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I sell at VAT-inclusive prices; how do I make an invoice that splits out the tax?

Enter the price before tax on the invoice, not the shelf price. The tool always adds tax on top of the unit price, so an inclusive price gets taxed twice. Take the tax out first: 57.50 including tax at 15 is 50.00 net. Enter 50.00 and the invoice total lands exactly on what the customer paid.

Published · 2 min read

Example: a small perfume shop

A customer bought four bottles of room spray at a shelf price of 57.50 SAR including tax and asked for an invoice showing the tax separately. The rate typed in this example is 15; the tool only ever applies what you enter.

  1. Open the VAT calculator, choose 'Extract tax from a gross amount', and enter 57.50 at 15: it shows 50.00 before tax and 7.50 tax.
  2. In the Basic invoice generator add a line: 'Room spray 250 ml', quantity 4, price 50.
  3. Type 15 as the tax rate.
  4. Enter the full amount as paid if the customer has already paid, so the balance shows zero.
Worked example

Subtotal: 200.00 SAR

Tax (15%): 30.00 SAR

Total: 230.00 SAR

Which is what the customer paid: 4 x 57.50 = 230.00

The repeat mistake: entering the shelf price

Enter 57.50 as the unit price and the tool taxes it again: subtotal 230.00, tax 34.50, total 264.50. The invoice now asks for more than the customer paid and shows tax nobody paid. The tool cannot tell that a price includes tax, and it has no 'price includes tax' switch.

When the price does not divide cleanly

With 57.50 the maths was tidy. Try a shelf price of 59.99: the net comes out at roughly 52.1652, rounded to 52.17. Enter 52.17 on the invoice and you get tax of 7.83 and a total of 60.00, one halala above the shelf price.

That is not a fault in the tool; it is rounding to the halala at each step. Your options:

  • Set shelf prices that divide cleanly at your rate, such as 57.50 or 23.00 at 15.
  • Accept the one-halala difference on the invoice and explain it if the customer asks.
  • Ask your accountant how they want such differences handled in your books.

Several products at inclusive prices

Take the net price out of each product separately, then enter each one as its own line. Remember the tool applies one rate to every line, so if some of what you sell is exempt or at a different rate, this invoice will not fit it, and you need a separate document or another system.