How to add VAT to a price, or take it out

First: which rate?

The examples use a 15% rate. The rate that applies to you is set by your tax authority, such as ZATCA in Saudi Arabia or the Federal Tax Authority in the UAE, and it can vary by type of goods or service. Always confirm it from the official source. The calculator does not impose any rate. You type it.

Adding VAT to a price

Tax = price before tax × rate. Final price = price before tax + tax.

Taking VAT out of a price that includes it

Here is the common mistake. You have a price of 115 that includes tax, so you subtract 15% and get 97.75. That is wrong, because the 15% was originally worked out on 100, not on 115.

The right way: price before tax = price including tax ÷ (1 + rate). At 15% you divide by 1.15.

Notice the last example does not come out round. The calculator rounds to two decimals in a way that guarantees the price before tax plus the tax equals the total exactly, so your invoice never shows a one cent gap.

How to do it

1. Open the VAT calculator.
2. Choose: add tax, or remove it from a price that includes it.
3. Type the amount and the rate that applies to you.
4. Three numbers appear: before tax, tax and total. Copy them or use them in your document.

Where these numbers go

Into quotations with the Quotation generator, and into invoices with the Basic invoice generator. If you are pricing a new product, work out the price before tax first with the Selling-price calculator and then add tax, because your margin is calculated before it.

This is a number calculator only. It is not tax advice and not an e-invoicing compliant system. For questions about your tax obligations, ask the relevant authority or an accountant.