Getting VAT rates right in your catalogue
Czechia charges a standard rate of 21% and a reduced rate of 12%. The till does not decide which one applies — but it does decide whether your records are consistent.
Two rates, and the decision is not the till's
Czechia applies a standard VAT rate of 21% and a reduced rate of 12%, alongside zero-rated and exempt cases. Which rate belongs to a given item is a tax question for your accountant, and the answer can depend on details such as whether food is eaten in or taken away. The till's job is to apply that answer to every sale, the same way, every time.
Set the rate on the item, not in somebody's head
The moment a rate lives only in an experienced colleague's memory, it disappears the week they are on holiday. Put the rate on the catalogue item: the receipt prints its own VAT summary, the daily report splits correctly, and your accountant stops sending questions in the middle of the month.
Watch the pairs that behave differently
The classic traps are the same everywhere: the same drink consumed in or taken away, a set menu that mixes items at different rates, packaging or a deposit charged separately, and a delivery fee. Write the decision down once per case and then hold to it. Inconsistency costs far more time than the tax difference does.
A rate change is not a price change
When a rate moves, the arithmetic hidden inside your gross price moves with it. Decide deliberately whether you keep the shelf price and absorb the difference, or keep the margin and change the price. Then update the catalogue in one pass, before the shift that has to sell at the new figure.
Old sales keep their old rate
A receipt is a record of what happened at that moment. Editing an item's rate must not silently rewrite last year's sales; reports for a closed period have to keep showing what you actually charged. In Sen Kasa a rate that an item already uses stays selectable even when it is no longer offered for new items, so an old catalogue entry cannot be repriced by accident.
Check it once a quarter
Print a report split by rate and read it. A category with an obviously wrong share, an item that never appears in the breakdown, or a rate you no longer offer showing up in this month's figures — all of these are easier to see in a summary than in the middle of service.