VAT / Sales Tax Calculator

How VAT and sales tax math works

Both VAT and sales tax are a percentage added on top of a net price. The calculator works in two directions: add tax to a net amount to get the gross price, or remove tax from a gross amount to recover the pre-tax price — a common need for invoices and expense reports.

Formulas

Gross = net × (1 + rate ÷ 100)

Net = gross ÷ (1 + rate ÷ 100)

Tax amount = gross − net

Worked examples

• Add 20% VAT to $100 — 100 × 1.20 = $120 gross; the tax is $20.
• Remove 20% VAT from $120 — 120 ÷ 1.20 = $100 net. Subtracting 20% of 120 would give $96, which is wrong — the tax was charged on the net, not the gross.
• Add 8.875% sales tax to $50 — 50 × 1.08875 = $54.44.

VAT vs. sales tax

Both add a percentage to a price, but they are collected differently. Sales tax (common in the US) is added once, at the final sale to the consumer, and shown on top of the shelf price. VAT (used across the EU, UK, and much of the world) is charged at every stage of production, with businesses reclaiming what they paid, and is usually already included in the displayed price. The arithmetic in this calculator is the same for either — what differs is whether the rate is added at checkout or baked into the ticket price.

Removing VAT from a gross total

"Tax exclusive" means the amount is net and tax must be added; "tax inclusive" means tax is already inside it and must be extracted. Receipts and invoices label these as subtotal, before tax, excluding VAT, including VAT, gross, or total — choose the direction by what the amount actually represents, not by the label.

Extracting tax is a division, and that is where most manual errors happen. The rate was applied to the smaller net amount, so subtracting it from the gross overstates the tax:

The wrong answer is always close enough to look plausible, which is why it survives on so many expense claims.

The quantity field multiplies the amount first, which is handy for line items. For discounts combined with tax, see the discount calculator.

Add sales tax to a purchase

To calculate a price after sales tax, multiply the pre-tax subtotal by 1 plus the combined rate. A $79.95 purchase at 8.25% becomes $79.95 × 1.0825 = $86.55 after rounding to cents, with $6.60 tax. In jurisdictions with state, county, and city components, enter the combined rate that applies to the transaction. Rates and taxable items differ by location, so the calculator does not automatically select a local rate.

VAT calculation for multiple items

Quantity multiplies the entered unit amount before tax is added or removed. Ten net items at $24.50 each produce a $245 subtotal. At 20% tax, the tax is $49 and the gross line total is $294. Depending on local rules and software, an invoice may round tax per line or on the final subtotal, which can create a one-cent difference on large orders or fractional unit prices.

VAT rates across Europe

There is no single VAT rate, which is why the calculator accepts any percentage. Standard rates as of January 2026, from Tax Foundation, VAT Rates in Europe; checked 17 September 2026.

* Not an EU member state.

Across the 27 EU members the standard rate runs from 17.0% in Luxembourg to 27.0% in Hungary, averaging 21.9% unweighted. The floor is not a coincidence: EU rules forbid a standard rate below 15%, so the range is bounded from underneath in a way US sales tax never is. Outside the EU the picture opens up — Switzerland charges 8.1%, the lowest in Europe and less than half the EU minimum.

Reduced rates are where the real complexity lives. Most countries run two or three, applied by product category rather than by buyer, and the categories do not match across borders — the same e-book can be standard-rated in one member state and reduced in its neighbour. 6 countries also keep a super-reduced rate below 5%, some of them very low indeed: France 2.1%, Ireland 4.8%, Italy 4%, Luxembourg 3%, Spain 4% and Turkey 1%.

The last column is the one almost nobody explains. A parking rate is a historical carve-out: when the EU harmonised VAT, a few states were applying reduced rates to goods that did not make the agreed reduced list, and rather than force an immediate jump to the standard rate they were allowed to park those goods at an intermediate rate of at least 12%. 6 countries still use one — Austria 13.0%, Belgium 12.0%, Ireland 13.5%, Luxembourg 14.0%, Malta 12.0% and Portugal 13.0% — and it exists purely because of where the rules stood in 1991.

Whatever the rate, use the current one for the relevant place, date, product and transaction type. Rates change by legislation and the category a product falls into is decided by the tax authority, not by the seller.

US state rates

US rates are a separate problem from VAT, and a bigger table than belongs here: 45 states and the District of Columbia levy a sales tax, and the combined rate that reaches a till is the state portion plus whatever counties, cities and special districts add. The full breakdown — state rate, average local rate and combined rate for every state, with what changed this year — is in sales tax by state.

The short version for using this calculator: enter the combined rate for the address, not the state rate. Colorado's state rate is 2.90% and the average Colorado purchase meets 7.89%, so the state figure would understate the tax by more than it accounts for. Why the rate changes from one street to the next, which five states charge none, and why Hawaii's excise tax is not a sales tax are all covered in the same guide.

Canada: GST, PST, and HST

Canada stacks a 5% federal GST with provincial tax, and the combination differs by province:

Where GST and PST are charged separately, they both apply to the pre-tax price — one is not calculated on top of the other. Quebec has worked this way since 2013.

What this tax calculator does not determine

It performs arithmetic but does not decide tax nexus, place of supply, exemptions, registration thresholds, input-tax credits, or filing obligations. Those rules vary and can change. For bookkeeping or tax returns, verify the applicable rate and rounding method with official guidance or a tax professional. After finding a tax-inclusive price, the profit margin calculator can help evaluate pricing, but sales tax collected from a customer is generally not business revenue.