Price with VAT
v1baseivaprecio_finalHow it is worked out
Add VAT to a price and see what the total comes to.
VAT applies to the price before tax: turn the rate into a factor and multiply. At 19 %, the final price is the base multiplied by 1.19. To go the other way — recovering the base from a price that already includes VAT — divide by that same factor.
The expression that runs
base * (1 + iva / 100)The fields arrive with an example filled in: put your own numbers in and run it again. You can also edit the formula to fit your case.
What if the formula were yours?
This calculator is not hand-written: it is an Axioma formula. Open it in the editor to see how it is built, adapt it to your case and create the ones you need.
Step by step, with the numbers from the example
A 19 % rate becomes a factor of 1.19: the base price plus its 19 %, in a single multiplication. On a price of 100,000, the total is 119,000 and the tax is 19,000.
Working with the factor skips the intermediate step of working out the tax and adding it separately, and it is what makes the same calculation work for any rate: 1.05 for 5 %, 1.19 for 19 %.
Going the other way: the base price inside a total that already has tax
When the total is what you know, divide by that same factor: 119,000 over 1.19 gives the base of 100,000. That tells you how much of a price is tax without having to ask.
The common mistake is subtracting 19 % from the total. It does not work: 119,000 minus its 19 % is 96,390, which is not the base of anything. The two percentages are worked out on different amounts, one on the base and the other on a price that already contains it.
Not every product carries the same rate
Rates differ by product and by country, and most tax systems have a standard rate plus reduced ones and exemptions, often covering staple food, health and education. The rate is a fact about the product, not about the arithmetic.
That is why the percentage is a field and not a constant: type the rate that applies and the result follows. The same formula serves any country with its own number.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get the price before tax?
- Divide the total by one plus the rate over a hundred. At 19 %, by 1.19. If you want the tax on its own, subtract that result from the total.
- Why does subtracting 19 % from the total not work?
- Because the 19 % that was added was worked out on the base, while the one you would subtract is worked out on the total, which is larger. On 119,000 that 19 % is 22,610, while the tax inside it was 19,000.
- Is tax applied before or after a discount?
- After: tax applies to what is actually charged, so the price is discounted first and the tax is worked out on the discounted price. The other way round charges tax on money nobody paid.