Net, VAT and gross from any one of them
VAT Calculator
Press Add VAT, Remove VAT or Work back from VAT and type one amount: the net, the VAT and the gross all follow, with the formula written out using your numbers and the answer on one line to copy. It opens on UK VAT at 20%, with 5% and 0% a click away, presets for Australia, Canada and India, and any other rate typed in. A list of amounts at different rates totals by rate and downloads as an Excel sheet that keeps calculating. Free, no signup, and nothing leaves your browser.
Calculated in this browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
The three VAT formulas
Every VAT sum is one of three, depending on which figure you start with. The rate is written as a percentage, so a 20% rate is 20.
- Add VAT to a net price
- VAT = net × rate ÷ 100, and gross = net + VAT. In one step, gross = net × (1 + rate ÷ 100).
- Remove VAT from a gross price
- VAT = gross × rate ÷ (100 + rate), and net = gross − VAT. In one step, net = gross ÷ (1 + rate ÷ 100).
- Work back from the VAT amount
- Net = VAT × 100 ÷ rate, and gross = net + VAT. At a 0% rate there is nothing to work back from.
- The VAT fraction
- rate ÷ (100 + rate), in lowest terms: the share of a gross price that is VAT. At 20% it is 1/6, at 5% it is 1/21.
The mistake to avoid is taking the rate off a gross price as if it were net. 20% of £120.00 is £24.00, but the VAT inside £120.00 is £20.00: the rate applies to the net price, so removing it means dividing, not subtracting a percentage.
A worked list at two UK rates
Two amounts at the standard rate and one at the reduced rate, entered the way they usually arrive — one net from a quote, one gross from a receipt.
| Amount | Rate | Net | VAT | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £250.00 net | 20% | £250.00 | £50.00 | £300.00 |
| £59.99 gross | 20% | £49.99 | £10.00 | £59.99 |
| £42.00 gross | 5% | £40.00 | £2.00 | £42.00 |
| VAT at 20% | £299.99 | £60.00 | £359.99 | |
| VAT at 5% | £40.00 | £2.00 | £42.00 | |
| Total | £339.99 | £62.00 | £401.99 |
The VAT inside £59.99 is £59.99 × 20 ÷ 120 = £9.998, which rounds to £10.00 and leaves £49.99 net. Work 20% on that £49.99 and you get £9.998 again, so the two directions agree here — but on a long list they can drift a penny apart, and the calculator says so under the by-rate summary when they do.
Rates built in, and every other rate
The country presets carry the rates recorded from each government’s own guidance: the UK’s 20%, 5% and 0% VAT rates, Australian GST at 10%, Canadian GST at 5% and HST at 13%, 14% and 15%, and India’s GST slabs of 0%, 5%, 18% and 40%. For an intra-state Indian supply the tax can be shown as CGST and SGST at half the rate each, each half rounded on its own.
For any other country, choose Another country, pick the currency and type the rate. The arithmetic is the same everywhere; only the rate changes, and the rate is the thing to confirm with the tax authority you are registered with.
With a UK, Australian or Canadian preset, the calculator also says what the gross amount means for the invoice: whether a simplified VAT invoice can be used up to £250, whether an Australian tax invoice is needed or must identify the buyer, and which Canadian information tier the amount falls in.
What this is not
This calculates VAT on the figures and rate you give it. It does not decide which rate applies to a product, whether you must register, or how a return is filed, and it is not tax advice. To charge the VAT you have worked out, put it on an invoice.