I. INTRODUCTION

Only three things are certain in life; death, taxes; and once all taxes are configured just right in CARS+, somebody will come along and change the tax law! This overview covers the common tax or percentage rate changes that occur and how to make the corresponding adjustments in CARS+.


II. COMMON PERCENTAGE CHANGES

The following chart summarizes common changes that occur to percentage based charges and a point to the "Lettered" section that follows with instructions for how to make the change in CARS+. Although this chapter uses the word "tax", the same instructions apply to changes to any percentage based option such as airport fee, credit card fee, surcharges, etc.

The Change	Go to the following Section for Instructions
A new tax is being added that does NOT apply to RAs that opened prior to the tax's start date	A
A new tax is being added and it DOES apply to RAs that were opened prior to the tax's start date.	B
Percentage Option Code "A" is being retired and replaced by a new Percentage Option Code "B"	C
The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change does NOT apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect.	D
The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect which close after the effective date.	E
The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect which close after the effective date or which are batched closed after the effective date with a close date and time BEFORE the effective date.	F
The items to which an existing tax percent is applied to are changing. This change does NOT apply to RAs that opened before the change.	G
The items to which an existing tax percent is applied to are changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened before the change.	H

Contact Thermeon Customer Support if you have a tax change that does not seem to be addressed in the chart above.

III. CHANGE INSTRUCTIONS

For a clearer understanding of the steps, it is recommended that you read the instructions of all related procedures. For example, if a new tax is coming, read both instructions A and B, paying close attention to the last paragraph in each section. Then decide which will best fit your situation.

A. A new tax is being added that does NOT apply to RAs that opened prior to the tax's start date.

1. Create the new Option Code in the program Edit Optional Items.
2. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a record for the tax rate: enter the Effective date of the new tax in the Effective Date column, and enter the percentage in the Primary Rate field. Set it up with Calculation Method "P" (percentage).
3. In the program Edit Percentage Matrix, define the items that this tax is applied to.

Because the effective date of the Rate record is in the future, the new tax will NOT be applied to any RA that opens before the effective date. It will only be automatically applied to RAs that open on the effective date or later.

B. A new tax is being added and it DOES apply to RAs that were opened prior to the tax's start date.

1. Create the new Option Code in the program Edit Optional Items.
2. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a record for the rate entering the percentage in the Primary Rate field on the Effective date of the new tax in the Effective Date column. Set it up with Calculation Method "P" (percentage).
3. In the program Edit Percent Matrix, define the other items that this tax is applied to.
4. On the night before the day the new tax goes into effect, run the program Add New Option Code to Rentals for the new tax (leave field 8 blank).

Running the Add program will add the new option to all currently open RAs.

C. Percentage Option Code "A" is being retired and replaced by a new Percentage Option Code "B"

1. Create the new Option Code in the program Edit Optional Items.
2. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a record for the rate entering the percentage in the Primary Rate field on the Effective date of the new tax in the Effective Date column. Set it up with Calculation Method "P" (percentage).
3. In the program Edit Percentage Matrix, define the other items that this tax is applied to.
4. On the night before the day the new tax goes into effect, run the program Add New Option Code to Rentals for the new tax and place the tax that is being retired in field 8.

Running the Add program with Field 8 will only add the new option to currently open RAs which have the tax that is being retired and removed the retired tax from all open RAs. Note that if an RA was opened as exempt from the reiring tax, the new tax will NOT be added by the Add program.

D. The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change does NOT apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect.

1. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a new rate record entering the new percentage in the Primary Rate field and the Effective date of the new percent in the Effective Date column.

RAs that open prior to the change will receive the old rate and even if they close after the rate change, the old rate will be used. Only RAs that open after the rate change will use the new percentage.

E. The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect which close after the effective date.

1. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a new rate record entering the new percentage in the Primary Rate field and the Effective date of the new percent in the Effective Date column. But on this new record plus on the previous rate record with the old percentage, set the "Eff Typ" field (Effective Date Type) on Page 5 to "C". This field MUST be set on BOTH records in order for this change to work as designed.

By setting the Effective Date Type of both records to "C" will cause the RA Close program to check to see if there has been a rate change since the time the RA was originally opened. If the RA closes before the effective date of the new percentage, it will close with the previous tax rate. If the RA closes on or after the rate change, RA Close will find and apply the new percentage to the RA. If the RA is batch closed after the change but with a close date that is before the change, the old rate will be used.

F. The percentage rate on an existing Tax is changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened prior to the date the change goes into effect which close after the effective date or which are batched closed after the effective date with a close date and time BEFORE the effective date.

1. In the program Edit Option Rates set up a new rate record entering the new percentage in the Primary Rate field and the Effective date of the new percent in the Effective Date column. DO NOT set the Eff Type to "C".
2. Then after closing the last RA with the old rate and before closing your first RA with the new rate run the program Change Percent Option Rate.

The change program will reset the percentage on all open RAs and unfilled reservations. Therefore even if an RA is batch Closed with a closing date before the rate change, the new rate will be used. Note, had you set the Eff Type to "C", when batch closing RAs with a closing date prior to the rate change, the close program would have re-quoted the tax rate based on the closing date and found the earlier rate thus undoing the update done by the program Change Percent Option Rate.

G. The items to which an existing tax percent is applied to are changing. This change does NOT apply to RAs that opened before the change.

1. In the program Edit Percentage Matrix, define a new table for the percentage option entering the date the change takes effect in the Effective Date field.

Because RA Close uses the Open Date of the rental agreement to look up the Matrix table, RAs that opened prior to the change will use the previous table and only those that opened after the date of the change will use the new record.

H. The items to which an existing tax percent is applied to are changing. This change DOES apply to RAs that opened before the change.

1. In the program Edit Percentage Matrix, define the a new table for the percentage option entering the date the change takes effect in the Effective Date field.
2. In the program Edit Option Rates change the "Eff Typ" field (Effective Date Type) on Page 5 to "C" on the currently active record.

Changing the Eff Type to "C" causes RA Close to use the Close Date of the rental agreement to look up the Matrix table. Therefore RAs that opened prior to the change but which close after the change will also use the new table.