Sales Tax & VAT Calculator
Add sales tax or VAT to a price, or work out the tax inside a total.
Check the tax rate that applies to your country, state or product — rates and exemptions vary.
Adding and removing tax
Sales tax, VAT and GST all work the same way: a percentage of the net price is added on to make the gross price. The calculator handles both directions — building the total up from a net price, or breaking a known total back down into net and tax.
Add: gross = net × (1 + rate) · Remove: net = gross ÷ (1 + rate)
The asymmetry trips people up: adding 20% then removing 20% by subtraction does not return the original price, because each percentage is taken from a different base. Dividing by 1 plus the rate is the correct way to strip tax out.
Adding 20% VAT to a $100 net price gives $20 of tax and a $120 total. Working backwards, a $120 gross price contains $20 of tax and $100 net — note that 20% of 100 is not the same as 20% of 120.
Net, gross and getting it right
Whether you are pricing a product, checking a receipt, or filing a return, the net/gross distinction matters. Quote a customer the gross price and your margin is on the net; reclaim tax on the net and you need the figure that was actually added, not a flat percentage of the total.
Worth keeping in mind
- Removing tax isn't subtraction. Divide the gross by 1 plus the rate to find the net.
- Rounding adds up. On many line items, rounding each one can differ slightly from taxing the total once.
- Rates vary. Different products, regions and customer types can attract different rates or exemptions.
This is general information, not tax advice.