Adding a tax or fee

1. Tap the Add tax or fee button (available with the edit right).
2. Choose the Type: Tax or Fee. The type is chosen only at creation — it is locked when editing later.
3. Fill in the Name and the Rate in percent. The rate is between 0 and 100, with up to four decimal places allowed (e.g. 3.3125) — real tax tables need that precision.
4. Below the rate field the register shows a live preview on a sample item: “On a … item, adds … (total …)” or “A … item includes …” — it recalculates on every keystroke.
5. Choose How it applies: Added on top or Included in price.
6. Turn on Set as default if needed.
7. Tap Save (while submitting, the button shows Saving…).

If you try to leave the screen with unsaved edits, the register asks “Discard changes?” with the note “Your changes won't be saved.” — you can go back (Cancel) or confirm (Discard).

Editing and deleting

• To edit a row, tap it in the list — the Edit tax or fee screen opens. You can change the name, the rate, how it applies and the default flag; the type (tax/fee) cannot be changed.
• To delete, open the row and tap the delete icon. The register asks for confirmation: “Delete …?” — “This tax or fee will no longer apply at checkout.” Already-closed checks are not affected.

Common problems

• “No tax or fee rows configured yet.” — the local catalog is empty. The screen hints: “Refresh from cloud (Sync) to pick up the catalog from the back-office.” If taxes are not configured in the back office either, create them with Add tax or fee.
• “Couldn't load the tax catalog: …” — the register could not read the list. Go back and open the screen again; if it repeats, wait for sync to complete.
• “Enter a valid percentage between 0 and 100.” — the Rate field is not a number, is negative, is above 100, or has too many decimal places.
• “Name is required.” — the Name field is empty.
• “Couldn't save. Please try again.” — the save did not go through; tap Save again.
• No add button, rows do not open — the employee has only the view right. The edit right for taxes is granted by an administrator in access types.
• The Auto-gratuity card does not open the tax editor — that is by design: automatic gratuity is edited only in its own section (the Manage auto-gratuity button), see “Tips and service charge”.

FAQ

What is the difference between a Tax and a Fee?

The math is the same — a percentage of the amount. The difference is the meaning and where the row is shown: Taxes are government taxes (e.g. sales tax or VAT), Fees are the venue's own surcharges. They are grouped separately on the receipt. The type is chosen once, at creation.

What does the “Included” badge on a tax mean?

The tax is already part of the price the guest sees on the shelf and in the menu (VAT-style): the guest pays exactly the listed price, and the register carves the tax portion out of it. The Added badge is the opposite: the tax is added to the price at checkout, as is common in the USA, for example. The payment total is covered in “Taking payment”.

Which items does the “Default” tax apply to?

All items that have no tax of their own assigned. You can assign a specific rate to an item via the Tax field in the item editor — see “Item editor”.

Do changes made on the register reach the back office?

Yes. Adds, edits and deletes are saved locally right away and sent to the back office by background sync — even if there was no internet at the moment of the edit, the change goes out once the connection returns. And the other way round: an edit in the web dashboard arrives on the register, and an open screen refreshes itself.

What happens to old checks after a tax is deleted?

Nothing — deleting only means the tax or fee will no longer apply at checkout for new orders. Already-closed checks are not recalculated.

Why is auto-gratuity shown on this screen but not editable here?

Automatic gratuity is a special conditional fee (it can depend on party size: the card shows All orders or Parties of N+, and a disabled one carries the Off badge). It has its own editor — open it via the Manage auto-gratuity button, or see “Tips and service charge”.