How do I set up XP tax?

Where to find it

On the website: Dashboard → your server → XP → the Rules & Setup tab, the XP Tax card

In the app: More → XP, then pick Rules & Setup from the XP sections dropdown

What the tax is for

Tax is a catch-up mechanic. A team sitting on a huge pile of XP pays a surcharge on what it buys, so its money does not go as far as a struggling team's.

It is important to understand which way round it works: tax makes things cost more, it does not take a slice off what teams earn. A 1,000 XP upgrade at 15% tax costs the team 1,150. The extra is not paid to anybody — it simply comes off the buyer.

What is on the card

• Charge A Tax — the on/off switch. Off means everybody pays the plain price, and off is the default.
• What The Tax Is Based On — a dropdown with four choices: Nothing — no tax, How much XP the team has (rich teams pay more — the one most leagues want), How many division wins they have (stacked divisions pay more), or Both together.
• Free Games At The Start — when the tax follows wins, a team that has played fewer games than this pays nothing, so nobody is taxed off two games of evidence.
• What The Tax Applies To — four switches: Wheel Spins, Bets, Dev Upgrades and Attribute Upgrades. Turning one off spares that kind of spending even while tax is on. Bets starts off, because taxing stakes changes how the sportsbook feels; the other three start on.
• Most A Team Can Ever Be Charged — the hard ceiling. No band can charge above this number, so a 150% band needs it set to 150.
• The Tax Bands — each band is a window of team XP and the extra percentage charged inside it. The bands are only used when the tax follows team XP, and each row shows a worked example of what a 1,000 XP upgrade would really cost.

Step by step

1. Open XP → the Rules & Setup tab and find the XP Tax card.
2. Switch Charge A Tax on.
3. Pick what the tax is based on from the dropdown.
4. Set the switches under What The Tax Applies To.
5. Open The Tax Bands and adjust the rows if the shipped ladder is not what you want.
6. Press Save The XP Tax — one button covers the whole card.

Common problems

• I turned tax on and nothing is being charged. Check three things in order: Charge A Tax is on, the dropdown is not set to Nothing — no tax, and the kind of spending you are testing is switched on under What The Tax Applies To. All three have to agree.
• One team paid no tax while everyone else did — on the wins-based setting. That setting has to look the team up in your Madden standings, and when it cannot — the league is not connected, or the team has played fewer games than Free Games At The Start — it charges nothing rather than guessing. The XP-based setting has none of these dependencies, which is one reason most leagues use it.
• Bets are not being taxed while everything else is. That is the default — the Bets switch starts off. Turn it on if you want stakes taxed.
• A band's rate looks ignored. The card marks a band Capped when it is above Most A Team Can Ever Be Charged. Raise the ceiling and the band's full rate applies.
• The bands are not doing anything. They only apply when the tax is based on how much XP the team has (or Both together).
• This tab is missing from my sidebar. The XP feature is switched off — turn it on at Features → XP.

Related

• Setting prices and payouts — the base cost tax is added to
• Run a Double XP boost — the lever that pushes the other way
• The XP Hub — what every tab does