Set Up Tax Authorities, Components, and Groups
Tax setup works in three layers: an authority you file with, one or more components that authority charges, and groups that bundle components onto actual transactions.
1. Tax authorities
Go to Taxation → Tax authorities and create the regulators you report to. Set:
- Country (ISO code) and filing frequency — monthly, quarterly, or annual
- A tax ID label shown on invoices, e.g. "VAT No."
- Your registered tax number with that authority
- Filing reminders — when on, the system can email upcoming draft filing deadlines
- Active — inactive authorities are hidden from new setup, without losing history
Filter the list by country and active status.
2. Tax components
Go to Taxation → Tax components to define each individual tax the system can calculate:
- The linked authority
- Tax type — VAT, GST, sales tax, excise, or withholding
- The rate, and whether it applies on net or on previous tax (compound)
- Recoverable — whether input tax on this component can be reclaimed
- GL accounts for input and output posting
You can activate or deactivate a component without deleting its history. Changing a rate keeps an audit trail — already-posted invoices keep the rate and amounts they were originally posted with.
3. Tax groups
Go to Taxation → Tax groups. A group bundles one or more components in sort order — this is what you actually assign on items and transactions. When a document uses a group, Biznsbook calculates each component and stores line-level tax for reporting and GL posting.
Mark exactly one group as the company default, used as a fallback wherever no item or party group applies.
:::tip Rate change history without breaking old invoices Use Tax rate what-if in the Reporting hub to compare current vs. historical rates for a group, amount, and date — without rewriting any filed invoice. :::