What is the difference between prices excluding and including VAT?
The difference between a VAT-exclusive amount and a VAT-inclusive amount is the VAT charged on the transaction, where a positive rate applies to the taxable amount concerned. The terms do not describe two taxes or two amounts to add together: they describe the same price at two stages of the calculation.
- HTVA (excluding VAT): the amount before value added tax is added, used here as the calculation base.
- VAT: the tax calculated on that amount at the applicable rate.
- TVAC (including VAT): the amount excluding VAT plus VAT. This is the total including that tax.
Example at 21%: €100.00 excluding VAT + €21.00 in VAT = €121.00 including VAT. The €121 already contains the €21 tax: do not add it again.
Do HTVA, tax-exclusive and TTC prices mean the same thing?
In France, the terms most commonly used are prix HT (excluding taxes) and prix TTC (including all taxes). In Belgium, the terms HTVA and TVAC specify that the tax concerned is VAT. In a simple transaction involving only VAT, HTVA corresponds to the price excluding taxes and TVAC to the price including all taxes. If other taxes or charges are involved, the labels are not necessarily interchangeable without checking.
To read an offer correctly, always identify the selling price excluding VAT, the VAT rate, the tax amount and the total payable.
How do you calculate a price excluding or including VAT?
To convert a price, you need to know the VAT rate. The direction of the calculation depends on the starting amount: multiply to add tax and divide to remove it.
From excluding VAT to including VAT: adding the tax
Formula: price including VAT = price excluding VAT × (1 + VAT rate ÷ 100).
At 21%, the multiplier is 1.21. A product sold for €250 excluding VAT therefore gives 250 × 1.21 = €302.50 including VAT, including €52.50 in VAT. To calculate just the tax, use VAT = price excluding VAT × rate ÷ 100.
At 12%, multiply by 1.12; at 6%, by 1.06. Find the detailed explanation in our guide to VAT calculation formulas.
From including VAT to excluding VAT: removing the tax
Formula: price excluding VAT = price including VAT ÷ (1 + VAT rate ÷ 100).
If an invoice shows €242 including VAT at 21%, the amount excluding VAT is 242 ÷ 1.21 = €200. The VAT amount is therefore 242 − 200 = €42. The same principle applies to the other rates, using the corresponding multiplier. Also see our explanation of reverse VAT calculations.
Calculating the VAT contained in a tax-inclusive price directly
If you know the VAT-inclusive price and rate, you can isolate the tax directly: VAT included = price including VAT × rate ÷ (100 + rate).
So, at 21%, 121 × 21 ÷ 121 = €21. The amount excluding VAT is then €100. This formula is useful for quickly checking a receipt or a tax-inclusive price.
Watch out for a common mistake: taking 21% off €121 does not give €100, but €95.59. This is because the 21% applies to the €100 excluding VAT, not to the €121 including VAT. In a final price taxed at 21%, VAT represents approximately 17.36% of the VAT-inclusive amount.
What are the VAT rates and conversion multipliers in Belgium?
The FPS Finance (in French) distinguishes three usual rates in Belgium: 21% (standard), 12% (intermediate) and 6% (reduced). A rate of 0% applies to certain exceptional transactions. Rates are determined by the nature of the transaction and the legal conditions, not by the desired price.
| VAT rate | Multiplier: excluding → including VAT | Price excluding VAT | VAT amount | Price including VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% (exceptional) | 1.00 | €100.00 | €0.00 | €100.00 |
| 6% (reduced) | 1.06 | €100.00 | €6.00 | €106.00 |
| 12% (intermediate) | 1.12 | €100.00 | €12.00 | €112.00 |
| 21% (standard) | 1.21 | €100.00 | €21.00 | €121.00 |
The standard rate of 21% applies to most goods and services that do not fall under a specific provision. Subject to conditions, reduced rates may apply to certain food products, books, restaurant meals or renovation work. Zero rating remains limited to specific categories. The rate rules are federal: they do not change simply because a purchase takes place in Wallonia, Brussels or Flanders.
The calculator converts an amount: it does not choose the rate for you. Before invoicing a sale or service, consult our table of VAT rates in Belgium and check the conditions currently applicable to the product or service concerned.
Which price should you compare on a quotation, invoice or website?
Whether a price excludes or includes VAT has a practical consequence: it determines what the quoted figure represents. Compare amounts calculated on the same basis, with the same services and charges.
Consumer prices: the customer must know the total payable
For a sale to a private individual in Belgium, the FPS Economy (in French) specifies that the price quoted to the consumer must include VAT, other taxes and compulsory charges. An online shop cannot therefore present a VAT-exclusive amount as the final price of an offer aimed at the public.
Example: if a mobile or internet subscription is offered at €30 excluding VAT per month and is subject to 21%, its price including VAT is €36.30 including VAT per month. When comparing two subscriptions, also take account of the compulsory charges and commercial terms of each offer.
