VAT Calculator (EU + UK)

Value Added Tax on goods and services across 20 European countries — including Germany (19%), the UK (20%), France (20%), Spain (21%), Italy (22%), and Hungary (27%). Pick a country to load its standard rate or override with your own (useful for reduced rates on books, food, hospitality etc.). Add VAT to a net price, or extract VAT from a gross total.

How VAT works

VAT is charged as a percentage on top of the net price. A €100 product with 21% Dutch VAT sells for €121 gross — €100 net + €21 VAT. The business that sold it remits the €21 to the tax authority (minus any VAT it paid on its own inputs). End consumers can't reclaim it; businesses generally can.

Adding vs. removing VAT — the formulas

To add VAT, multiply the net price by 1 + the rate. At 20%: €100 net × 1.20 = €120 gross, of which €20 is VAT. To remove VAT from a gross (VAT-inclusive) price, divide by 1 + the rate: €120 ÷ 1.20 = €100 net, and the VAT is the €20 difference. The classic trap is reverse-calculating VAT as gross × rate — that overstates it. The VAT contained in a 20%-rated gross price is gross ÷ 6 (about 16.7% of the gross), not 20% of it.

Standard VAT rates by country (2025)

Hungary

27% — highest in the EU

Sweden, Denmark, Norway

25%

Finland

25.5%

Italy

22%

Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Czechia, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Portugal, Romania

21–24%

UK, France, Austria

20%

Germany, Romania

19%

Switzerland

8.1% (lowest in Western Europe)

VAT vs. US sales tax

They look similar at the till but work differently. Sales tax (US) is charged once, only at the final retail sale, and is added on top of the displayed price. VAT is collected at every stage of the supply chain — each business charges VAT on its sales and reclaims the VAT on its purchases, remitting only the difference — and in Europe the shelf price almost always already includes it. The end consumer bears a similar total either way; VAT just spreads the collection across the chain, which makes it harder to evade.

Who can reclaim VAT, and the reverse charge

VAT-registered businesses generally reclaim the VAT they pay on inputs, so for them VAT is broadly cost-neutral; final consumers can't reclaim it and so bear it in full. For cross-border B2B sales within the EU, the reverse charge often applies: the seller invoices without VAT and the buyer accounts for both the output and input VAT in its own return, netting to zero. This calculator handles the arithmetic of a single rate — it doesn't decide whether a given transaction is standard-rated, reduced-rated, exempt, or reverse-charged, which depends on the goods and the parties.

Frequently asked questions

Are reduced VAT rates supported?

Yes — leave the country selector on the right country but override the rate field (e.g. 5% for UK domestic energy, 7% for German food).

Why is my receipt's reverse-VAT different from this calculator?

Retailers sometimes round at the line-item level; this calculator rounds at the total. Off by a cent or two is normal.