Booking.com VAT Sync
Booking.com VAT Sync: How to Remove or Override VAT via Rental Ninja
When a property is listed on Booking.com, the platform may automatically apply a VAT percentage based on the regional default for the property's location (e.g. the "most popular" rate for that area, calculated using hotel-industry standards). This can result in an unexpected VAT appearing on your listings — and if you remove it manually in the Booking.com extranet, it will reappear after the next sync. The correct way to override this is through Rental Ninja itself.
How it works
If you configure VAT at 0%* in Rental Ninja and have Automatic listing content update enabled for Booking.com, Rental Ninja will push that 0% VAT to Booking.com during the next sync. Booking.com will then apply your value, effectively removing the channel-applied VAT from all affected listings. Important: If no VAT is configured in Rental Ninja, Booking.com will fill in its own default VAT percentage for the region. This default is based on hotel-industry standards and may not reflect your actual tax situation. Always configure VAT explicitly in Rental Ninja to maintain control over what Booking.com shows.
Step 1 — Configure VAT in Rental Ninja
VAT must first be created as a Fee for your account. Afterwards, you will be able to add it to each Listing.
1. Account level
Go to Settings > Fees and Services.
Click Add Fee/Service (or edit an existing VAT entry).
Set the Type to VAT and the Amount to 0%.
Save.
2. Rental level
Go to Properties and open the relevant listing.
Navigate to the Rates & Upsales section and open the Fees & Services tab.
Click on Add New. Select the VAT fee you previously created. (Make sure the Fee is mandatory) - Save.
Step 2 — Enable Automatic listing content update for Booking.com
This setting is required for Rental Ninja to push VAT (and other listing content) to Booking.com automatically.
Go to Connections > Booking.com > Channel Settings.
Enable Automatically update Booking.com listings when content change is identified.
Save.
Step 3 — Push the update to Booking.com
Once VAT is set to 0% and the automatic update is enabled, Rental Ninja will push the change during its next sync cycle (every 4 hours). Your listings should reflect the update within 24 hours.
To push the update immediately for a specific property:
Go to Connections > Booking.com.
Search for the listing.
Hover over the ··· menu and click Update listing content.
Choose: a partial manual listing update selecting only Charges. A full manual listing update will not update VAT on Booking.com.
