Add or remove VAT at any rate, in any currency.
Value-added tax is the silent middleman in nearly every transaction in Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada (under the GST/HST name), Australia, and dozens of other markets. For a consumer it is the difference between a sticker price and a final receipt; for a freelancer or small business it is the daily question of whether a quote is given net of tax or all-in. Quoting the wrong direction is one of the fastest ways to lose money on an invoice — quote a project at €5 000 "net of VAT" when the client expected gross and you have a 20 % gap to swallow. Going the other way, computing the net portion of a gross price (a.k.a. "backing out the VAT") is what bookkeepers do every time they reconcile receipts where only the tax-inclusive figure is printed. This calculator does both directions, accepts any rate from zero to thirty-five percent (covering every standard, reduced, super-reduced, and luxury VAT band currently in force around the world), and presents the result in the currency the visitor's browser indicates — so a visitor from Paris sees euros, a visitor from London sees pounds, a visitor from Tokyo sees yen.
The arithmetic is symmetric and worth memorising. To add VAT to a net amount: gross = net × (1 + rate). To remove VAT from a gross amount: net = gross / (1 + rate). The VAT itself is gross − net in either direction. The tempting shortcut — multiplying the gross by the rate to "compute the VAT" — is wrong; that gives the VAT-on-gross, which is not how the tax is defined. With a 20 % rate, €120 gross is not 120 × 0.20 = 24 euros of VAT; it is 120 / 1.20 = 100 euros net plus 20 euros of VAT. The error is small at low rates (a 5 % rate gives a 0.24 % discrepancy) but grows quickly with rate (at 25 % VAT the shortcut overstates the tax by 6 % of the total). The calculator computes both directions correctly so this trap never bites.
Three inputs: a direction toggle (add VAT to a net amount, or remove VAT from a gross amount), the amount itself, and the rate as a percentage. The defaults are €100 net at 20 %, the standard French and many other European rates. The result panel shows the gross as the headline KPI, the net and the VAT amount alongside, and the rate and a short summary describing the formula used. Switch the direction and the same numbers re-arrange: €100 net plus 20 % gives €120 gross with €20 of VAT; €100 gross minus 20 % gives €83.33 net with €16.67 of VAT.
A freelance designer quotes a logo at €1 800 net and wants to know what to invoice the client (a French company that pays in gross terms): 1800 × 1.20 = €2 160 gross, with €360 of VAT to be remitted to the tax office quarterly. A bookkeeper has a hotel receipt for £237 gross at the UK standard rate of 20 % and needs to split it for the books: 237 / 1.20 = £197.50 net of VAT, with £39.50 of recoverable input VAT. A restaurant in Italy charges the reduced 10 % rate on food: a €55 bill is 55 / 1.10 = €50 net plus €5 VAT. A luxury good in Hungary at the 27 % rate (the highest standard rate in the EU): a 50 000 HUF gross price is 50000 / 1.27 ≈ 39 370 HUF net with about 10 630 HUF of VAT. In each case the same two formulas apply; only the rate and currency change.
First, applying the rate to the gross to estimate the VAT. As shown above, this overstates the tax. Use net × rate to compute the VAT on a known net, or gross − (gross / (1 + rate)) on a known gross. Second, mixing rates. Many countries levy a standard rate on most goods and a reduced rate on essentials (food, books, public transport, cultural events) — receipts that span both categories cannot be reverse-engineered with a single rate; you need the line-by-line breakdown. Third, confusing VAT with sales tax. US sales tax is added at the till and is not refundable to businesses; VAT is added all the way along the supply chain and is refundable to registered businesses. The math looks similar but the cash-flow implications differ. Fourth, ignoring the VAT registration threshold. Below a certain annual turnover (currently around £90 000 in the UK, €85 800 in France for services), small businesses can opt out of charging VAT entirely — a decision that affects how prices are quoted and how invoices look. Fifth, applying domestic VAT on cross-border B2B transactions inside the EU, which are usually zero-rated under reverse charge.
The VAT system was invented by Maurice Lauré at the French finance ministry in 1954, and within a generation it had spread to nearly every country except the United States. Today VAT raises about a third of all government revenue in OECD countries and far more in emerging markets where it is easier to collect than income tax. Rates range from 5 % (the UAE since 2018) to 27 % (Hungary). The European Union sets a 15 % minimum standard rate but each member state picks its own number above that floor; reduced rates are constrained to a list of categories specified at EU level. Outside the EU, the UK kept its own VAT post-Brexit, Switzerland uses 8.1 %, Japan uses an 8/10 % consumption tax, and Australia uses a flat 10 % GST. Beyond the standard add/remove math this calculator handles, real VAT compliance also involves rules on input-tax recovery, partial exemption (financial services, education), distance-selling thresholds, OSS/IOSS schemes for e-commerce, and reverse charges on B2B services — all of which sit on top of the same simple two-formula core.