can someone explain... $

to me how you calculate the price for your reception hall? What i mean is... mine is $120 pp and then it says plus 18% service charge & NYS sales tax.

So do you take the amount of people you're having and times it by 120 and then add the 18% and tax in?

Or do you take the individual price per person $120 and times it by 18% and the tax, and then times it by the number of people i'm having?

Plus... whats the current NYS sales tax right now?

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Posted by aliwnec10


Or do you take the individual price per person $120 and times it by 18% and the tax, and then times it by the number of people i'm having?

Plus... whats the current NYS sales tax right now?

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that's how you calculate it.

$120 x 18% + tax

I believe the sales tax is 8.65%

ETA: it comes out to approx $153 a person

If I'm doing it right yours is going to be about $156pp. YOu have to add 18% gratuity and 10% sales tax. If you call you hall they should be able to tell you the final price after tax a tip.

You take 120 *10%*18% and thats your total pp then times that by the number of people

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Posted by giapet99

If I'm doing it right yours is going to be about $170pp. YOu have to add 20% gratuity and 18% sales tax. If you call you hall they should be able to tell you the final price after tax a tip.

You take 120 *20%*18% and thats your total pp then times that by the number of people

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wait... you have to add in the 20% tip too?

Isn't the 18% service charge the same? Probably not huh?

Or can't you take the final price and times it by the 20% gratituty?

I HATE THIS CRAP!!! Why can't the reception place just do it for you and give me the final number?

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Posted by aliwnec10

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Posted by giapet99

If I'm doing it right yours is going to be about $170pp. YOu have to add 20% gratuity and 18% sales tax. If you call you hall they should be able to tell you the final price after tax a tip.

You take 120 *20%*18% and thats your total pp then times that by the number of people

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wait... you have to add in the 20% tip too?

Isn't the 18% service charge the same? Probably not huh?

Or can't you take the final price and times it by the 20% gratituty?

I HATE THIS CRAP!!! Why can't the reception place just do it for you and give me the final number?

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Sorry I had my # wrong I just woke up. But normally I do just round everything up. Like 10% tax and 20% gratuity. Yes the service charge is the gratuity sorry for the mixup

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Posted by dleeny

I never heard of 18% tax. the hall should not charge you that amount. they should charge NY sales tax. and the amount of the service charge is usually 18%

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no the tax isn't 18%... thats the service charge. By service charge... does that mean gratituty or just for using their facilities?

i'm so bad at this. Okay one more question (i hope). On the tax... do you take the price per person and times that by 8.65% tax? Or do you take the price per person, add in the 18%, and then times it by 8.65%?

If this makes it easier... my price per person is $120 and i'm having 170 people. The number i got was $25,836.66. Is that right?

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Posted by aliwnec10

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Posted by dleeny

I never heard of 18% tax. the hall should not charge you that amount. they should charge NY sales tax. and the amount of the service charge is usually 18%

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no the tax isn't 18%... thats the service charge. By service charge... does that mean gratituty or just for using their facilities?

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it's either used for gratuity or goes to the hall's bottom line. different halls do different things. we tipped the maitre D, but no one else at the hall.

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Posted by aliwnec10

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Posted by dleeny

I never heard of 18% tax. the hall should not charge you that amount. they should charge NY sales tax. and the amount of the service charge is usually 18%

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no the tax isn't 18%... thats the service charge. By service charge... does that mean gratituty or just for using their facilities?

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They CLAIM they use that service charge to pay their employees.

'Service Charge' and 'Gratuity' are used interchangeably.......
depending on the hall. One hall will call it service charge while the other calls it the gratuity.

Basically, you can tax the service charge while a gratuaity is not taxed.

You are not charged both a service charge and a gratuity since really they are the same thing. By adding a 'service charge' you are just agreeing to 'gratuity' upfront instead of when you go out to a resturant and gratuity is at your discretion. And of course, the service charged can be taxed

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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Thank you!!!

You have to check your contract to determine whether your 'tip' is being taxed. If it is called a tip it cannot be taxed. Generally, theyt call it a service sharge which can be taxed.

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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This is wrong.. You are taxing the gratuity.

It should be like so...

$120 * 170 people = $20,400
$20,400 * 0.18 = $3,672
$20,400 * 0.8625 = $1759.50

Then you take the sum for a grand total of:
$25,831.50 or $151.95 per person.

If you take the product of all three numbers your total will be greater than it needs to be.

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Posted by riniko

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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This is wrong.. You are taxing the gratuity.

It should be like so...

$120 * 170 people = $20,400
$20,400 * 0.18 = $3,672
$20,400 * 0.8625 = $1759.50

Then you take the sum for a grand total of:
$25,831.50 or $151.95 per person.

If you take the product of all three numbers your total will be greater than it needs to be.

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Great! Thanks so much for your help! I love it when people tell me its going to be less than i was thinking.

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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I don't think I'm wrong - this is how WM came up with my total. Maybe each hall does it differently which is why I suggested that Allison contact her hall directly.

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Posted by ayadali

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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I don't think I'm wrong - this is how WM came up with my total. Maybe each hall does it differently which is why I suggested that Allison contact her hall directly.

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They shouldn't be taxing you on a gratuity. If you think about when you go out to a restaurant, you don't pay tax on what you leave for the server. I would talk to your hall because that will increase your price by quite a bit!!!

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Posted by mcb916

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Posted by ayadali

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Posted by ayadali

I think it is $120 X 18% X 8.625% or $153.81 per person. Your hall can give you the exact amount.

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I don't think I'm wrong - this is how WM came up with my total. Maybe each hall does it differently which is why I suggested that Allison contact her hall directly.

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They shouldn't be taxing you on a gratuity. If you think about when you go out to a restaurant, you don't pay tax on what you leave for the server. I would talk to your hall because that will increase your price by quite a bit!!!

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The wedding business is lousy - most halls tax gratuity. There was a thread about this a while ago.