Tax types
Manage catalogue item and company tax types.
Overview
Tax types categorise catalogue items and companies for tax calculation. Signals uses two types of tax types that work together to determine the applicable tax rate.
For zone-aware EU/UK resolution (reverse charge, VIES, buyer types), see Tax & Compliance. Catalogue item tax types also apply as a dimension on surcharge line items end-to-end.
CatalogueItem Tax Types
Route: /admin/settings/tax/catalogue-item-tax-types
Catalogue item tax types categorise items by their tax treatment (e.g. "Standard Rate", "Reduced Rate", "Zero Rated", "Exempt").
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Add a new catalogue item tax type |
| Edit | Update name and description |
| Set Default | Designate as the default for new catalogue items |
| Delete | Remove a non-default tax type |
One catalogue item tax type must be the default. The default type is applied automatically to new catalogue-items. The default tax type cannot be deleted.
Company Tax Types
Route: /admin/settings/tax/company-tax-types
Company tax types categorise accounts by their tax status (e.g. "Standard", "Tax Exempt", "Reverse Charge", "Charity").
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Add a new company tax type |
| Edit | Update name and description |
| Set Default | Designate as the default for new companies |
| Delete | Remove a non-default tax type |
Company tax types are assigned to accounts via the account edit form.
Tax Rates
Route: /admin/settings/tax/rates
Tax rates are named percentages (e.g. "UK Standard" at 20%, "Reduced" at 5%, "Zero" at 0%). Rates are referenced by tax rules rather than applied directly to catalogue-items.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Add a new named rate and percentage |
| Edit | Update name, description, or percentage |
| Activate / Deactivate | Toggle whether the rate is available for use |
| Delete | Remove a rate |
Tax Rules
Route: /admin/settings/tax/rules
Tax rules map a combination of company tax type and catalogue item tax type to a tax rate. When more than one rule could apply, the rule with the highest priority wins. Each rule can be activated or deactivated without deleting it.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Map a company tax type + catalogue item tax type to a tax rate, with a priority |
| Edit | Update the type pair, rate, or priority |
| Activate / Deactivate | Toggle whether the rule participates in resolution |
| Delete | Remove a rule |
How Tax Types Work
When calculating tax on a line item, Signals considers both the catalogue item's tax type and the company's tax type. The tax calculation engine resolves the highest-priority active tax rule for that type pair and applies its tax rate to compute the final tax amount. If no rule matches, no tax is applied.
The same resources are available through the Tax Types API for programmatic management.