The VAT calculator instantly computes VAT amounts and prices both including and excluding VAT. Used by freelancers, small businesses, accountants, and shoppers across the UK and Europe, it supports standard, reduced and custom VAT rates and makes invoicing and price-checking effortless.
Enter the amount and choose the VAT rate — 20% (UK/EU standard), 10% (reduced), 5% (super-reduced) or any custom rate. The result shows the VAT amount and the total inclusive price, or extracts the net price from a VAT-inclusive amount.
VAT (Value Added Tax) is a consumption tax applied at each stage of production. Businesses registered for VAT collect it on behalf of government and can reclaim VAT they've paid on business purchases (input VAT).
Use this calculator on any invoice where it isn't immediately clear whether the quoted price is inclusive or exclusive of VAT — which is surprisingly common in B2B transactions. It is also useful for businesses completing quarterly VAT returns who need to extract the net and VAT components from a set of gross transaction records, and for anyone verifying that a supplier has applied the correct rate for a product category.
The arithmetic error that costs businesses real money is applying the percentage directly to the gross price when extracting VAT. A £240 invoice with 20% VAT does not contain £48 VAT (20% of £240). The correct calculation is £240 ÷ 1.20 = £200 net and £40 VAT. The incorrect method gives £48 VAT and £192 net — a £8 discrepancy per transaction that compounds rapidly across a full set of accounts. The percentage calculator will give the wrong answer here; only the reverse VAT formula is correct.
A freelance designer invoices a client £1,500 + VAT at 20%. Gross invoice: £1,800. The client pays £1,800 but can reclaim the £300 VAT if they are VAT-registered. A sole trader buys equipment for £960 including VAT — the net cost for their accounts is £800 (£960 ÷ 1.20) and the reclaimable input VAT is £160. Both calculations are immediate with this tool, avoiding the kind of manual arithmetic error that triggers accounting corrections.
VAT Calculation Formulas
Price incl. VAT = Net Price × (1 + VAT rate)
Net Price = Gross Price ÷ (1 + VAT rate)
VAT Amount = Net Price × VAT rate
For UK 20% VAT: £100 net → £120 gross. To reverse: £120 ÷ 1.20 = £100 net; VAT = £20.
A freelancer invoices £850 for services. Standard UK VAT is 20%. What is the VAT amount and gross invoice total?
Result: Invoice total = £1,020 (including £170 VAT)
VAT amount = Gross Price − (Gross Price ÷ (1 + VAT rate)). For 20% VAT: VAT = Price − Price/1.20. The calculator does this automatically.
The standard rate is 20%. A reduced rate of 5% applies to certain goods. Some items are zero-rated (0%) or VAT-exempt.
Yes. Enter any custom rate matching your EU country's VAT rate — from Hungary's 27% to Luxembourg's 17%.
Zero-rated goods (e.g., food) are VAT-taxable but at 0%, so businesses can still reclaim input VAT. VAT-exempt goods (e.g., financial services) fall outside the VAT system entirely — no input VAT can be reclaimed.