Sales Tax & VAT Calculator
Add tax to a price or strip it back out of a total — in one tool. Enter an amount and your tax or VAT rate, choose whether you're adding tax to a pre-tax price or removing it from a tax-inclusive total, and instantly see the net amount, the tax, and the gross total. It works for US sales tax, UK and EU VAT, GST, or any percentage-based tax.
Total including tax
$108.25
How to Use
Choose a mode: 'Add tax' if you have a price before tax, or 'Remove tax (reverse)' if you have a total that already includes tax and want to work backwards. Enter the amount and your tax/VAT rate as a percentage. The calculator shows the price before tax, the tax amount, and the total including tax — updating as you type.
Why This Tool Is Useful
Tax math trips people up in both directions: adding tax is easy, but figuring out the pre-tax price from a receipt total (the 'reverse' calculation) is something most people get wrong. This tool handles both, which is handy for shoppers checking a bill, freelancers and small businesses separating tax from a gross invoice, and anyone reclaiming VAT. It is rate-agnostic, so it works anywhere in the world — just enter your local rate.
How to Calculate Sales Tax (Adding Tax)
To add tax, multiply the price by the tax rate and add it to the original amount. The formula is: total = amount x (1 + rate/100). For example, a $100 item at an 8.25% rate has $8.25 of tax, for a total of $108.25.
Sales tax in the US is added on top of the displayed price at checkout, so the sticker price is usually the pre-tax amount — use 'Add tax' mode for that.
How to Remove Tax from a Total (Reverse Calculation)
Working backwards is where people slip up. You cannot simply subtract the rate from the total — you have to divide. The formula is: price before tax = total / (1 + rate/100), and the tax is the difference.
For example, a $108.25 total at 8.25% breaks down to $100.00 before tax and $8.25 of tax — not $99.07, which is what subtracting 8.25% of the total would wrongly give. Use 'Remove tax (reverse)' mode and the calculator does this correctly.
Sales Tax vs VAT vs GST
They are all consumption taxes but applied differently. US sales tax is charged once, at the final sale to the consumer, and is added at checkout. VAT (value-added tax, used in the UK and EU) and GST (used in Australia, Canada, and others) are usually already included in the displayed price and are collected at each stage of the supply chain.
The math this calculator uses is identical for all of them — the difference is whether the rate is added on top (US sales tax) or already baked into the price (VAT/GST), which is exactly why the add/remove modes are useful.
US Sales Tax Rates Vary by Location
In the US there is no single national sales tax. Each state sets a base rate, and counties and cities often add their own local tax on top, so the combined rate you actually pay can be a percent or two higher than the state base. Five states — Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon — have no statewide sales tax at all (though Alaska allows local taxes).
For an exact result, enter your full combined rate (state plus local), which you can find on a recent receipt or your state revenue website. The table below lists common base rates as a starting point.
Tips for Accurate Tax Calculations
A few things to keep in mind:
- Use your combined state + local rate in the US, not just the state base, for a precise total.
- Sales tax is normally applied after discounts, on the reduced price — not the original.
- For VAT invoices, 'remove tax' mode gives you the net and VAT portions you need for bookkeeping.
- Some items (groceries, medicine, children's clothing) are tax-exempt or reduced-rate in many places.
Common Sales Tax & VAT Rates
| Location | Standard rate |
|---|---|
| California (US state base) | 7.25% |
| Texas (US) | 6.25% |
| New York (US state, + local) | 4% |
| Florida (US) | 6% |
| No-tax US states (AK, DE, MT, NH, OR) | 0% |
| United Kingdom (VAT) | 20% |
| Germany (VAT) | 19% |
| Canada (GST) | 5% |
| Australia (GST) | 10% |