VAT calculator

Enter a price and choose whether to add VAT to it or take VAT off it. Pick the rate, and the calculator shows the price without VAT, the VAT itself and the price with VAT, with the sum written out.

Price including VAT

£120.00

£20.00 VAT at 20%

Your details

What you want to do Add VAT to a net price Remove VAT from a gross price

Net price (excluding VAT) Before VAT is added

VAT rate Standard rate (20%)Reduced rate (5%)Zero rate (0%)

CalculateReset

VAT breakdown

Net	£100.00
VAT	£20.00
Gross	£120.00

How this was worked out

1. Net × (1 + rate) = gross: £100.00 × 1.2 = £120.00
2. VAT: £120.00 − £100.00 = £20.00

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What the calculator assumes

• The rates are the UK rates published on GOV.UK for 2026/27.
• One rate applies to the whole price. An invoice with items at different rates needs a separate sum for each rate.
• The result is rounded to the nearest penny.

Adding VAT to a price

A price before VAT is the net price. To add VAT, the calculator multiplies the net price by one plus the rate: net × (1 + rate) = gross. The VAT is the difference between the two.

Taking VAT off a price

A price that includes VAT is the gross price. To find the net price, the calculator divides by one plus the rate: gross ÷ (1 + rate) = net. The VAT is the gross price less the net price.

A common mistake is to take the rate straight off the gross price. That removes too much, because VAT was first worked out on the net price, which is smaller than the gross price. The calculator divides instead, which undoes the multiplication exactly.

Which rate applies

The UK has three rates of VAT. Most goods and services are charged at the standard rate. GOV.UK gives children's car seats and home energy as examples at the reduced rate, and most food and children's clothes as examples at the zero rate. HMRC lists each type of good and service in its guide to rates of VAT on different goods and services.

Zero-rated and exempt are different things. A zero-rated sale is taxable at a rate of nothing, and it counts towards a business's taxable turnover. An exempt sale, such as postage stamps or most financial and property transactions, is outside VAT and does not count.

When a business has to register

A business must register for VAT when its taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over the registration threshold, or when it expects to go over the threshold in the next 30 days alone. The 12 months roll forward each month, so the test is not tied to the tax year. A business below the threshold can choose to register. The current threshold is on the GOV.UK page on registering for VAT.

A registered business adds VAT to its prices and usually sends HMRC a VAT return every three months. It pays the difference between the VAT it charged and the VAT it paid on its own purchases, or claims it back if it paid more than it charged.

What it leaves out

• Sums under the VAT Flat Rate Scheme.
• Rules on rounding VAT line by line across an invoice.
• Imports, sales between Northern Ireland and the EU, and the domestic reverse charge.

If you contract through your own limited company, the IR35 calculator explains how VAT is taken off your fees when you are inside IR35. Every rate the site uses is listed with its source on the sources page, and the other tools are on the calculators page.

Official guidance

• VAT rates on GOV.UK
• How VAT works on GOV.UK
• Register for VAT on GOV.UK

Report a mistake

We will receive the page address and the tax year. We will not receive the figures you entered.

What looks wrong?

Please do not include your name or contact details. To get a reply, email [email protected] instead.

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Spotted a mistake?

Email [email protected]. Tell us the price, the rate and whether you added or removed VAT, and the figure you expected to see. Fixed errors are listed on the corrections page.