Add VAT to a price, or take it back out of one. Uses the UK rates — 20% standard, 5% reduced and 0% zero — and shows the net, the VAT and the gross together so the figures always add up.
| Rate | Net | VAT | Gross |
|---|
Adding VAT at 20% to £100.00 gives £120.00, of which £20.00 is VAT.
Show your working
Breakdown
- Net (excluding VAT)
- £100.00
- VAT at 20%
- £20.00
- Gross (including VAT)
- £120.00
Assumptions
- UK rates: 20% standard, 5% reduced, 0% zero. The standard rate has been 20% since 4 January 2011.
- VAT inside a gross price is taken with HMRC’s VAT fraction — rate ÷ (100 + rate), which is one sixth at 20%.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest penny, and the net and VAT always sum to the gross exactly.
- HMRC lets invoice traders round an invoice’s total VAT down to a whole penny. That is a concession, does not apply to retailers, and is not applied here.
- Margin schemes, the flat rate scheme, partial exemption and imports are not covered.
VAT facts
- How do I add 20% VAT to a price?
- Multiply by 1.2. £100 excluding VAT becomes £120.00, of which £20.00 is VAT.
- How do I take VAT off a price?
- Divide by 1.2 — do not subtract 20%. £120.00 including VAT is £100.00 net.
- What is the VAT fraction?
- At 20% the VAT inside a gross price is one sixth of it. £120.00 ÷ 6 = £20.00.
- What are the UK VAT rates?
- 20% standard, 5% reduced and 0% zero. The standard rate has been 20% since 4 January 2011.
Adding VAT, and taking it off again
Adding VAT is the easy direction: multiply the net price by the rate and add it on. At 20%, £100 becomes £120.
Taking VAT off is where people go wrong. Subtracting 20% from £120 gives £96, which is not the net price. The VAT was charged on £100, not on £120, so you have to divide by 1.2 rather than subtract. The quick check: your net figure plus the VAT must come back to exactly what you paid.
The VAT fraction
There is a shortcut for finding the VAT hidden inside a gross price. Divide the rate by one hundred plus the rate: at 20% that is 20⁄120, which is one sixth. So the VAT in any 20% gross price is the price divided by six — £120 ÷ 6 = £20.
At 5% the fraction is 5⁄105, or one twenty-first.
Which rate applies
20% — standard
Most goods and services. This has been the standard rate since 4 January 2011, when it rose from 17.5%.
5% — reduced
A narrower list including home energy and children’s car seats.
0% — zero
Zero-rated goods such as most food and children’s clothes. Still VAT-taxable, just charged at nothing.
Zero-rated is not exempt
Exempt supplies — postage stamps, some financial and property transactions — sit outside VAT altogether. Zero-rated supplies are inside it at 0%, which matters for what a business can reclaim.
Worked example
A gross price of £99.99 at the standard rate. The VAT fraction is one sixth, so the VAT is £99.99 ÷ 6 = £16.665, which rounds to £16.67. The net price is £99.99 − £16.67 = £83.32. Adding those back gives exactly £99.99.
Important notes
This is a general calculator, not tax advice, and it does not handle the margin schemes, the flat rate scheme, partial exemption or imports. Figures are rounded to the nearest penny. HMRC allows invoice traders to round the total VAT on an invoice down to a whole penny, but that is a concession rather than a rule and does not apply to retailers — so this calculator does not apply it.
Evidence & Methodology
How This Page Is Grounded
Method
Adds VAT as net × rate, and removes it with HMRC’s VAT fraction — rate ÷ (100 + rate), which is one sixth at the standard rate. The two components always sum to the third exactly.
Important limitation: Covers the three UK rates and a custom rate only. Margin schemes, the flat rate scheme, partial exemption and imports are out of scope, and the tool is not tax advice.
Primary Sources
- VAT rates on different goods and services GOV.UK
- VAT guide (VAT Notice 700) HM Revenue & Customs
Quality Checks
Both directions, all three UK rates and a half-penny rounding case are checked against worked examples derived from the published rates and the VAT fraction.
See how sources are selected and corrections are handled in our Editorial & Calculation Methodology, and which automated checks this page has to pass in How We Test.