How do I add a surcharge to a sale?

[Tammyfalcon]

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How do I add the fee to the customers bill?

[VanKalkerFarms]

@WasatchSales, you do not get taxed on your taxes, so by adding a second tax, you will only get that tax rate based on the subtotal which is the correct way to apply taxes.  Square does charge their fee on the total that goes thru the credit card charge because it is all a lump sum and even if it was separate it still costs the same amount on fees to process tax and it does subtotals.  You could adjust your rate to include the sales tax rate also to something like 2.86%, I didn't do the math but that should be more than enough to cover the 20¢ difference on your example).

think of it when you go to a store and spend $800 on a tv you don't get the 10% state tax $80, then get the local homerule tax of 3% on the $880 you get it bill based on the purchase subtotal.

Personally, if I was going to charge a surcharge, which I wouldn't, I would not use a second tax as that can cause confusion down the line for audits and for the customer to see 2 taxes on their bill.  Also be sure that it is legal in your state to pass the processing fees to your customer as it is illegal in many states.

[KatieG]

While I am just starting to investigate this topic, I believe it is clear that surcharging 2.83% for a 2.75% processing fee is not permitted. Even though it seems like a logical thing to do, you can't charge the customer a higher percentage than the bank is charging you.

[VanKalkerFarms]

depending on the state you are in you can not collect any fee at all for a credit card surcharge, but there isn't a rule/law about how much you can charge for a fee if it is allowed.  if you don't want business you could put up a 10% credit card surcharge fee but obviously, that isn't good for business.

personally, and from a business perspective, I don't think a business should be charging the customer a fee to pay you but some people insist that the customer should.  also the pinching of pennies to get back the fee on the fee seems crazy too.  the difference between 2.83 and 2.75% is .08, so if 8¢ per $100 is going to break your business they have bigger issues.

[Anthem]

I wonder what other solutions exist, other than a menu price increase? In our case, we make about 300 transactions per day. When 10% of our customers were using e-commerce solutions the increased fees associated with selling, in that environment, were not a huge issue. As nearly 50%, or more, of our customers, are now using e-commerce solutions the increased transaction rate plus the $.30 per transaction e-commerce fee, on an average ring around $5 is substantial. In fact, it adds up to far over $1,000 every month in fees we were not paying before the pandemic. I hate the idea of charging a convenience fee but am having an increasingly difficult time watching the profitability of each e-commerce be washed away by higher fees as more and more of my customers begin using our e-commerce solutions. 

I'm certainly not the only one impacted by this changing retail climate. I'm curious to hear how others are handling it. 

[JSL]

what about Gift Cards?

They are not an taxable item, so when my customer wants to by 10 gift card for her employees of $15 value,

and pay with a credit card, I dont have the option of adding that second tax.

and Suggestions?

[JSL]

What about Gift Cards?

They are not an taxable item, so when my customer wants to by 10 $15 gift cards,

and pay with a credit card, I dont have the option of adding that second tax to $150. 

Any suggestions?

[Tom]

Hey @JSL, thanks for checking in. Apologies for the confusion—were you looking to use the tax setting in place of adding a surcharge? It sounds like you may want to touch base with a tax professional for further clarification, but you may need to manually determine the proper surcharge to the sale: Calculating Surcharge Fees.

[JSL]

Im talking about when customers buy a gift card and check out with credit card. 

how do you add the surcharge, if seller chooses to add surcharge for credit card uses.

[Chad]

@JSL you're right, using the tax method won't work for applying a surcharge on gift cards. Currently we can't make recommendations on how to collect a surcharge from your customers. We can recommend using a surcharge calculator to figure out the percentage and consulting a tax professional on how to collect this amount. 

[JSL]

Is there a way to add tax as a item button like discount?

[Serendip]

So when I add this as a tax on my square it doesn’t separate it from my sales tax on my reports. .. How do I keep from paying that in my sales taxes per quarter? 

[VanKalkerFarms]

If you are using a sales tax to collect a user fee there isn't a way to separate it from actual sales tax.  you would just have to do it in a spreadsheet after.

[fe808]

With the new credit card transaction fee rates with Square now, what would the new percentage be?

[Ucfair]

Hi, are you able to list step by step instructions for doing this?  Thx!

[nika]

Hey @Ucfair! Just a few posts under yours, @JSL walks through how to set this up. 👍

[BIYC]

How do I go about setting this up?

[Valentina]

Hi there @BIYC - I'd recommend taking a peek through the different pages of this thread that you've posted in. Others have provided steps for setting this up here within this thread, so feel free to look at the details laid out here by your fellow sellers to get started.

[Flight]

we will be taking credit card numbers primarily over the phone. I think square takes 3.5% when the number is entered manually instead of swiped. What % surcharge should I add to cover the 3.5% fee that square will charge me?

[Joe]

Hi there, @Flight - thanks for reaching out to us here on the Seller Community! I'm not able to give any specific advice for setting surcharge rates for your customer, but we would recommend reaching out to a financial professional for insight and advice!

I will also leave your post up here on this thread in case any of your peers have ideas to share. Cheers! 

[kenzie6488]

Hello,

With the cost being 2.9% + .30c per transaction, how much of a percentage would you add on as a "Card Processing" fee now?

[GRUBBINGRINGOS]

hi can you walk me through how to do this ?