---
title: "Managing default tax rates for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "creating-editing-and-deleting-default-tax-rates"
description: "Create, edit, and delete default tax rates in Payhawk, configure VAT and tax codes, and show the Tax rate field only for the document types that need it."
updated: 2026-10-27T14:44:06Z
published: 2026-10-27T14:44:06Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/creating-editing-and-deleting-default-tax-rates"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing default tax rates

Commonly, expenses that are placed in the same accounting category have the same tax rate. In Payhawk, you can associate an expense category with a default tax rate. In this way, the system will be able to apply the default tax rate to the expense category once the expense category is suggested by Payhawk's data extraction tool.

## Creating tax rates

To create a default tax rate and apply it later on to an expense category in Payhawk:

1. Log in to the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com).
2. Open the app switcher in the top-left corner and go to **Settings** > **Fields library**.
3. Select **Tax rate** by clicking on it.
4. Click on the **+ Add rate** button.
5. Enter the tax name, code, and rate.
6. Click on **Save**.

![Tax rate page in the Fields library with the New tax rate panel open, showing the name VAT UAE, the code VAT5-UAE, the rate 5.00 and the Save button.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/GA%3AFields%20library/tax_rate_1_20261009_ai.png)

As a result, you can apply the newly created default tax rate to existing or new expense categories. For Canadian taxes, for example, you can create custom tax rates such as TPS 5% (tax on products and services) within Payhawk.

## Editing and deleting tax rates

To edit or delete an existing tax rate in Payhawk:

1. Open the app switcher in the top-left corner and go to **Settings** > **Fields library**.
2. Select **Tax rate** by clicking on it.
3. To edit a tax rate, click on it. In the panel that opens, update the desired information and click on **Save**.

![Tax rate page in the Fields library with the Standard rate tax rate open in a panel for editing its name, code and rate, with the Save button.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/GA%3AFields%20library/tax_rates_edit_20261009_ai.png)

Alternatively, to delete a tax rate, select the checkbox next to it. In the panel that opens, under **Operations**, click on **Delete**. Then select the **I understand this action cannot be undone** checkbox and click on **Confirm**.

![Tax rate page with the Standard rate selected and Delete under Operations, and the Delete one value panel with the confirmation checkbox selected and the Confirm button.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/GA%3AFields%20library/tax_rates_delete_20261009_ai.png)

## Setting visibility for tax rates

You can control which employees can see and select a tax rate and set the tax rate visibility the same way you do for expense categories and custom fields.

To set the visibility for one or more tax rates:

1. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), open the app switcher in the top-left corner and go to **Settings** > **Fields library**.
2. Select **Tax rate** by clicking on it.
3. In the **Rates** tab, select the checkboxes next to the tax rates you want to configure.
4. In the panel that opens, under **Visibility**, select:
  - **Deactivate** to hide the selected tax rates from all employees. You can reactivate a deactivated rate at any time.
  - **Set teams and users** to define which teams or specific users can see and select the tax rate.
  - **Set roles** to define which Payhawk roles can see and select the tax rate.
  - **Set conditional display** to define when the tax rate is visible, based on the value selected in another field.
5. Click on **Confirm**.

![Tax rate settings in the Fields library with three tax rates selected and the Visibility panel showing the Deactivate, Set teams and users, Set roles, and Set conditional display options.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/GA%3AFields%20library/Managing_default_tax_rates_deactivate_20261007_ai.png)

To view and reactivate tax rates:

1. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), open the app switcher in the top-left corner and go to **Settings** > **Fields library**.
2. Select **Tax rate** by clicking on it.
3. Click on **+ Add filter**.
4. Select **Status**, choose **Inactive**, and click on **Done**.
5. Select the checkboxes next to the tax rates you want to reactivate.
6. In the panel that opens, under **Visibility**, select **Reactivate**.
7. Click on **Confirm**.

![Tax rate settings filtered by Inactive status, with two inactive tax rates selected and the Visibility panel showing the Reactivate option.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/GA%3AFields%20library/Managing_default_tax_rates_reactivate_20261007_ai.png)

You can also hide specific tax rates from a single spend type (for example, **Card payments**), without deactivating them company-wide. For more information, see [managing values in spend types](/help/managing-fields-configuration-for-expense-types).

## Showing the Tax rate field only for specific document types

Besides setting conditional display for individual tax rates, you can show or hide the whole **Tax rate** field depending on the document type of the expense. For example, you can show the field for invoices and hide it for receipts. For more information, see the article on [managing the field settings](/help/managing-the-settings-of-built-in-expense-fields).

## Useful resources

- [Automatic population of expense field data](/help/automatic-population-of-expense-field-data)
- [Creating, editing, and deleting expense categories](/help/creating-editing-and-deleting-expense-categories)
- [Importing and exporting expense categories in bulk](/help/importing-and-exporting-expense-categories-in-bulk)
- [Applying updates to existing expense fields historically](/help/overview-of-expense-fields)