Local advertisers
Billing & VAT
Every charge you receive from StayLocalX is a B2B invoice issued by G-HAT LLC (the platform's legal entity). Stripe Tax automatically applies the correct VAT treatment based on your country and whether you provide a valid Tax ID.
What you're billed for
- Monthly slot fee: a flat amount per ad slot, billed automatically every month on the anniversary of your first payment
- Coupon commissions: a small fee per coupon redemption (€1 for restaurants, €3 for services, €5 for activities) added as line items to your next monthly invoice
VAT rules at a glance
| You are… | VAT on the invoice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| EU business with valid VAT ID | €0 (reverse charge) | You self-account for VAT in your VAT return |
| EU business without VAT ID | 21% (or your country rate) | Stripe Tax can't verify reverse charge eligibility |
| EU consumer (private person) | 21% (or your country rate) | Standard B2C VAT rules apply |
| US business | $0 federal, possibly state tax | No federal VAT in the US |
| Other (UK, AE, etc.) | Country-specific | Stripe Tax handles each jurisdiction |
Reverse charge explained (EU B2B)
If you're an EU business and you provide a valid VAT ID at checkout, Stripe applies the reverse charge mechanism. This means:
- The invoice you receive shows €0 VAT
- You declare the purchase in your own VAT return as both purchase and sale (it nets to zero)
- You don't actually pay VAT — it's an accounting entry
This is standard for cross-border B2B services within the EU. Your accountant knows what to do with the invoice — just hand it over.
What does "reverse charge" look like on an invoice?
The Stripe-issued invoice will include a note like "Reverse charge — VAT to be accounted by recipient (Art. 196 EU VAT Directive)". This is the standard EU legal phrasing.
Where to find your invoices
Each monthly charge generates a Stripe-hosted invoice. You can:
- Receive it by email automatically (we have this enabled)
- View it from your Stripe customer portal link (sent in the email)
- Ask support to resend it
Coupon commission billing
Coupon commissions are not billed in real time. They're accumulated and added to your next monthly subscription invoice, so you only get one charge per month. Maximum commission per slot is capped (default 30 redemptions per month) so you never have a surprise bill.
Refunds
Slot fees are not refundable once the billing period has started. If you cancel your subscription, your slot stays active until the end of the period you already paid, and you won't be charged again.
Coupon commissions are not refundable either, but if you suspect fraud (e.g. a guest redeemed a coupon that you never honored), you can dispute individual redemptions from the metrics screen. Disputed redemptions are not billed.
Failed payments
If a monthly charge fails (expired card, insufficient funds, etc.), Stripe retries automatically up to 3 times over 7 days. You receive push notifications and emails. After the 3rd failure, your slot is suspended until you update your payment method.