Free calculator · UK, UAE and anywhere with VAT
VAT calculator: add or remove VAT in seconds
Type a price to see the tax.
You will get the price before tax, the tax itself and the total.
Using it, in plain steps
- Pick the country and the rate fills in. Change it if your goods or services are at a different rate.
- Choose “Add VAT” if your price is the net price and you want the total to charge. Choose “Remove VAT” if the price is gross (VAT already inside), such as a shop price or a supplier’s total, and you want to see how much of it is tax.
- Read the three lines: net, VAT, total. “Copy result” puts them on your clipboard so you can paste them into an email or a spreadsheet.
The maths, so you can trust it
Adding VAT
VAT = net price × rate ÷ 100
Gross price = net price + VAT
£250 at 20%: VAT = £50. Gross £300.
Removing VAT
Net price = gross price × 100 ÷ (100 + rate)
VAT = gross price − net price
AED 105 with 5% inside: 105 × 100 ÷ 105 = AED 100. VAT is AED 5.
Each amount is rounded to the nearest cent or penny, half up, which is also how our invoices do it. On a long invoice, VAT is worked out on each line and then added up, so the total can differ by a penny from working it out once on the grand total. The tax authorities publish their own rounding guidance, worth a look if a penny matters to you. The calculator above works on a single price, as one line.
Zero-rated, exempt, out of scope: the three that get mixed up
If you have ever stared at an invoice wondering why VAT is missing, one of these is probably the reason.
- Standard-rated (20% in the UK, 5% in the UAE): the ordinary case.
- Zero-rated: VAT is charged at 0%. The sale still goes on your VAT return, and you can usually reclaim the VAT you paid on what you bought to make it.
- Exempt: no VAT is charged, and the sale is outside the VAT you can reclaim against.
- Out of scope: not a VAT supply at all, like some payments between people who are not in business.
What a VAT invoice should show
In the UK and the UAE, a VAT invoice for a registered business normally shows your name, address and VAT number or Tax Registration Number (TRN), the invoice date and a unique number, your customer’s details, a description of what was sold, the price before VAT, the VAT rate and the VAT amount. The exact rules differ between the two countries and depend on the size of the invoice, so read the official guidance.
Skip the arithmetic
Our free invoice maker has the UK and the UAE built in: it checks the VAT number or TRN, uses the right wording on the page, and does exactly this maths for every line.
Questions people ask
How do I add VAT to a price?
Multiply the price by the rate and divide by 100, then add the result to the price. At the UK standard rate of 20%, £250 becomes £250 + £50 = £300. A shortcut: multiply the price by 1.2 for 20%, or by 1.05 for the UAE's 5%.
How do I take VAT out of a price that includes it?
Divide by 1 plus the rate. £120 including 20% VAT is £120 ÷ 1.2 = £100 before VAT, so the VAT is £20. Do not take 20% off £120: that gives £24 and the wrong answer, because the 20% was added to the smaller number.
What is the difference between zero-rated and exempt?
Zero-rated supplies are taxable, at 0%. You charge no VAT, but you still record the sale and you can reclaim the VAT you paid on your costs. Exempt supplies are outside VAT altogether: you charge none and, in general, you cannot reclaim the VAT on related costs. Which one applies depends on what you sell, so check the official list for your country.
What are the UK VAT rates?
There are three: 20% standard, 5% reduced and 0% zero rate. Most goods and services are at 20%. The reduced and zero rates apply to specific things, such as domestic energy at 5% and most children's clothing at 0%. HMRC has the full lists.
What is the VAT rate in the UAE?
The standard rate is 5%. Some supplies, such as exports of goods and services and certain international transport, are zero-rated, and some, such as certain residential property and local passenger transport, are exempt. The Federal Tax Authority publishes the details.
When do I have to register for VAT?
In the UK, once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any 12-month period, or you expect it to in the next 30 days (the limit has changed before, so check the current figure on GOV.UK). In the UAE, registration is compulsory when taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000 a year, and optional above AED 187,500. Check both on the official sites before relying on them.
What about other countries?
The maths is the same. Choose any country and type your own rate in the rate box. Rates in other countries, including the EU, differ by country and by product, so we do not list them.
Checked against the official sources
Last reviewed on 11 October 2026. Tax rules and limits change, and we cannot see your whole situation, so treat this page as a guide, not advice. If something here looks out of date, the official pages below are the ones to trust, and we would be grateful if you told us.
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