Legal & Taxes

How to extract VAT from a tax-inclusive price

Find the net price and VAT component inside a gross total without incorrectly subtracting the headline rate.

By Calculadoras.Tools Published 4 min read

To extract VAT, treat the displayed total as 100% plus the tax rate:

net price = gross price / (1 + VAT rate)
VAT amount = gross price - net price

For a total of 1,160 at 16%:

net = 1160 / 1.16 = 1000
VAT = 1160 - 1000 = 160

Subtracting 16% of 1,160 would give 974.40, which is wrong because 16% was originally applied to 1,000, not to the tax-inclusive total.

RateDivide gross price by
5%1.05
10%1.10
16%1.16
19%1.19
21%1.21

Confirm that the price truly includes VAT and that the rate applies to that item. Use the VAT calculator for precision and consult a tax professional for filing or classification questions.