Sales tax and VAT calculator

How to use this page

1. Replace the sample numbers with your own. Nothing is sent to a server.
2. Read the result. It changes as you type.
3. Open the formula if you want to recompute the result by hand.
4. Copy the result if you want to keep it. The numbers you type stay in this browser and are not added to the address.

Formula

Add: tax = amount × rate ÷ 100, and the total is amount + tax. Extract: price before tax = amount ÷ (1 + rate ÷ 100), and tax = amount − that price. A check: 10% added to 1,000 is 100 of tax and a 1,100 total. Extracting 10% from 1,100 returns 1,000 and 100.

You supply the rate

A 10% button matches a common VAT and Japanese consumption tax example. An 8% button is there because Japan has a reduced consumption-tax rate on some goods. A 5% or 20% button is a round example, not a statement of UK, EU, or US law. US sales tax depends on the state and the city and is not one national rate. Type the rate from the receipt or the tax notice.

The page does not decide whether an item is taxable, reduced, exempt, or zero-rated. It also does not file a return.

Add and extract are inverses

Extracting a tax and then adding the same rate gets you back to the start, aside from rounding to the cent, yen, or won. Adding a tax and then taking that same percent off the total does not, because the base changed. Use extract mode when the sticker already includes tax.

Tips, in places where people tip, are often calculated on the pre-tax bill and sometimes on the after-tax bill. The tip page has a switch for that. This page only handles the tax line.

Easy mistakes

• Taking 10% off a tax-inclusive total and believing you removed a 10% VAT. You removed too much. Extract divides by 1.10.
• Using a preset without checking the receipt.
• Mixing a price that already includes tax with Add mode.