Percentage tax calculator
Add, remove or withhold any tax expressed as a percentage.
Calculator inputs
Results
Enter your values and press “Calculate” to see the result.
In short
- What it calculates
- Add, remove or withhold any tax expressed as a percentage.
- Formula used
Add: total = amount × (1 + t/100)- Example
- £2,500 at 15%:
Percentage tax calculator
One tool for the three things you ever do with a tax or levy: add it, extract it from a total, or withhold it.
Withholding is particularly useful for professional invoices, where the tax is deducted from the payment.
How it works
Adding multiplies by the factor; removing divides by it; withholding subtracts the percentage from the amount instead of adding it.
In all three cases the base, the tax and the final result are shown.
Formula
Add: total = amount × (1 + t/100)
Remove: base = amount / (1 + t/100)
Withhold: total = amount − amount × t/100
Worked example
£2,500 at 15%:
Add → £2,875
Remove → base of £2,173.91
Withhold → you receive £2,125
Explanation
Removing and withholding are different operations
Removing an included tax means undoing a multiplication: you divide. Withholding means subtracting a percentage from an amount you already know: it is a straight subtraction. Both can appear on a professional's invoice at once, and confusing them throws out the total payable.
Withholding is not an expense
It is an advance payment of income tax that the payer remits on your behalf. It appears on the invoice as a deduction from what you receive, but it is not money lost: it is credited later in your annual return. People who do not understand this believe they are being paid less than agreed.
Net amount, indirect tax and withholding
Indirect tax is added to the net amount and withholding is subtracted from the net amount, not from the total. Both are calculated on the same figure but pull in opposite directions, and that is where most people go wrong on their first invoice.
Percentages above a hundred
They make sense for increases, not discounts. A product can rise by a hundred and fifty per cent, but cannot be discounted by a hundred and twenty: the price would go negative.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between removing and withholding?
Removing assumes the tax is already inside the amount. Withholding deducts the percentage from the payment, as in professional withholding tax.
Can I use rates above 100%?
In add mode yes, though it is unusual. In the other modes the result would stop making economic sense.
Is withholding a tax I lose?
No. It is an advance of your income tax that the payer remits for you, and it is credited against what you owe in your annual return.
What amount is withholding calculated on?
On the net amount, the same as indirect tax, but subtracting instead of adding.
Need to calculate something else?
These tools are often used alongside this calculator.
VAT
Add VAT or sales tax to a net amount at whatever rate you need.
VAT included
Break a tax-inclusive price down into the net amount and the tax.
Percentage
The four most common percentage calculations in a single tool.
Discount
Final price after a discount and exactly how much you save.
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