🔖 VAT Calculator

Add or remove VAT from a price, either direction.

About this tool

Calculates VAT (Value Added Tax) either by adding it to a net price or by extracting it from a VAT-included gross price — both directions on one page, since which one you need depends on what number you're starting with.

Works with any VAT rate, so it's usable regardless of which country's rate applies to your situation.

Worked example

A $100 net price with 20% VAT comes to $120 gross. Working backward, a $120 gross price at 20% VAT breaks down to $100 net plus $20 VAT.

How to use it

Enter the amount you have.
Enter the applicable VAT rate.
Choose whether that amount is net (before VAT) or gross (VAT already included).
Press Calculate VAT.

Tips

Extracting VAT from a gross amount is NOT the same as multiplying by the VAT rate directly — dividing by (1 + rate) is required, which is why this tool has a dedicated "gross" mode.
VAT rates vary significantly by country and by product category — check the applicable rate for your situation before relying on a default.
This is functionally similar to the Sales Tax Calculator but framed around VAT's net/gross convention, common outside the US.

FAQ

What's the difference between VAT and sales tax?

They're conceptually similar (both add a percentage to a purchase), but VAT is typically included in the displayed price and collected at each stage of production in many countries, while US sales tax is usually added at the register on top of a tax-exclusive listed price.

How do I remove VAT from a price that already includes it?

Select "Gross (VAT included)" mode — the calculator divides by (1 + rate/100) rather than simply subtracting the percentage, which is the common mistake people make doing this by hand.

Does this work for any country's VAT rate?

Yes — enter whatever rate applies; the tool doesn't assume a specific country's default.

From the blog: getting the most out of this tool

The most common VAT mistake we see described online is subtracting the VAT percentage directly from a gross price instead of dividing by (1 + rate) — a small formula error that quietly under-reports the true net amount every time.

Building both directions into one page, with an explicit net/gross selector, is meant to make that distinction impossible to skip past by accident.

📖 Want the fuller explanation?

See Percentages Explained for the reasoning behind this calculation, with worked examples.