Maitre'D offers a flexible tax management system that allows restaurants to automate all tax management functions and to run accurate reports on taxes. The following are some of the features that can be configured in Maitre'D.
In certain areas, regulations require that a fixed amount surcharge be charged on top of the regular tax. Maitre'D can be programmed to apply a fixed amount surcharge on top of the usual taxes. Reports can be generated to view the amount of fixed tax versus the amount of regular tax that was collected.
Maitre'D can calculate taxes inclusively, which means that the price of an item already contains the tax and Maitre'D will calculate backwards to extract the tax amount and the price of the item. The other method is exclusive tax calculation, which means that Maitre'D will apply the tax rate on the item price.
When performing calculations, printing and calculating amounts, Maitre'D can round off numbers to the closest cent. The rounding function will drop the digits after the cents. For example, 10.33445 will become 10.33. Similarly, 10.349999 will be rounded up to 10.35.
When using the inclusive options, the tax calculation can be done based on either the gross or net calculation method. If the system calculates the tax using the gross method, then the tax rate is applied to the gross total of the products. The net calculation method will supply the tax rate from the total, assuming that the item prices already include the taxes.
If more than one tax is applied to the total, then Maitre'D can print the total tax on one line on the check, or to print each tax amount on a separate line. For example, if a state or province tax as well as a federal tax are applied to the total amount, then the check can either show the total of the two taxes on one line, or each tax amount can be shown on separate lines on the check.
For items that are ordered in multiple quantities, the tax rate can be applied to a single unit and then the tax amount can be multiplied by the quantity, or the item price can be multiplied by the quantity and then the tax rate is applied to the total.
In certain states or provinces, the state/province tax is applied on the total of the item subtotal and the federal tax. In other words, the state/province taxes the federal tax. Maitre'D supports all tax on tax configurations.
Maitre'D can apply taxes on all service charges applied to a guest check such as regular service charges or delivery charges.
When discounts are applied to the amount of a guest check, Maitre'D can calculate the tax based on the amount before the discount is applied or after the discount is applied. By charging the tax on the amount before the discount is applied, the guest will effectively pay tax on the discount amount. Depending on local regulations, this option can be configured accordingly.
Any calculated gratuity that is part of the total amount can be taxed and recorded in Maitre'D
A future rate change can be configured in Maitre'D before the effective date and will be applied as of the date specified by the user. For example, if the federal tax rate goes up from 7% to 7.5% at a certain date, then Maitre'D will start applying the rate of 7.5% at that date. This saves users the trouble of changing the rate only on a specific date, and also ensures that the restaurant does not forget to change it on the critical day.
Certain states use tax tables to define their tax rates. Maitre'D offers full support for tax tables and custom tax tables can be set up.
Tax categories group taxes for reporting purposes and allow restaurants to generate tax reports to quickly determine how much tax was collected for each group. Examples of tax categories are food and liquor.