Hello ​@j.spiess ,
If you change the price or VAT of a product, future reservations containing that product will not be updated - unless you adjust the product rule (e.g., cancel “X” and add “Y”).

You can update VAT using the “Update Tax Rate” option, which will update future reservations where the product’s consumption date is on or after the start date you set. However, if you only change the VAT in the product settings, already made future reservations will not be affected.

Please let me know what type of changes you are planning to make, so I can provide a more precise answer on whether or not they will affect future reservations.

Dear ​@Robin Gustavsson !

Thank you so much for your help!

The City of Vienna announced that they want to increase the city tax (by mind boggling 166 by 1.12.2025. Now there might be some discussion on how to implement this change - if we are lucky we might are allowed to treat reservations that are made before a certain date with the lower City tax rate, and only new ones with the new rate. Since we have implemented city tax by manual products and product rules (the hard coded city tax for Vienna in MEWS did not account for breakfast that is not subject to the city tax, hence we don’t use it), I was wondering how we will be able to mirror that in our system - either way, changing also existing reservations if required, or only applying the new city tax rate to new reservations.

It’s a kind of a mess …

I am sure other Vienna properties will be asking similar questions, so let’s see and hope for the best ...

Best regards,

Jean-Philipp.

Hello ​@j.spiess , 

Oh, wow, that’s an increase! Then the “Update Tax Rate” option is what you should use.
This option is available for products in both Bookable Services and Additional Services, and it can also be updated in bulk if needed.

I do, however, recommend making this update on the same day the City Tax should be updated, since the products will receive their new VAT percentage immediately - even if you set a future date for existing reservations to be updated. When updating existing reservations, Mews will ensure that the original price of the reservation is preserved.
 

It sounds strange that the hardcoded tax is also applied to your breakfast. For us, it is not. Have you checked with Mews Support?

Well, I doubt that the Update Tax Rate tool can be used in this case, as the City Tax is not setup as a “tax” in MEWS - is just a relative pricing product

We did evaluate the hard coded  CityTax for Vienna at the time of onboarding, but it calculated it in a wrong way - especially it could not account for the included breakfast (internal split, packaged product) that should NOT be subject to CityTax calculation. 

Are you sure in your case that the hard coded CityTax is calculated only based on net rate without breakfast in case of a rate that includes breakfast (and thus a breakfast product is added to the reservation automatically as packaged after a adjustment product for the stay part deducts the breakfast price)? I mean, how does the hard coded tax calculation know which of your products is breakfast after all … there is no way to tell it. If you sell only without breakfast an later add breakfast on top, that’s another story altogether though ..

Kind regards,

Jean-Philipp.

Well, I doubt that the Update Tax Rate tool can be used in this case, as the City Tax is not setup as a “tax” in MEWS - is just a relative pricing product

We did evaluate the hard coded  CityTax for Vienna at the time of onboarding, but it calculated it in a wrong way - especially it could not account for the included breakfast (internal split, packaged product) that should NOT be subject to CityTax calculation. 

Are you sure in your case that the hard coded CityTax is calculated only based on net rate without breakfast in case of a rate that includes breakfast (and thus a breakfast product is added to the reservation automatically as packaged after a adjustment product for the stay part deducts the breakfast price)? I mean, how does the hard coded tax calculation know which of your products is breakfast after all … there is no way to tell it. If you sell only without breakfast an later add breakfast on top, that’s another story altogether though ..

Kind regards,

Jean-Philipp.

You are absolutely right! Sorry, I completely mixed up City Tax and Product Tax.

In your case, you can reach out to Mews - perhaps through your Customer Success Manager - and request that they update future reservations for you after you’ve made the change to your City Tax Product.

That said, I still recommend making the change on the same day the tax increase takes effect, so the best approach would be to coordinate this with Mews.
 

Regarding our City Tax, below is an example of the hardcoded tax of 7.5%, which is applied only to the Night.

Thank you for your insight ​@Robin Gustavsson 

Regarding your example: how is the rate pricing set up for that nightly rate?

As I understand this, in your stay service the rate’s pricing is without breakfast and the breakfast is added on top, right? In that case the hard coded City tax works, because it’s applied to the stay service price.

But how do you handle it if you sell (through channel manager, especially) with breakfast included and thus the stay service rate’s price includes the breakfast. Then you have to apply a product rule to reduce the stay service price by the breakfast product (stay service adjustment product), add the actual breakfast product, adjust the stay service price by city tax, and finally add city tax product.. In that case it’s non trivial to calculate the city tax, especially if it’s based on net rate (excl. VAT) and not the final rate … I am confused now … :-)

Kind regards,

JP

Correct, we have set the rates excluding breakfast, which is then added on top.
The example I shared is from an OTA reservation. This works for us since it has been processed through our CRS, where I’ve configured these reservations to be sent back to Mews excluding the city tax.