Tax Templates
Tax Templates define how taxes are calculated on Sales Invoices, Purchase Invoices, Quotations and POs. NL-localised sites ship with templates pre-configured for standard BTW (21% / 9% / 0% / reverse charge).
Where to manage
| Template type | Used for |
|---|---|
| Sales Taxes and Charges Template | Outgoing — Sales Invoice, Sales Order, Quotation |
| Purchase Taxes and Charges Template | Incoming — Purchase Invoice, PO |
| Item Tax Template | Per-item override (specific items always use a different rate) |
Anatomy of a template
Each template has a child table of Tax Rows:
| Field | What |
|---|---|
| Type | On Net Total / Actual / On Previous Row Total / etc. |
| Account Head | The BTW or tax account to post to |
| Rate | The percentage (21, 9, 0) |
| Description | What appears on the printed invoice |
| Add or Deduct | Almost always Add |
Pre-configured templates on NL sites
erpnext_netherlands ships these templates:
| Template | Use |
|---|---|
| NL — BTW 21% | Standard rate sales / purchases |
| NL — BTW 9% | Low rate (books, food, transport) |
| NL — BTW 0% | Exports, intra-EU, exempt |
| NL — BTW Verlegd | Reverse charge (construction, intra-EU services) |
For most invoices the default template handles things automatically. You override only for special cases.
How ERPNext picks the right template
In order of specificity (first match wins):
- Item Tax Template on the Item — for items always taxed differently (e.g., books always 9%)
- Tax Category on the Customer/Supplier — for special groups (intra-EU customer, exempt foundation)
- Default Sales/Purchase Tax Template in Selling/Buying Settings
Tax Category
Use Tax Categories to express customer-level tax routing:
| Tax Category | Application |
|---|---|
| Domestic | Default 21% / 9% |
| Intra-Community | EU B2B with valid VAT — 0% reverse charge |
| Export | Outside EU — 0% |
| Exempt | Non-business, foundations, charitable — exempt |
Set the Tax Category on the Customer / Supplier record. Their invoices then auto-route to the matching template.
Creating a new template
For a special tax scenario (custom rate, suspended VAT, margin scheme), create a new Sales Taxes and Charges Template:
- Sales Taxes and Charges Template → New
- Name it descriptively
- Add Tax Rows for each component
- Save
Then apply it via:
- Item Tax Template on the relevant Items, OR
- A new Tax Category for affected customers, OR
- Manual selection on each invoice
Item Tax Template
For items where the standard customer-level routing isn't right (e.g., books are always 9% regardless of customer), use Item Tax Template:
- Open the Item
- Item Tax → add: Tax Category = Domestic, Tax Rate = "NL — BTW 9%"
- Save
ERPNext now uses 9% for this item across all sales.
Common situations
- Standard NL business — out-of-the-box templates; no setup needed beyond accepting NL localisation
- Selling to a foundation that's exempt — give the customer Tax Category = Exempt
- Mixed-rate invoice (book at 9%, accessory at 21%) — both Items have their own Item Tax Template; the invoice ends up with two BTW lines automatically
- Margin scheme (second-hand goods) — talk to Prilk support; custom Tax Template required