Business quotations: comparing on the same basis
Between businesses, a quotation can show a price excluding VAT, the tax and the total including VAT. Consider two identical services: €150 excluding VAT at 21% for the first and €180 including VAT for the second. The first costs €181.50 including VAT: it is €1.50 more expensive for a customer who bears the tax in full.
For a business entitled to deduct input VAT, the economic cost may differ from the initial cash payment. You then need to compare the services and examine the VAT that is actually deductible, rather than assuming that every VAT-inclusive purchase automatically costs the amount excluding VAT. Our guide to deductible input VAT (in French) explains this distinction.
In certain public procurement procedures in Wallonia, bids are compared taking VAT into account when it represents a cost to the contracting authority. The evaluation method depends on the regulatory framework and the procurement documents; see the official Walloon guidance (in French).
Discounts and delivery charges: which amount should you use?
The amount on which VAT is calculated is not always just the list price. An eligible discount may reduce the taxable amount, while certain ancillary charges, particularly transport, may form part of it depending on the conditions of the transaction.
Example at 21%: a product priced at €200 excluding VAT receives a €20 discount, and €10 in delivery charges taxable at the same rate is added. The calculation base becomes €190 excluding VAT (200 − 20 + 10), VAT is €39.90 and the total is €229.90 including VAT. The treatment of discounts and charges must always be checked; our guide to the VAT taxable amount explains it.
Why is the amount including VAT not always enough to find the amount excluding VAT?
A reverse calculation is reliable only if you have identified the rate and the taxable elements concerned. Three situations require an additional check.
The same VAT-inclusive price can conceal different amounts excluding VAT
Take a final price of €121 including VAT. The result changes with the assumed rate:
| Assumed rate | Amount excluding VAT | VAT included | Total including VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6% | €114.15 | €6.85 | €121.00 |
| 12% | €108.04 | €12.96 | €121.00 |
| 21% | €100.00 | €21.00 | €121.00 |
The conclusion: a VAT-inclusive price alone does not reveal the rate applied. Check the invoice, the offer details or the transaction's tax treatment before dividing. Our VAT laboratory (in French) lets you compare several scenarios.
An invoice with several rates cannot be converted in a single division
An invoice can bring together different goods or services. If it contains €100 excluding VAT at 6% and €100 excluding VAT at 21%, its total is €200 excluding VAT + €27 in VAT = €227 including VAT. Dividing €227 by 1.21 would give approximately €187.60: that is not the correct taxable amount.
Calculate the lines or subtotals for each rate, then add them together. See our guide to invoices with several VAT rates.
A one-cent difference may be caused by rounding
For small amounts, rounding each line and then adding them together can produce a different result from rounding on a grouped amount. For example, three lines of €0.03 excluding VAT at 21% give €0.01 in VAT per line after rounding, or €0.03, whereas calculating tax on €0.09 and then rounding gives €0.02.
This does not, by itself, prove that an invoice is wrong: you need to know the calculation convention used and the applicable rules. See the guide to VAT rounding.
Prices excluding and including VAT: how do tax arrangements and input VAT deduction relate?
The terms excluding and including VAT describe amounts, not the seller's or buyer's tax status. In Belgium, the usual VAT mechanism involves tax charged to the customer and, where the conditions are met, deduction of tax borne on certain purchases. In a periodic return, the tax authority distinguishes, among other things, VAT due on sales and deductible input VAT on purchases.
If a purchase costs €121 including VAT, with €21 in VAT, it does not automatically cost the business €100 after deduction: that depends on whether it has a right to deduct and to what extent. The customer may pay €121 to the supplier before any tax recovery.
Another point to understand: a price without VAT charged may arise from a zero rate, the VAT exemption scheme for small businesses, an exemption or a reverse charge. The invoiced amounts may be numerically identical, but their legal consequences are not. A self-employed person using the small business exemption scheme normally does not charge VAT to customers and cannot deduct VAT on purchases. To distinguish these situations, see our comparison of VAT arrangements (in French).
How do you use the CalculTVA.be calculator to add or remove VAT?
Our free VAT calculator lets you convert an amount excluding VAT into a price including VAT, or calculate backwards from a VAT-inclusive total.
- Choose the amount you know: excluding VAT to add tax, or including VAT to remove it.
- Enter the price in euros in the field provided.
- Select the applicable rate: 21%, 12%, 6%, 0% or a custom rate if needed.
- Read the result: the amount excluding VAT, the calculated VAT and the total including VAT are shown separately.
The tool works online on the website, including in a compatible mobile browser. It can help check a quotation, subscription or invoice, but it does not replace an accounting document, a VAT return or an expert's analysis. The user remains responsible for the rate and data entered.