VAT calculator — add or remove VAT
Add or remove VAT at any rate, with UK, Irish and EU presets, reverse VAT, and a multi-line invoice totalling net, VAT and gross.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing you enter is sent
- Free, no account
Net
£1,000.00
VAT
£200.00
at 20%
Gross
£1,200.00
- Net value added tax-free amount83.3%£1,000.00
- VAT at 20%16.7%£200.00
The tax fraction of a gross amount at 20% is 20 / 120 = 0.1667.
Formula and working
VAT due
tax = net × rate = 1,000 × 20% = £200.00
Gross amount
gross = net × (1 + rate) = 1,000 × 1.2000 = £1,200.00
Dividing by 1.20 is the only correct way to strip VAT out of a gross amount. Subtracting 20% from the gross figure gives the wrong answer — it takes 20% of the larger number.
| Description | Rate | Net (excluding VAT) | VAT | Gross (including VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultancy — 10 hours | 20% | £850.00 | £170.00 | £1,020.00 |
| Materials | 20% | £124.50 | £24.90 | £149.40 |
Total net
£974.50
Total VAT
£194.90
Total gross
£1,169.40
| Rate | Net | VAT | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | £1,000.00 | £50.00 | £1,050.00 |
| 7% | £1,000.00 | £70.00 | £1,070.00 |
| 9% | £1,000.00 | £90.00 | £1,090.00 |
| 10% | £1,000.00 | £100.00 | £1,100.00 |
| 12% | £1,000.00 | £120.00 | £1,120.00 |
| 15% | £1,000.00 | £150.00 | £1,150.00 |
| 19% | £1,000.00 | £190.00 | £1,190.00 |
| 20% | £1,000.00 | £200.00 | £1,200.00 |
| 21% | £1,000.00 | £210.00 | £1,210.00 |
| 23% | £1,000.00 | £230.00 | £1,230.00 |
| 25% | £1,000.00 | £250.00 | £1,250.00 |
Assumptions
- Rate presets are static data held in the page as of 1 July 2026. Nothing is fetched, so rates cannot silently change — but they also cannot silently update. Confirm against your tax authority before you file anything.
- Reduced, zero and exempt categories differ by country and by product. Only the headline standard and common reduced rates are listed.
- Each invoice line is rounded to two decimals independently. Some jurisdictions require rounding the invoice total instead; the difference is at most a cent per line.
- Reverse-charge, margin-scheme and partial-exemption treatments are outside the scope of a rate calculator.
- Nothing you enter is transmitted. Invoice figures stay in this browser tab.
Adding VAT and removing VAT are not symmetrical
Adding is easy: multiply the net figure by 1 plus the rate. At the UK standard rate of 20%, 100 net becomes 120 gross.
Removing it is where nearly everyone goes wrong. You must divide by 1.2, not subtract 20%. Take 20% off 120 and you get 96; divide 120 by 1.2 and you get the correct answer of 100. The difference is 4 units on every hundred, because a percentage of the larger number is not the same as a percentage of the smaller one.
The VAT fraction
The share of a VAT-inclusive price that is tax is rate ÷ (100 + rate). HMRC calls
it the VAT fraction, and for the UK standard rate it is a clean 20/120 = 1/6.
One sixth of any standard-rated gross price is VAT.
| Rate | Divide gross by | VAT fraction | VAT in 1,000 gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 1.05 | 1/21 | 47.62 |
| 19% | 1.19 | 19/119 | 159.66 |
| 20% | 1.20 | 1/6 | 166.67 |
| 21% | 1.21 | 21/121 | 173.55 |
| 23% | 1.23 | 23/123 | 186.99 |
| 25% | 1.25 | 1/5 | 200.00 |
Standard rates around Europe
Presets in the calculator cover the standard and common reduced rates for the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and South Africa. They are stored in the page with the date they were checked, because this site makes no network requests at all — nothing here is ever fetched from an API.
That is a deliberate trade. A static table cannot silently go stale behind your back, but it also cannot silently update. Rates move rarely, and a rate change is always announced in advance; confirm against your own tax authority before you file anything, and type a custom rate whenever you need one that is not listed.
Reduced, zero-rated and exempt
- Reduced rate — a lower positive rate on specified goods, such as domestic energy or children's car seats in the UK at 5%.
- Zero-rated — VAT is charged at 0%. It is still a taxable supply, so you can reclaim input VAT on the costs behind it. Most food and children's clothing in the UK sit here.
- Exempt — outside the VAT system. No VAT is charged and input VAT generally cannot be reclaimed. Insurance, most financial services, and much education and healthcare.
Zero-rated and exempt look identical to the customer and are very different to the business. If you are working out whether you can reclaim, that distinction is the whole question.
Invoicing several lines
The multi-line panel handles a real invoice: any number of lines, each with its own rate, so a mixed supply of standard-rated services and zero-rated goods totals correctly. Each line is rounded to the minor unit independently, which is how virtually all accounting software behaves and what most tax authorities expect on a document. Rounding the total instead can differ by a penny per line, which is normally acceptable but should be consistent.
A compliant VAT invoice needs more than the arithmetic — an invoice number, dates, both parties' details, your VAT registration number, a description of the supply, and the net, VAT and gross amounts per rate. This page produces the numbers; your invoicing system produces the document.
Margin is always on the net figure
VAT you charge is collected on behalf of the tax authority and passes straight through you. It is not revenue, it is not profit, and it must never appear in a margin calculation. Price on the net figure, work out your margin on the net figure, and add VAT last.
Registration thresholds and the flat-rate trap
Most VAT systems have a registration threshold below which you neither charge nor reclaim. Just above it, a business that sells mainly to consumers effectively takes a price cut equal to the VAT fraction unless it raises prices — which is why the threshold produces such a visible bunching of turnover just underneath it. Selling business-to-business, the effect largely disappears, because your customers reclaim what you charge.
Nothing is transmitted
Invoice values, client work and turnover figures stay in this browser tab. The page is static HTML with a small JavaScript island; there is no server, no analytics, and no external request of any kind. The CSV, Excel and PDF exports are generated on your device, and the whole thing works with the network switched off.
Questions
How do I remove VAT from a price?
Divide by 1 plus the rate — for UK 20%, divide the gross figure by 1.2. Subtracting 20% from the gross price is the classic mistake: it takes 20% of the larger number and leaves you short.
What is the VAT fraction?
The share of a gross amount that is tax: rate ÷ (100 + rate). At 20% that is 20/120 = 1/6, so a sixth of any VAT-inclusive price at the standard UK rate is VAT.
Are the country rates kept up to date?
They are static data stored in the page with the date they were checked, because this site makes no network requests at all. That means they cannot silently change — and also that you should confirm the current rate with your tax authority before filing.
Can I do a whole invoice?
Yes. The multi-line panel takes any number of lines with their own rates, rounds each line independently the way accounting software does, and exports the lot to CSV, Excel or PDF.
Should I calculate margin before or after VAT?
Always on the net, VAT-exclusive figure. VAT is collected on behalf of the tax authority and is never part of your revenue or your margin.