VAT Rates by Country and How to Calculate VAT (2026)

What VAT, GST and sales tax are

VAT, value added tax, is a consumption tax charged at every stage of production and distribution. A manufacturer pays it on materials, charges it on finished goods, and remits only the difference; the same pattern repeats through wholesalers and retailers, which is where the name value added comes from. In the end the final consumer bears the whole amount, and businesses act as collectors for the tax authority. GST, goods and services tax, is the same mechanism under another name, used in India, Australia, Canada and Singapore among others. The United States is the notable exception, with state-level sales tax charged only at the final sale.

For everyday purposes you need two numbers: the rate that applies to the product in the country of sale, and whether a quoted price already includes the tax. Price tags in VAT countries normally include it, while invoices break the total out as net, VAT and gross. The reverse question, extracting the tax from a total, is the one people get wrong most often, and it is exactly what the VAT calculator automates for any rate you enter.

A three-stage chain shows why the consumer bears everything. A mill sells flour for 150 net, collecting 22.50 of VAT and remitting all of it, having bought its inputs outside this example. A baker buys that flour and sells bread for 300 net, collecting 45 and remitting the 22.50 difference. A shop buys the bread and sells it for 400 net, collecting 60 and remitting 15. The total remitted is 22.50 + 22.50 + 15 = 60, exactly 15 percent of the final net price, even though each business only ever paid its own slice. This credit mechanism is also what makes VAT self-policing: no business wants invoices without VAT on them, because unreclaimed input tax becomes a real cost.

Adding and removing VAT: the math

Adding VAT is a simple multiplication. At a rate r expressed as a percentage, the VAT amount equals net × r ÷ 100, and the gross equals net × (1 + r ÷ 100). At 14 percent, a net invoice of 1,000 carries 140 of VAT and totals 1,140 gross. Every rate has one fixed multiplier: 1.05 at 5 percent, 1.15 at 15 percent, 1.20 at 20 percent.

Removing VAT is a division, not a subtraction, and this is the step that trips people up. The VAT inside a gross amount is a share of that gross, so the relation gross = net × (1 + r ÷ 100) rearranges to net = gross ÷ (1 + r ÷ 100), with VAT = gross − net. At 15 percent, a receipt of 1,150 gross divides by 1.15 to give 1,000 net and 150 VAT. Subtracting 15 percent from 1,150 instead would give 977.50 and overstate the tax by 22.50. Equivalently, VAT = gross × r ÷ (100 + r): at 20 percent the tax inside a gross price is exactly one sixth of it.

A word on rounding, because invoices must balance to the cent. Most tax authorities specify that each VAT amount is rounded to two decimals on its own line, usually half up, and never carried as a floating remainder across lines. A multi-line invoice can therefore show line VAT figures whose sum differs by a cent from the VAT computed on the invoice total, and the local rule decides which figure goes on the return. When in doubt, copy the style of the example invoices your tax authority publishes; the VAT calculator here rounds final figures to two decimals.

• Add VAT: gross = net × (1 + rate ÷ 100), VAT = gross − net.
• Remove VAT: net = gross ÷ (1 + rate ÷ 100), VAT = gross − net.
• Shortcut for the VAT inside a gross amount: VAT = gross × rate ÷ (100 + rate).

Standard VAT rates by country (2026)

The table lists standard rates for orientation. Most countries also run reduced rates for food, medicine, books and transport, zero rates for exports, and exemptions for financial or educational services, so the rate that reaches your invoice depends on the product category as well as the country. Rates change, so verify the current figure with your national tax authority before relying on it.

Two entries deserve a comment. India does not have one standard rate: GST applies in slabs, restructured in 2025 so that most goods sit at 5 or 18 percent, with a higher 40 percent rate reserved for a short list of demerit goods such as tobacco. Brazil is mid-reform, replacing a stack of overlapping consumption taxes with a dual VAT whose combined standard rate is expected to settle in the high teens, so quoted Brazilian figures vary while the transition runs. Both cases make the same point: check the category, not just the country.

Reverse charge and registration, briefly

Businesses in a VAT system charge output VAT on their sales and reclaim the input VAT paid on their purchases, so what reaches the authority is only the tax on the value they added. Below the country’s registration threshold a small business may not have to register at all; thresholds vary enormously between systems, from zero to tens of thousands, and voluntary registration above them can still be advantageous. Cross-border business-to-business services commonly use the reverse charge: the buyer self-accounts for the VAT instead of the foreign seller charging it, which keeps the tax in the buyer’s country and spares the seller from registering abroad.

This section stays short on purpose, because these rules are jurisdiction-specific and change often. If you invoice across borders, sell digital products to consumers abroad, or approach your local threshold, the arithmetic on this page is only one ingredient: confirm the place-of-supply and registration rules with an accountant or the tax authority itself.

Digital sales to consumers are the other common trap. When you sell e-books, software or streaming to a consumer abroad, many systems require you to charge the VAT of the customer’s country at its own rate, sometimes through a simplified registration scheme. That is why the same subscription can show different tax amounts for subscribers in different countries. Marketplaces often handle this duty for sellers on their platform, but selling directly means the duty is yours, and the rate you apply follows the buyer, not you.

Worked examples

Three cases cover most everyday needs. First, adding: a Cairo freelancer invoices 5,000 net at Egypt’s 14 percent. VAT is 5,000 × 0.14 = 700 and the invoice total is 5,700. Second, removing: a Riyadh receipt totals 1,150 including Saudi VAT at 15 percent. Dividing by 1.15 gives 1,000 net and 150 VAT, which is the figure the store remits. Third, comparing quotes: a German supplier quotes 840 net and a French one quotes 996 gross. Germany: 840 × 1.19 = 999.60. France: 996 ÷ 1.20 = 830 net, so the French total carries only 166 of tax. Comparing gross to gross or net to net, never mixed, is the rule that keeps such comparisons honest.

Discounts interact with VAT in the same additive way: tax applies to the discounted price, not to the original one. If an item is 200 net with 20 percent off, the taxable base becomes 160, VAT at 20 percent is 32, and the gross is 192. Stacking a fixed coupon after a percentage discount changes the net before tax again, which is what the discount calculator handles; VAT then follows on whatever net figure remains. The order matters only for the receipt display, never for arithmetic done in the right sequence.

A receipt-checking habit keeps these skills sharp. Take any recent invoice or bill and extract the tax by hand, then compare with the printed breakdown. On a 460 gross receipt at 15 percent, the math gives 400 net and 60 VAT; if the printed net differs, someone applied the wrong rate or rounded on a different basis, and both are worth a question. Doing this once a month on real documents trains the instincts the calculator supports, and it catches errors while they are still cheap to correct.