Sales Tax / VAT / GST Calculator
Find the exact tax amount and final price for any transaction in seconds. Enter your price and tax rate to add tax on top, or extract the tax already included in a gross amount. Preset buttons cover the most common rates worldwide so you can calculate with one click.
How It Works
Sales tax, VAT (Value Added Tax), and GST (Goods and Services Tax) are all percentage-based consumption taxes, but they differ in how they are collected and displayed. In the United States, sales tax is typically added at the point of sale on top of the listed price (tax-exclusive). In most of Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, prices are usually displayed inclusive of VAT or GST — the tax is already baked into the sticker price.
This calculator handles both situations with a simple mode toggle.
Tax-Exclusive Mode (Add tax to price):
Use this when the price shown does not include tax and you need to know the final amount the customer pays.
Tax amount = Price × (Rate ÷ 100)
Total price = Price + Tax amount
Example: A product costs $100 before a 10% GST. Tax = $100 × 0.10 = $10. Total = $100 + $10 = $110.
Tax-Inclusive Mode (Extract tax from price):
Use this when you have a gross (tax-included) price and want to know how much of it is tax — useful for bookkeeping, VAT returns, or comparing pre-tax prices.
Tax amount = Gross price − (Gross price ÷ (1 + Rate ÷ 100))
Pre-tax price = Gross price − Tax amount
Example: A product sells for £120 including 20% UK VAT. Pre-tax = £120 ÷ 1.20 = £100. Tax = £120 − £100 = £20.
Common tax rates around the world:
- 5%: Canada GST, some US states (e.g. Maine)
- 7%: Singapore GST, some US cities
- 8%: Various US jurisdictions (e.g. New York City combined rate)
- 10%: Australia GST, Japan consumption tax
- 13%: Canada HST (Ontario)
- 15%: New Zealand GST, some Canadian provinces
- 20%: UK VAT standard rate, France VAT, most EU countries
Always check the applicable rate for your jurisdiction — rates change and vary by product category (e.g. food and medicine are often zero-rated or reduced).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between tax-exclusive and tax-inclusive?
Tax-exclusive means the tax is added on top of the listed price (common in the US). Tax-inclusive means the tax is already embedded in the price you see (common with VAT/GST in Europe and Oceania). The "Extract tax" mode in this calculator reverse-engineers the tax from a gross inclusive price.
How do I calculate VAT backwards from a total?
Divide the gross price by (1 + VAT rate / 100) to get the net price, then subtract to find the VAT. For example, £120 gross at 20% VAT: net = £120 / 1.20 = £100; VAT = £20. Switch to "Tax-inclusive" mode and the calculator does this automatically.
Which US states have no sales tax?
As of 2025, five states have no state-level sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Note that Alaska allows local municipalities to levy their own sales taxes, so the effective rate may not be zero everywhere in the state.
Is GST the same as VAT?
They work on the same principle — a percentage tax on the value of goods and services — but the name differs by country. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Singapore call it GST. Most EU countries, the UK, and others call it VAT. The calculation method in this tool applies to both.
Can I use this for multiple items?
This calculator works on a single price at a time. For multiple items, calculate each line total with tax, then sum them — or enter the subtotal of all items as the price and apply the single rate that applies across all items.