Configure Tax/VAT for Your Country

Quick path: Settings → General Settings → Create tax rate → Assign to products → Save

What this helps you do

Every sale in Bloowatch needs a tax rate before it reaches an invoice. Tax configuration lets you create tax rates that match your country’s requirements (IVA in Spain, TVA in France, IVA in Portugal, VAT in Ireland, etc.) and assign them to your products. Once configured, Bloowatch automatically calculates the tax on every booking and includes it on invoices and receipts.

If you operate in a country with fiscal compliance requirements — such as TicketBAI in the Basque Country (Spain) or NF525 in France — the correct tax configuration is a prerequisite for those systems to work properly.

Before you start

• You have the Manager or Owner role (tax configuration requires elevated permissions)
• You know the tax rates applicable to your business (check with your accountant if unsure)
• If you sell different product types at different rates, have a list ready (e.g., lessons at 21%, rental at 21%, accommodation at 10%)

Steps

1. Go to Settings > General Settings

Click on your username in the top-right corner and select Settings. Then click General Settings in the left sidebar. Tax rates are managed alongside payment methods in this section.

You will see a list of payment methods and tax-related configuration. If this is your first time, the list may contain default values.

2. Create a new tax rate

Click the + Add Tax Rate button (or + New depending on your version). A form appears with the following fields:

Field	Description
Name *	A descriptive name for the tax rate (e.g., “IVA 21%”, “TVA 20%”, “VAT 23%“)
Percentage *	The tax percentage as a number (e.g., 21, 20, 10, 0)

Tip: Use clear, descriptive names. If you have multiple rates, naming them with the percentage helps your team pick the right one when setting up products — for example, “IVA 21% - General” and “IVA 10% - Reduced”.

3. Save the tax rate

Click Save (or Create) to add the tax rate. It now appears in the tax rates list and is available as an option when configuring product pricing.

Repeat steps 2-3 for each tax rate your business uses. Most businesses need at least two: a standard rate and a reduced rate.

4. Assign the tax rate to your products

Go to Resources > Products and open the product you want to configure. Click the Pricing tab.

At the bottom of the pricing form, you will see the Tax dropdown. Select the tax rate you just created.

Field	Description
Tax *	Required. Select a tax rate from the dropdown.
Account number	Optional. Accounting reference number.

Click Update product to save.

Watch out: Changing the tax rate on an existing product creates a new product version. Past bookings keep the old tax rate — only new bookings use the updated rate.

5. Verify tax on an invoice

Create a test booking (or open an existing one) and generate an invoice. Check that:

• The tax rate name appears on the invoice
• The tax amount is calculated correctly (base price x tax percentage)
• The total includes the tax

Country-specific guidance

Spain — IVA (Impuesto sobre el Valor Anadido)

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
General	21%	Most services: lessons, courses, rentals
Reduced	10%	Accommodation, transport, food service
Super-reduced	4%	Essential goods (rarely applies to sports schools)
Exempt	0%	Insurance, financial services

Create each rate you use: e.g., “IVA 21% - General” and “IVA 10% - Alojamiento”.

Canary Islands (IGIC): If your school operates in the Canary Islands, you use IGIC instead of IVA. The general rate is 7%. Create your rates accordingly (e.g., “IGIC 7% - General”).

France — TVA (Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutee)

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Normal	20%	Most services: lessons, courses, equipment rentals
Reduced	10%	Accommodation, food (on premises), transport
Reduced	5.5%	Essential food products, specific cultural services
Super-reduced	2.1%	Press, certain medicines (rarely applies)

Create each rate you use: e.g., “TVA 20% - Normal” and “TVA 10% - Hebergement”.

DOM-TOM: Overseas departments may have different rates. Check with your accountant.

Portugal — IVA (Imposto sobre o Valor Acrescentado)

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Normal	23%	Most services: lessons, courses, rentals
Intermediate	13%	Accommodation, food service, some cultural events
Reduced	6%	Essential goods and services

Create each rate you use: e.g., “IVA 23% - Normal” and “IVA 13% - Alojamento”.

Azores and Madeira: Lower rates apply (e.g., 16% standard in the Azores). Create separate rates if your school operates in these regions.

Other countries

For countries not listed above, create tax rates that match your national VAT/GST system. Common setups:

Country	Standard rate	Common reduced rate
Italy	22%	10%
Germany	19%	7%
Ireland	23%	13.5%
Greece	24%	13%
UK	20%	5%

Fiscal compliance notes

TicketBAI (Basque Country, Spain)

If your school operates in the Basque Country (Araba, Bizkaia, or Gipuzkoa), TicketBAI is a mandatory fiscal control system that requires every invoice to be digitally signed and reported to the regional tax authority.

Prerequisites:

• Tax rates must be correctly configured (TicketBAI validates tax calculations)
• Your Bloowatch account must have TicketBAI enabled (contact Support)
• You need a digital certificate from the regional authority

TicketBAI ensures that every sale is traceable and that tax amounts match the declared rates. Incorrect tax configuration will cause TicketBAI validation errors.

NF525 (France)

NF525 is a French anti-fraud certification for POS software. Bloowatch holds NF525 certification, which means the system guarantees the immutability, security, conservation, and archiving of transaction data.

What this means for you:

• Invoices cannot be deleted once generated — only credit notes can correct them
• All transactions are logged with tamper-proof audit trails
• Tax calculations must be accurate, so your TVA rates must be correctly configured

No special setup is needed for NF525 beyond configuring your TVA rates correctly. The certification is built into Bloowatch.

What should happen next

• The tax rate appears in the dropdown when configuring product pricing
• New bookings calculate tax automatically based on the assigned rate
• Invoices show the tax breakdown (base, tax percentage, tax amount, total)
• If you use fiscal compliance tools (TicketBAI, NF525), tax data is included in the compliance reports

Common mistakes

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
”No tax rate available” when configuring a product	No tax rates have been created yet	Go to Settings > Tax Rates and create at least one rate
Invoice shows wrong tax amount	Wrong percentage entered or wrong rate assigned to the product	Check the tax rate percentage in Settings, then verify the product’s Pricing tab
Tax rate changed but old bookings still show old rate	This is expected — changing tax creates a new product version	Old bookings are not affected. Only new bookings use the updated rate
Multiple products with the same tax but different rates	Different products assigned different tax rates by mistake	Review each product’s Pricing tab and ensure the correct rate is selected
TicketBAI validation errors	Tax rate misconfigured or missing	Verify rates match the official IVA percentages for your tax jurisdiction

If it still doesn’t work

• Check that you have Manager or Owner permissions — other roles may not see the Tax Rates settings
• If the tax rate dropdown is empty in the product form, navigate to Settings > Tax Rates and confirm at least one rate exists
• For TicketBAI or NF525-related issues, contact Bloowatch Support with details about the error message
• Consult your accountant to confirm the correct tax rates for your business type and location
• Contact Bloowatch Support via the chat widget