VAT / Sales Tax Calculator
Add a tax percentage to a net price, or back it out of a gross price to find the net and tax.
Results are provided as is, for general information. Check anything important before relying on it. See the Terms of Use.
About this tool
Goes both directions. Add mode takes a net (tax-exclusive) price and adds the rate to give the tax and the gross total. Remove mode takes a gross (tax-inclusive) price — the number on a receipt — and divides it by 1 plus the rate to recover the net price and the tax portion. Every result shows net, tax and gross together so the arithmetic is easy to check. The rate defaults to 21% and is fully editable.
How it works
Add tax: Gross = Net × (1 + Rate ÷ 100) Remove tax: Net = Gross ÷ (1 + Rate ÷ 100)
To remove tax from a price that already includes it, divide by 1 plus the rate. Subtracting the rate as a percentage of the gross price is a common mistake: 20% of 120 is 24, but the VAT inside 120 is only 20.
| Question | Working | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Add 20% VAT to 100 | 100 × 1.20 | 120 (tax 20) |
| Remove 20% VAT from 120 | 120 ÷ 1.20 | 100 net (tax 20) |
| Add 8.25% sales tax to $50 | 50 × 8.25 ÷ 100 = 4.125, rounded to the cent | $54.13 (tax $4.13) |
When to use it
Questions
How do I remove tax from a price that already includes it?
Switch to Remove mode and enter the gross amount. The tool computes net = gross / (1 + rate/100), then tax = gross - net. For a 121 gross at 21% that is a 100 net and 21 tax. Subtracting 21% of the gross directly would be wrong — the tax is 21% of the net, not the gross.
Which rate should I use?
Whatever applies to your transaction — this tool has no built-in country rates. Common standard VAT rates are 20% (UK), 21% (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain), 19% (Germany); US sales-tax rates vary by state and locality. Reduced rates apply to some goods. Enter the exact figure.
Does it handle currency?
It works in plain numbers — enter 100 and the results are in the same unit, whatever currency that is for you. There is no rounding to a specific currency's smallest unit beyond two decimal places.
What are add mode and remove mode for?
Two directions, two questions. Add: you have a net price and are adding tax — 100 at 21% becomes a 121 gross. Remove: you have a gross receipt and need the tax inside it — 121 at 21% resolves to 100 net plus 21 tax. Pricing a job quote is add mode; checking what the tax on a supplier invoice actually was, or reclaiming it, is remove mode.
Does it know my country's VAT rate?
No — you enter the figure, and that is deliberate. Rates differ by country, change with legislation, and shrink for whole categories of goods under reduced rates; US sales tax is set per state and locality. For orientation, standard rates include 20% (UK), 21% (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain) and 19% (Germany), but treat any of those as a starting point and enter the rate your transaction actually carries.
Why is the tax not just 21% of the gross?
Because the rate attaches to the net. In 121 gross at 21%, the tax is 21 — exactly 21% of the 100 net, and nothing like 21% of 121, which would be 25.41. Subtracting the rate from the gross directly overstates the tax every time, and the error propagates wherever that number is reused: expense claims, margin calculations, re-invoicing.
How exact are the results — do the numbers add up?
Every figure rounds half-up to two decimals on its own calculation, and the gross is recomputed as net plus tax, so the three displayed numbers always sum exactly. For invoices, that means one line from this tool behaves like one invoice line: the tax is the rounded-2dp amount a ledger would carry, not a raw fraction that needs rounding later.
Can the rate be a decimal like 7.7%?
Yes — rates enter as plain numbers and decimals pass through untouched; the tax figure simply carries its fractions until the final two-decimal rounding. A 0% rate is also legal and worth a quick run as a sanity check: net, tax and gross should come back identical to what you typed. Anything ≤ −100% is rejected, since the 'tax' would exceed the amount itself.
How do I handle a refund or a credit note?
Run it through the same mode as the original sale. Add mode on the refunded net gives the gross the customer should get back; remove mode on the refunded gross extracts the tax to reverse in your returns. Negative amounts are refused by the tool because a negative 'gross' is ambiguous — work with positive figures and carry the sign yourself on the credit line.