Menu Tax Management

Overview

From the Menus page, within the Otter Dashboard, you can manage different tax settings for your menu(s). 

Within the settings, you have the option to:

• Turn on or off Otter sending tax rates to selected channels
• Set tax rate per location(s)
• Set tax rate on specific items
• Set tax rate on specific items per fulfillment mode

Sending Taxes Settings

From the Menu Settings, you can choose whether you'd like Otter to send tax rates or not, per channel. 

Follow the steps below to navigate to the tax sending settings for a menu:

• Step 1:

  From the Otter Dashboard, click Apps > Menus.

  

• Step 2:

  Select the menu to update. Then click the gear icon in the top right corner.

  

• Step 3:

  Scroll to the Taxes section— there you can view or update the tax sending settings selected for the menu. To make a change, just click the toggle corresponding to the channel you'd like to turn off or on.

  

When the option for Otter to send taxes is toggled ON for a channel, the tax rate for each item will need to be set from the Menu Item Settings and can be by: 

1. Selecting Otter suggestion based on the jurisdiction in which that store menu operates in
2. Manually adding the tax rate for the item

Uneditable Channels

There are a few instances where toggling the tax sending setting ON or OFF is not optional— some channels require a default setting for sending taxes. 

• All Otter channels (like Direct Orders and Otter POS), require Otter to send taxes within the menu publish. So, this setting cannot be edited. If there are any changes needed, the tax rate for an item has to be manually adjusted within the Menu Item Settings.

  

• Some Online channels may default the tax sending settings to be ON— this means the channel requires Otter to set tax values. For these channels, tax rate can still be manually adjusted from the Menu Item Settings.

  

• Some Online channels may default the tax sending settings to be OFF— this means the channel does not support receiving edited tax values. From these channels, tax rates cannot be edited.

  

Editing a Menu Item Tax Rate

When the Otter tax sending setting is toggled ON, the option to manually edit an item tax rate is available. To edit a tax rate for a menu item from the Otter dashboard > Apps > Menus page, follow the steps below:

• Step 1:

  Select the menu and click on the item you'd like to edit from the Menu Overview page.

  

• Step 2:

  Scroll to Taxes section. Click [Edit tax rates].

  

• Step 3:

  Select whether you'd like to enable tax rate editing per fulfillment (toggled ON), or have tax rates same per fulfillment and set per location only (toggled OFF).

  You can also set Otter's suggested tax rate for all locations and fulfillment channels by clicking [Apply to all].

  

• Step 4: If editing tax rate per location or fulfillment channel, you can select how you'd like to set the tax rate from the following options:

  1. Suggested tax rate: Rate calculated based on jurisdiction the location operates in
  2. Override: Manually enter a tax rate
  3. No Override: Tax rate will be set directly on Online Channel

  

• Step 5: Click [Done] to publish menu tax rate changes.

  

Bulk Editing Menu Item Tax Rates

Once you've selected a menu— from the Menu Overview page, you can update the tax rate for multiple items in one action. 

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Updated December 11, 2024 19:52