VAT and Sales Tax Calculator

The calculator works in both directions, so you can price a product for customers or find the tax hidden inside a receipt. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

1. Type the Amount. It must be above zero, and commas are accepted.
2. Enter the Tax rate (%). It starts at 20 and takes decimals, so 7.25 works for a combined state and local sales tax.
3. Under The amount is, choose Net (before tax): add the tax if you know the price without tax, or Gross (tax included): remove the tax if you only have the total paid.
4. Optionally fill in Currency symbol, such as £ or €. It is only a label placed in front of the figures; no conversion happens.

The large figure shows the answer you asked for, and three rows below it list the net amount, the tax and the gross amount. A line under them repeats the formula that was used.

Both modes rest on one relationship: the gross price is the net price multiplied by one plus the rate as a decimal.

Adding tax is a multiplication: tax = net x rate / 100 and gross = net + tax. A net price of 250.00 at 20 percent gives tax of 50.00 and a gross price of 300.00. At a sales tax rate of 7.25 percent, a net price of 59.99 gives tax of 4.35 and a gross price of 64.34.

Removing tax is a division: net = gross / (1 + rate / 100) and tax = gross - net. A gross price of 120.00 at 20 percent gives a net price of 100.00 and tax of 20.00. The common slip is to take 20 percent off 120.00, which leaves 96.00. That is wrong because the tax was charged on the smaller net figure, so it is only one sixth of the gross price.

The share is always rate / (100 + rate), which is why the reverse calculation never uses the rate itself.

Figures are calculated at full precision and shown to two decimal places. A till or invoice system that rounds every line before adding them up can therefore differ from this result by a penny or a cent.

• One rate per calculation. A basket that mixes a standard rate with a reduced or zero rate needs a separate calculation for each group of items.
• No compound taxes. The tool applies a single percentage once. It does not model a tax charged on top of another tax.
• No rules about exemptions. It does not know which goods are zero-rated, exempt or below a registration threshold, and rates change, so confirm the current rate with your tax authority.

For a shop price that stacks a discount and tax, the discount calculator has its own sales tax field. To find the share of a total that tax represents, use the percentage calculator, and to see what a tax-inclusive price leaves you after costs, try the profit margin calculator. The results are for general information and are not financial or tax advice.

A rough mental check is useful before you trust any figure. At 20 percent, gross is net plus a fifth, and tax is one sixth of a gross price: 60.00 of tax sits inside 360.00. At 10 percent, multiply by 1.1 to add and divide by 1.1 to remove.

If you know both prices but not the rate, work it out yourself with rate = (gross / net - 1) x 100. A net price of 80.00 and a gross price of 96.00 gives 96 / 80 = 1.2, so the rate was 20 percent. Type that rate into the calculator and the remaining figures should match your receipt. If they do not, the receipt probably mixes items taxed at different rates, or includes a service charge that sits outside the tax.