VAT, GST and sales-tax calculator
Quickly add tax to a net price or remove tax from a gross (tax-inclusive) price. Pick a country to load its standard VAT/GST rate, or type any custom rate for reduced rates and US state sales tax. It suits freelancers writing invoices, shoppers checking a receipt, and anyone doing a quick reverse-VAT calculation.
Add-tax and remove-tax, precisely
In add-tax mode your amount is the net price, so tax = net × rate ÷ 100 and
gross = net + tax. In remove-tax mode your amount is the gross, tax-inclusive
price, so the net is recovered with net = gross ÷ (1 + rate ÷ 100) and tax = gross − net. Selecting a country fills in its standard rate, but the rate field stays fully
editable for reduced rates or any custom percentage.
Worked examples
Adding VAT: Add 20% VAT to £100. Tax = £100 × 0.20 = £20, gross = £120. This is what you enter on a UK B2B invoice — the client sees the net and gross separately, and you declare the £20 to HMRC.
Removing VAT (reverse calculation): You paid £120 including 20% VAT and want to know the net and the VAT component. Net = £120 ÷ 1.20 = £100, VAT = £20. The crucial point is that you divide by 1.20, not subtract 20% — subtracting 20% of £120 would give the wrong answer (£96 net, £24 tax).
Reduced rates: In the UK, children’s clothing and food are zero-rated; domestic energy is 5%. Type 5 in the rate field to check VAT on an energy bill, or 0 to confirm a zero-rated supply.
Country rate reference
| Country | Standard rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 20% VAT | 5% reduced on domestic energy; 0% on food/children’s |
| Germany | 19% VAT | 7% reduced on food, books, transport |
| Ireland | 23% VAT | 13.5% on tourism and hospitality |
| France | 20% VAT | 5.5% reduced on food |
| Australia | 10% GST | Most food is GST-free |
| Canada | 5% GST | Provinces add PST or HST on top |
| UAE | 5% VAT | Introduced 2018 |
| Singapore | 9% GST | Rate increased from 8% in 2024 |
| India | 18% GST | Rates range 0–28% by goods category |
Common mistakes
- Subtracting a percentage instead of dividing. To remove 20% VAT from a gross price of £120 you must divide by 1.20, not subtract 20%. Subtracting £24 (20% of £120) gives you £96, not the correct £100.
- Confusing the rate for your country with the rate for your product. Many countries have multiple VAT rates. Always check whether your specific goods or services fall under a standard, reduced, or zero rate.
- Using round numbers for US sales tax. US sales tax combines state and local rates and varies by county and city. Check the combined rate for your exact address rather than using the state-level average.
The breakdown shows the net amount, the tax, and the gross total. Everything is worked out locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Where to verify the rate you’re about to charge
Rates in the preset table move with government policy, and using a stale rate on a real invoice is a compliance error, not a rounding error. The authoritative sources are one click away: the UK’s current standard, reduced and zero rates are published at GOV.UK VAT rates, and every EU member state’s current rates are listed in the European Commission’s Taxes in Europe database. Two structural facts are worth pinning: within one country, different goods carry different rates (the UK alone spans 20%, 5% and 0% depending on the item), and whether you must charge VAT at all depends on registration — in the UK, registration becomes mandatory only past the VAT-taxable turnover threshold, so small suppliers may legitimately invoice with no VAT line.
Reverse-VAT is the audit skill
Adding VAT is one multiplication; removing it correctly is the skill that matters in practice — reclaiming input VAT from gross receipts, checking a contractor’s invoice, or auditing whether a “VAT-inclusive” price was computed honestly. The division-by-(1 + rate) method this tool applies is the only correct approach, and the subtraction shortcut is not a small error: subtracting 20% from a £120 gross understates the net by 4% on every line, an error that compounds across a ledger. When auditing many receipts, spot-check with the crossover identity: net × rate must equal exactly the difference between gross and net.