VAT Calculator
Add VAT to a price, or take VAT out of a price that already includes it, at any rate.
To add VAT, multiply the price before VAT by the rate: 100 at 20% gives 20.00 of VAT and 120.00 in all. To remove VAT from a price that includes it, divide by 1 plus the rate, so 120 / 1.2 gives back 100. At 20% the VAT is 1/6 of the VAT-inclusive price, not 20% of it.
This calculator is for general education. It is not financial advice or tax advice. It applies one rate to one amount and rounds to the nearest cent or penny, half up; real invoices may mix rates, round per line or per invoice, or follow a country's own rounding rule. Check the rate and rules that apply to your sale with the tax authority or an accountant before relying on a figure.
Price including VAT
120.00
- Net price
- 100.00
- VAT
- 20.00
- Gross price
- 120.00
- VAT fraction of the gross
- 1/6
Rounded to the nearest cent or penny, half up. Rounding rules differ by country. Not tax advice.
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About the VAT Calculator
Value added tax is charged as a percentage of the price before tax, called the net price. Adding it is a single multiplication: 100 at 20% is 100 x 1.2 = 120.00, of which 20.00 is VAT. Taking VAT out of a price that already includes it, the gross price, is where people slip. Subtracting 20% of the gross is wrong, because the VAT was worked out on the smaller net price. Divide instead: 120 / 1.2 = 100. The HMRC VAT guide credited below puts the same rule another way, as the VAT fraction, rate / (100 + rate), which is 1/6 at a 20% rate and 1/21 at 5%. So a gross price of 59.99 at 20% holds 49.99 net and 10.00 of VAT, and 1,000 at 5% holds 952.38 net and 47.62 of VAT. The HMRC guide allows more than one rounding method depending on the business; this calculator rounds to the nearest cent or penny, half up, and works out the VAT in remove mode as the gross minus the rounded net, so the two parts always add back to the price you entered. Rates and rounding rules vary by country and by the kind of goods, so use the rate that applies to the sale.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add VAT to a price?+
Multiply the net price by 1 plus the rate. At 20%, 100 x 1.2 = 120.00, so the VAT is 20.00. Enter the price, the rate and choose Add VAT, and the calculator shows the net, the VAT and the total.
How do I remove VAT from a price?+
Divide the VAT-inclusive price by 1 plus the rate. At 20%, 120 / 1.2 = 100, and the VAT is the 20.00 left over. Do not take 20% off the gross price, which would leave 96, because VAT was charged on the net price.
What is the VAT fraction?+
It is the share of a VAT-inclusive price that is VAT: rate / (100 + rate). At 20% that is 20 out of 120, or one sixth, and at 5% it is 5 out of 105, or 1/21. Multiply a gross price by the fraction to get the VAT in it.
Does this work for any country's VAT or GST?+
The arithmetic is the same for a single percentage tax charged on the net price, whatever it is called, such as VAT or GST. Some countries use more than one rate or stack taxes, and this calculator applies one rate and one rounding rule, so check the local rules before relying on a figure.
VAT fraction: HM Revenue & Customs, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), paragraphs 7.3.1 (VAT fractions) and 16.6.1.
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