VAT calculator
Add VAT to a net price or work out the VAT inside a gross one, at any rate.
Net to gross, and gross back to net
Adding VAT is easy and everyone gets it right: £100 net at 20% is £120 gross. Removing it is where the mistakes happen. £120 gross at 20% is not £120 minus 20% — that is £96, and it is wrong. Divide by 1.2 instead and you get £100.
The reason is that the 20% was charged on the net figure, not the gross one. A useful shortcut for the UK standard rate: the VAT inside a gross price is the gross divided by six. £120 ÷ 6 = £20. That only works at exactly 20%, which is why this page does the general division for any rate.
UK rates
The standard rate is 20%. A reduced rate of 5% applies to things like domestic fuel and power, children's car seats and some energy-saving materials. A zero rate applies to most food, books, newspapers, children's clothes and public transport — zero-rated is not the same as exempt, and the distinction matters if you are registered, because zero-rated sales still let you reclaim input VAT and exempt ones do not.
EU and elsewhere
Rates vary widely across the EU — Hungary charges 27%, Luxembourg 17%, and most member states sit between 19% and 25%, with reduced rates on top. There is no single European rate, so the rate is a field here rather than an assumption. The same arithmetic covers Australian GST at 10%, New Zealand's 15%, and any other single-rate consumption tax.
Working out margin from a gross price
A common and easily botched calculation. If you sell something for £120 including VAT and it cost you £70 including VAT, your margin is not £50. Both figures need converting to net first — £100 and £58.33 — giving a real margin of £41.67. The VAT was never yours; you are collecting it on behalf of the revenue. Running both prices through this page takes a few seconds and prevents a genuinely common pricing error.
Rounding on invoices
VAT is normally calculated per line and rounded to the penny, which means a total computed from rounded lines can differ by a penny or two from VAT calculated on the invoice total. Both are accepted in most jurisdictions provided you are consistent. Set a quantity here and the line total is calculated first, which is the usual convention.
Nothing is uploaded
It runs in your browser and answers as you type — no account, no limits, and your figures do not leave the device.
Common questions
How do I remove GST from an amount?
Divide by (1 + rate ÷ 100). For 18%, divide by 1.18. Do not subtract 18% of the inclusive amount — that undershoots, and by more the higher the rate.
What is the difference between CGST, SGST and IGST?
They are the same total tax, split differently. Within one state it is halved into CGST and SGST; between states it is a single IGST at the full rate. The customer pays the same either way.
Which GST rate applies to my product?
That depends on its HSN classification, and it changes. This calculator takes whatever rate you give it rather than guessing, because a hard-coded slab table goes stale and a wrong rate on an invoice is a real problem.
Can I use this for VAT?
Yes. Set the split to "do not split" and it works for VAT, sales tax or any consumption tax. The inclusive-to-exclusive arithmetic is identical everywhere.
Why does the page show a "common wrong answer"?
Because that figure circulates. If a number you were handed matches it, somebody subtracted the percentage from the inclusive total instead of dividing, and now you can point at where it came from.
Is anything I type stored?
No. It runs entirely in your browser and answers as you type.