Sales Tax and VAT Calculator
Add tax, or take it back out of a tax-inclusive price.
Optional — fills in a US state's rate
Fills in the rate: the state's own plus the average local rate. Local rates vary by county and city, so type yours over it if you know it.
How this was worked out259.80
- 240.00 × 8.25 ÷ 10019.80
- 240.00 + 19.80259.80
At 8.25%, the tax is 7.6% of what you hand over, because it is charged on the price before it — the same amount measured against a bigger number. Rounding happens once, at the end, to the cent. That is why the tax line can differ by a cent from what a till prints.
Guide: Taking tax out is not subtracting the percentage2 min read
Taking tax out is not subtracting the percentage
This is the single most common error with tax arithmetic, and it costs real money. At 20 per cent, a gross price of 120 has a net of 100 — not 96.
Subtracting 20 per cent of 120 gives 96, which is wrong, because the tax was 20 per cent of the net figure rather than of the gross. The gross has to be divided by 1.20. That is why removing tax is its own mode here rather than something you are left to work out. It is the same trap the discount calculator guards against, and the percentage calculator writes the expression out for any figure.
VAT and sales tax are not the same system
VAT is charged at every stage of production, with businesses reclaiming what they paid, and prices shown to consumers normally include it. Sales tax is charged once at the final sale, and American prices are usually shown without it.
The arithmetic is identical either way. What differs is which figure you have in front of you, which is exactly what the two modes are for.
The rate is yours to supply
No rate is assumed. Rates differ by country, by state, by city, and by what is being sold — reduced rates for food, books or children’s clothing are common, and American sales tax can combine state, county and city rates into an unrounded figure.
A calculator that guessed would be confidently wrong for most of the people using it. Enter the rate that applies to you.
Nothing is sent anywhere
Every figure on this page is worked out in your own browser. No request is made, nothing is stored between visits, and the page keeps working with the connection switched off.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove 20 per cent VAT from a price?
Divide by 1.2, which the 'take tax out' mode does. A gross price of 120 has a net of 100 and 20 of tax. Subtracting 20 per cent instead gives 96 and is the mistake this mode exists to prevent.
What is the difference between net and gross?
Net is the figure before tax, gross is the figure including it. A price shown to a consumer in Europe is normally gross; a price quoted between businesses is often net, which is worth confirming before agreeing to it.
Can I use this for a compound rate?
Only by running it twice, and only if the second tax genuinely applies to the first — which it usually does not. Most combined rates are additive and can be entered as a single figure.
Is anything sent anywhere?
No. The calculation happens in this tab and nothing leaves it.