Use this guide to set a tax rate for course sales and choose whether that tax is included in your prices or added to them. It is for course providers managing their account’s payment settings.
Before you change tax settings
A tax profile is a saved set of tax settings, including whether tax is enabled, the rate, your registration number and the label shown with tax. The Default Tax Profile supplies the settings for courses without a separate profile.
System Admins can change account tax settings. A Course Owner with access to a course can select its tax profile in the course editor. Creating additional profiles requires the tax profiles feature; it is included in the standard Teams plan. If a control is unavailable, ask your System Admin or Cademy Support to check your account’s access.
Confirm whether you must charge tax and which rate and treatment apply before changing these settings. A software setting does not establish your tax obligations. For UK VAT, start with GOV.UK’s VAT rates guidance and obtain advice for your own courses where needed.
This guide covers a rate you configure yourself. Automatic Tax/VAT Handling is a separate BETA feature with country and calculation limits. See Automatic VAT & Tax Handling at Checkout. If it is already enabled on the profile, ask Cademy Support to review the setup before following this manual-rate procedure. Do not assume every order will simply use your entered rate.
Set the default tax profile
Open Settings > Payments as a System Admin. Expand Tax / VAT, then open Default Tax Profile Options if its controls are collapsed.
Turn on Enable Tax/VAT for this profile to display its tax controls.
Enter the intended percentage in Tax / VAT rate. Check the displayed number carefully. The current editor uses whole percentages; if your required rate contains a decimal, or you need a zero-rated treatment, contact Cademy Support before configuring it. Do not round your required rate or treat disabling tax as proof of a legal exemption.
Enter Your registered Tax/VAT Number and the appropriate Tax Label, such as VAT. Use your actual registration details, not the example text in a field.
Choose the intended setting for Show prices without the Tax/VAT included, using the example below. Check whether Automatic Tax/VAT Handling is enabled before proceeding.
Review the other changes you have made on the Payments page, then select Save in the Tax / VAT section.
Reopen Settings > Payments > Tax / VAT and check the saved values. If you see an error or a value has not persisted, resolve it before accepting new purchases. A success message alone is not a substitute for this check.
New accounts start with the default tax setting disabled. Check an existing account’s saved settings and any additional profiles before changing it; a separate profile can still have tax enabled.
Choose whether your price includes tax
Show prices without the Tax/VAT included changes how the amount is calculated. For the default profile, or an additional profile with its own saved setting, the switch works as follows when manual tax is enabled:
Off: the entered price includes the configured tax. This is the option described as absorbing tax.
On: the configured tax is added to the entered price. The customer’s total is higher.
Fictional example: one course place has an entered price of £100 and a configured tax rate of 20%. This example excludes discounts, other charges, automatic tax rules and order-specific tax overrides.
With the switch off, the total is £100, including £16.67 tax.
With the switch on, the total is £120, including £20 tax.
Choose the option that matches your intended customer price, save the settings and check the course price and checkout summary. The example does not mean every course should use 20%.
Use an additional profile for a course
Use an additional profile when a course needs different tax settings. Creating a profile does not automatically assign it to any course.
Settings not explicitly set on an additional profile can fall back to the default profile. This includes automatic handling. Review the default as well as the additional profile; an unchecked-looking control or a blank value is not enough to establish every inherited setting. If the default uses automatic handling, ask Cademy Support to review the additional profile before relying on it for manual tax.
As a System Admin, open Settings > Payments > Tax / VAT and select Create New Tax Profile.
Enter a recognisable Profile name. Review Enable Tax/VAT for this profile, Tax / VAT rate, Your registered Tax/VAT Number, Tax Label and Show prices without the Tax/VAT included. Set the intended values and check Automatic Tax/VAT Handling.
Select Save in the Tax / VAT section. Reopen the page to check the saved profile.
Go to Courses, open the intended course and select Edit Course. Open the Settings tab, then Payments.
Under Payment Methods, use Tax Profile to select the saved profile. This selector is shown when at least one additional profile exists; Default Tax Profile is its first option.
Select Save at the top of the course editor. In that same course, reopen Settings > Payments and confirm the saved Tax Profile selection. Check its customer-facing price and checkout summary before taking purchases.
Changing the default does not replace settings explicitly saved on an additional profile. Turning off tax on the default therefore does not switch it off for every course.
Before deleting an additional profile, identify the courses using it and assign the intended replacement. A course referring to a deleted profile falls back to the default settings. Do not delete a profile simply to remove tax from a course.
Check what customers see
For a published course, open it from Courses and select Open in new tab beside Share to open its public course page. Review the displayed price. For a course that can be booked, review the tax amount, label and final total in its checkout summary before purchase. If the course is unpublished or cannot currently be booked, ask Cademy Support how to check it; do not publish it or make a payment just to test tax settings. If the amount is unexpected, check the course’s selected profile, its rate, the included-or-added switch, and whether automatic handling or an order-specific adjustment is involved.
Tax is not limited to GBP courses. Changing a course currency does not by itself turn tax off.
Changing account tax settings is not a way to recalculate an existing order’s saved amounts. Current tax labels or registration details can still affect how an existing invoice is displayed. Review the relevant order and invoice separately before editing or reissuing either one.
If a control or result is unexpected
Payments is unavailable: ask a System Admin to manage the account settings.
Create New Tax Profile is disabled: check the account’s feature access. Do not change an unrelated profile to work around it.
Tax Profile is missing from a course: check whether an additional profile has been created and saved. The selector is not shown when only the default exists.
Save is disabled: if any profile has Automatic Tax/VAT Handling enabled, check its Country of tax registration. Every such profile needs a country, even if that profile’s tax switch is off. Ask Cademy Support if the control is unavailable.
A rate, saved value or total is wrong: do not accept a purchase using an unintended result. Contact Cademy Support with the course link, profile name, intended settings and the error or unexpected amount.
Frequently asked questions
Does turning off the default tax profile turn tax off for every course?
No. A course using an enabled additional profile can still charge tax. Check the course’s Tax Profile and the settings saved for that profile.
Is “Show prices without the Tax/VAT included” only a display setting?
No. For the default profile, or an additional profile with its own saved setting, turning it on adds tax to the entered price; turning it off includes tax in that price. An unset switch on an additional profile can inherit the default even when it appears off. Check the saved configuration and customer total before relying on it.
Can I use a decimal tax rate?
The current profile editor uses whole percentages. Contact Cademy Support if you need a decimal rate; do not round it to make it fit.
Does enabling tax automatically decide which customers are exempt?
No. These manual settings do not establish a customer’s legal tax treatment. Automatic Tax/VAT Handling is a separate BETA feature with its own limits.
Will changing tax settings update all my existing invoices?
It does not automatically recalculate saved order amounts. Current profile labels and registration details can affect invoice display, so check the relevant invoice separately before editing or reissuing it.