New Groupon Deal - I hardly ever see a special for this one, nice!

[Captain Oil]

Don't forget to read the fine print ................... 20% tax not included

[Melody]

Yep, $889 + $178 tax = $1,067. Internet offer is $150 / night, so $1,050 for 7. This deal provides dinner for 2 daily, and the airport transfer. In Feb. We paid $120 for a private transfer.

So you can look at it as $150 night with a savings of:

$120 (avg transfer rate)
$385 (7x$55 dinners)
$505 savings

Or, $1,067 / 7 = $152.43 per night, for 2 people, tax in.

All I'll need to purchase is beer, rum & mix for the fridge, the occasional lunch elsewhere (2 good meals/day is enough for me, but I'll be wanting to eat at some fave places & try some new), spending money for some entertainment/drinks/taxis elsewhere. Will be a fairly inexpensive holiday with great food, at a wonderful place!

[Melody]

Unfortunatey the person (owner?) answering my question about whether tax for this deal is based on the deal total ($889) or the full price value (over $1700) gave me the wrong info. The hotel manager informed me today that the tax is calculated on the full price value. This brings the total savings from regular price down to about $335. Brings the tax in amount, including the 2 dinners daily, to approximately $159.30 / night & throws in the return airport transfer & welcome basket. Not bad, but not as good for sure, paying twice the tax than initially thought.

[Lola]

How is it even possible they could charge tax on the rack rate, taxes are based and reported on the sale, not on perceived value...? Perhaps the info given was not accurate or fully understood. I don't see that a business is going to report a sale of $100 and remit taxes to the Gov't calculated on a $200 sale... no one pays more taxes than they 'have to'. Service charges I could see, but GCT, no.

When do you pay the taxes/svc charge, when you book or when you arrive?

I looked at Groupon's Terms & Conditions, plus the Rules for Merchants, and I don't see any explanations specific to how taxes are calculated.

[Melody]

Believe me, I have been working on this discrepancy for the last couple of days. The taxes are due when making the reservation to hold those dates.

I was told via email when reserving with the hotel that tax is on the value amount; $1736 (20% $347.20). After having read the Q & A up to that point, the owner had replied to previous questions that tax is on the purchase price. To clarify this for all Groupon customers, I then submitted a direct question, asking him to confirm whether the tax would be on the value amount, or as I had understood it, on the purchase amount, which works out to $177. In his reply, he indicated that I was correct, that he would straighten it out at the hotel and that I should email asking them to correct my billing. A couple of hours later, another question was posted asking the same thing, he answered that question differently, indicating that tax is based on the value amount.

Early this afternoon, another question was posted asking Groupon to clarify the tax issue. As of me writing this, there has been no response to that from Groupon. The owner (I say the owner, I don't know that for sure, but the man who is answering all these questions, a representative of Country Country) replied that the poster is to contact the manager at Country Country to have it resolved. He did not give a definite answer for all interested Groupon members to know for sure.

I assume the representative from Country Country did not have all the facts straight when starting out and that the last response to the question (tax on value amount) is correct.

I don't know what the standards are for Groupon Getaways, regarding what base amount the tax is calculated on, but I wrote Groupon suggesting that they require their vendors be clear about this on their deal before it goes public.

I really love Country Country, but the ambiquity regarding the Groupon deal is unfortunate.