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How to split an expense across multiple tax rates

  • Updated

Split a mixed-tax-rate expense into line items, each with its own tax rate, category, and description; see Understanding Tax Rates in Weel for what's rolling out to your business.

When to split an expense

Some purchases mix taxable and non-taxable items in one transaction, bill, or reimbursement. A supermarket shop is a common example: groceries are GST-free but household items aren't.

Split whenever a receipt or invoice covers items that should be taxed differently.

  • Entering one tax rate for the whole purchase throws off your GST reporting even if the total is correct. 
  • Splitting into line items that mirror the receipt's taxable groupings is the correct approach.

Once an accounting integration (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Business Central, or NetSuite) is connected, each line exports separately with its own account and tax treatment.

How to split a card transaction (web or mobile)

  1. Open the transaction from the web or mobile app.
  2. Click Add line item (some accounts may instead show an older Add New Split Item control; both do the same thing).
  3. Set each new line item's own tax rate, category, description, and custom fields.
  4. Save your changes.

If a receipt is attached, Smart Tax Rates may split and code the transaction for you automatically before you need to do this manually. See Understanding Smart Tax Rates.

How to split an invoice (Accounts Payable bill)

  1. On the web app, open the bill itself from Accounts Payable. Opening it from the Transactions list only shows a read-only view of the bill's tax rate.
  2. Click Add line item.
  3. Set each new line item's own tax rate, category, description, and custom fields.
  4. Save your changes.

The Weel mobile app lets you edit an existing line item's tax rate, category, description, and custom fields, but you can't add or remove line items from mobile. Use the web app to split a bill into new lines.

How to split a reimbursement (web or mobile)

  1. Open the reimbursement itself, from Reimbursements. Opening it from the Transactions list only shows a read-only view of the reimbursement's tax rate.
  2. Click Add line item.
  3. Set each new line item's own tax rate, category, description, and custom fields.
  4. Save your changes.

In Australia, reimbursements also get an automatic split for mixed-rate receipts, similar to Smart Tax Rates on cards. See Understanding Smart Tax Rates.

Where tax rates come from

If your business has an accounting integration connected (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Business Central, or NetSuite), your available tax rates sync automatically from there. Without an integration, an admin can manage tax rates manually under Settings.

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