Tax Setup Walkthrough

This guide walks you through setting up taxes from scratch. Follow these steps in order to make sure taxes are correctly applied to bookings.

Prerequisites

• You have admin access to Argonautas.
• You know the applicable tax rates for your jurisdiction (e.g., Costa Rica IVA at 13%).

Step 1: Create a Tax Template

1. Open Taxes & Fees from the sidebar and select the Taxes tab.
2. Click Add Tax.
3. Fill in the fields:

Field	Value	Notes
Tax Type	The matching type	Cannot be changed after creation
Display Name	IVA	Use the official name for clarity
Tax Rate (%)	13	Percentage
Applies To	Nightly Rates + Taxable Fees	Or Nightly Rates only, depending on local rules
Included in prices	Unticked	Recommended. Tax is added on top as a separate line. Tick only if your prices already contain it (Taxes Included in Your Prices)
Active	Ticked	Inactive taxes are not applied to new bookings

4. Click Create Tax.

The tax template now applies as the company-wide default for all properties.

Step 2: Verify Per-Property Settings

1. Go to Properties and open a property.
2. Select the Pricing tab and find the Taxes card.
3. Confirm the company tax template appears in the list and is switched on.
4. If this property needs a different rate, enter it in the tax's percentage field.
5. Repeat for each property that differs.

Step 3: Test with a Booking

1. Create a manual test booking for any property.
2. Review the pricing breakdown. Tax should appear as a separate line:

Accommodation (3 nights × $250)    $750.00
Cleaning Fee                       $200.00
Subtotal                           $950.00
IVA (13%)                          $123.50
Total                            $1,073.50

3. If the tax amount is incorrect, go back to Step 1 and verify the template configuration.
4. Cancel the test booking when done.

Step 4: Set Taxes in Each OTA

With the standard channel connection, taxes are not sent to Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO. If you have OTA channels connected, set up the same taxes in each OTA's own settings. See Fees, Taxes and OTA Channels.

Adding Additional Taxes

If your jurisdiction requires multiple taxes:

1. Repeat Step 1 for each additional tax (e.g., municipal tax at 3%).
2. Each tax is calculated on its own base. Taxes never compound on each other.
3. All taxes appear as separate line items on invoices.

Changing Tax Rates

If the tax rate changes:

1. Open Taxes & Fees, select the Taxes tab, and open the tax.
2. Update the Tax Rate (%).
3. Click Update Tax.

The new rate applies to future bookings. Existing bookings retain the rate that was active when created.

Common Questions

Do I need to set up taxes before adding rates? No. Taxes and rates are independent. You can set up taxes at any time, and they will apply to all new bookings.

What if I operate in multiple tax jurisdictions? Create a tax template for each jurisdiction and use property overrides to assign the correct rate per property.

Related

• Tax Configuration -- Detailed tax system reference.
• Fee Configuration -- Setting up fees alongside taxes.