VAT & Sales Tax

Turn a net price into a gross one, or take the tax back out of a price that already includes it.

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What this tool does

VAT & Sales Tax works in one of two directions. Add tax treats the figure you give it as the net amount and multiplies it by one plus the rate; Remove tax treats the figure as the gross amount and divides by that same factor. The tax is the difference between the two, and each figure is rounded to two decimal places before it is shown.

You can work on a single amount or on a list. The Amount setting covers one figure. Every line you paste into the Amounts box becomes its own item and the setting goes unused, so a quote or an invoice can be checked line by line — paste nothing but blanks or comments and the setting is used after all. A line may carry a label, as in "Laptop: 899.99", and lines without one are numbered by their position in the box, skipped lines counted. Lines that begin with # or // are skipped, thousands separators and a leading currency symbol are stripped before the number is read, and a Total row appears as soon as there is more than one item.

The limits are worth knowing before you lean on the totals. One rate applies to the whole run, so a mixed-rate invoice needs a pass per rate. There is no rate table inside the tool and no lookup by country, postcode or product category — the rate is whatever you type, and keeping it current is your job. The figures carry no currency either: they are plain numbers, grouped and pointed the way your browser's locale does it, so nothing stops you mixing pounds and dollars in one list by accident. Amounts must be zero or more, which rules out credit notes entered as negative lines. And this is arithmetic, not advice: it knows nothing about margin schemes, reverse charges, or what is zero-rated where you are.

The whole calculation stays inside this browser tab. The numbers you type are not uploaded and the page keeps working with the network switched off, which is worth something when the list you are pasting is an unpublished price book or a client's invoice. The one arithmetic quirk to expect is rounding: the converted figure and the tax are rounded to two decimals line by line, and their totals add up those rounded figures, so a long list can show a total tax a penny or two away from the rate applied to the total net. The side you typed is treated differently — it is totalled exactly as entered and rounded only for display — so two lines of 120.005 with tax removed print a gross of 120.01 each above a Total of 240.01. Enter amounts at two decimals and the column and its total always agree.

How to use it

  1. Pick the direction. Add tax when your figure is net, before tax. Remove tax when it is gross, with the tax already inside it. Multiplying by 1.2 and dividing by 1.2 are not the same operation, and choosing the wrong one is the usual reason an answer looks slightly off.
  2. Set the tax rate. The field starts at 20 and accepts anything from 0 to 1000 per cent, decimals included, so 5, 8.875 and 27 are all fine; a higher figure is refused rather than applied. A third decimal counts in the arithmetic but not in the labelling — a run at 8.875 is headed "Tax (8.88%)" while the tax it charges is the full 8.875 per cent. Nothing is looked up for you: the rate you type is the rate that is used.
  3. Enter one amount, or paste a list. A single figure goes in the Amount setting. For several, paste them into the Amounts box one per line, optionally as "Label: amount", and the setting is ignored in favour of what you pasted.
  4. Read the table. The columns give the item, its net, the tax at the rate named in the column heading, and the gross. More than one line adds a Total row, and the summary line above restates net, tax and gross in one go.

Processing & privacy

Runs on your device. Your file is processed directly in this browser.

Common use cases

Quoting a job at the price the client will pay

You know the net you need to earn. Add tax turns it into the figure that goes on the quote, so the number you send is the number they are billed.

Splitting the tax out of a receipt

A till receipt usually prints only the gross. Removing tax at the rate shown gives you the net and tax figures a bookkeeping entry asks for.

Checking a supplier invoice line by line

Paste the labelled lines, set the rate, and compare the Total row with what the invoice claims. A transposed digit shows up as a mismatch rather than passing quietly.

Setting a shelf price that lands on a round number

Work backwards from the gross figure customers should see to find the net price your margin actually has to work with.

Questions

Are the amounts I type uploaded anywhere?
No. The calculation is a few lines of arithmetic run in this browser tab, so the figures are never transmitted or stored, and the page still works with the network disconnected.
Which rate should I enter?
Whichever one applies to you. This tax calculator holds no rate table and looks nothing up by country, postcode or product, because rates differ by jurisdiction, by category and by date. The rate you type is the rate it uses.
Why doesn't removing tax and adding it back give the original number?
Rounding. Remove 20% from 0.99 and the net comes out at 0.83 with 0.16 of tax; add 20% back to 0.83 and the gross is 1.00. Every step is rounded to two decimals, and small amounts are where that becomes visible.
Why is my total tax a penny out?
Each line is rounded on its own and the totals are the sums of those rounded figures. Seven lines of 0.99 at 20% add up to 1.40 in tax, while 20% of the 6.93 net total is 1.39. Which of the two is correct depends on the invoicing rules you work under.
Can different lines use different rates?
No — a single rate covers the whole run. Split the list by rate and run it twice. Two taxes charged on the same net amount can be entered as one combined rate, but a tax charged on top of another tax needs two passes.
Does it handle GST and US sales tax as well as VAT?
The arithmetic is the same in each case: a percentage added to a price, or extracted from one. What changes is the direction you need. A tax-inclusive shelf price calls for Remove tax; a net price with tax added at the checkout calls for Add tax.
What counts as a valid line?
A number, optionally preceded by a label and a colon. Anything that is not part of a number is stripped before parsing, so "£899.99" and "1,234.56" both read correctly — but so does "2 x 50", which is read as 250 rather than 100. Write out the amount you mean. A line with no number in it stops the run and names the line.
Can I enter a negative amount for a refund?
No. Amounts have to be zero or more and a negative one is rejected with an error, so enter the figure as a positive number and apply the sign yourself in whatever you are filling in.
What currency does the output use?
None. Results are plain numbers shown to two decimals, grouped the way your browser's locale groups them. A currency symbol typed into the input is stripped before the number is read, so it never reaches the output.

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