South Africa's VAT has stayed at 15% through an increase that was announced and then reversed, and that is the rate the calculator above uses.
The increase that did not happen
The rate very nearly moved twice. The 2025 Budget set out a rise to 15.5% from 1 May 2025 and to 16% from 1 April 2026; a Bill introduced on 24 April 2025 then proposed maintaining the rate where it was, and SARS welcomed a court order settling the matter later that month.
The reversal came late in the sequence. SARS's own notices run from the Budget announcement in March 2025 through the Bill in April to the court order at the end of that month, so a system configured in between was configured against a rate that never took effect.
Thresholds more than doubled in 2026
Budget 2026 raised both registration thresholds sharply. From 1 April 2026 compulsory registration applies where the total value of taxable supplies exceeds R2.3 million a year, up from R1 million, and voluntary registration where it exceeds R120,000 a year, up from R50,000.
SARS is administering new applications on the increased figures from that date even though the amendments have not yet been promulgated. Vendors now below the compulsory threshold may apply to deregister, and once the legislation passes SARS will notify those below the voluntary threshold that it intends to cancel their registration.
SARS sets out what leaving costs: the deemed exit VAT payable on deregistration, customers who prefer to trade with registered vendors, and the input tax claims you give up. As a monthly rule of thumb it puts taxable supplies above R191,667 a month at the point where you are likely to stay liable.
How the tax works here
VAT is non-cumulative. A vendor deducts the input tax charged to it from the output tax it collected and pays the difference, or claims a refund where the input tax is the larger. It is also payable on the importation of goods and on imported services.
Under limited circumstances a vendor may also claim a deduction, known as notional input tax, on a supply made to it by a business that is not registered for VAT at all.
South Africa: common questions
What is the VAT rate in South Africa?
15%. Budget 2025 set out increases to 15.5% and then 16%, but a Bill introduced on 24 April 2025 proposed keeping the rate where it was and a court order settled the matter that month.
What are the South African VAT registration thresholds?
From 1 April 2026 compulsory registration applies above R2.3 million of taxable supplies a year, raised from R1 million, and voluntary registration above R120,000, raised from R50,000.
Should I deregister now that the threshold has risen?
Weigh it rather than assume it. SARS points to the deemed exit VAT that falls due, to customers who prefer registered vendors, and to input tax you could no longer claim, and puts its rule of thumb at taxable supplies above R191,667 a month.
Figures on this page are from the South African Revenue Service. Rules change, so check the source before relying on one. Calculator for every other country.
How to add GST or VAT to a price
If you have a price that does not yet include tax, multiply it by one plus the rate. At a 10% rate that means multiplying by 1.1; at 20%, by 1.2.
Total = price × (1 + rate)
So a $200 service at 10% GST becomes $220, of which $20 is tax. The tax itself is the price multiplied by the rate.
How to remove GST or VAT from a total
Work backwards by dividing. The rate went onto the smaller number, so taking the same percentage off the larger one comes up short.
Price before tax = total ÷ (1 + rate)
Tax = total − price before tax
A $110 invoice at 10% GST breaks down to $100 plus $10 of tax. Subtracting 10% of $110 would have given you $99, which is wrong by a dollar, and the error grows with the amount.
Why the tax is never the full rate of the total
A 10% rate adds 10% to the price, but that tax is then only about 9.09% of the resulting total, because the total got bigger. The bar at the top of this page shows that gap. The higher the rate, the wider it gets: at 20% VAT, the tax is one sixth of the total, or 16.67%.
Shortcuts worth memorising
At certain rates the tax inside a total is a clean fraction, which makes mental checks easy.
| Rate | Tax inside a total | Tax as % of total |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | total ÷ 21 | 4.76% |
| 10% | total ÷ 11 | 9.09% |
| 15% | total × 3 ÷ 23 | 13.04% |
| 20% | total ÷ 6 | 16.67% |
| 25% | total ÷ 5 | 20.00% |
Standard rates around the world
The rates below are standard rates, the ones that apply to most goods and services. Many countries also run reduced rates for essentials such as food, books, medicine and transport, so check which band your transaction falls into before relying on a figure.
| Country | Tax | Standard rate |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | VAT | 20% |
| Belgium | VAT | 21% |
| Bulgaria | VAT | 20% |
| Croatia | VAT | 25% |
| Cyprus | VAT | 19% |
| Czech Republic | VAT | 21% |
| Denmark | VAT | 25% |
| Estonia | VAT | 24% |
| Finland | VAT | 25.5% |
| France | VAT | 20% |
| Germany | VAT | 19% |
| Greece | VAT | 24% |
| Hungary | VAT | 27% |
| Ireland | VAT | 23% |
| Italy | VAT | 22% |
| Latvia | VAT | 21% |
| Lithuania | VAT | 21% |
| Luxembourg | VAT | 17% |
| Malta | VAT | 18% |
| Netherlands | VAT | 21% |
| Poland | VAT | 23% |
| Portugal | VAT | 23% |
| Romania | VAT | 21% |
| Slovakia | VAT | 23% |
| Slovenia | VAT | 22% |
| Spain | VAT | 21% |
| Sweden | VAT | 25% |
| Iceland | VAT | 24% |
| Norway | VAT | 25% |
| Russia | VAT | 22% |
| Serbia | VAT | 20% |
| Switzerland | VAT | 8.1% |
| Turkey | VAT | 20% |
| Ukraine | VAT | 20% |
| United Kingdom | VAT | 20% |
| Argentina | VAT | 21% |
| Brazil | ICMS | 17% |
| Canada | GST | 5% |
| Chile | VAT | 19% |
| Colombia | VAT | 19% |
| Mexico | VAT | 16% |
| Peru | VAT | 18% |
| Australia | GST | 10% |
| China | VAT | 13% |
| India | GST | 18% |
| Indonesia | VAT | 11% |
| Japan | Consumption tax | 10% |
| Malaysia | SST | 10% |
| New Zealand | GST | 15% |
| Philippines | VAT | 12% |
| Singapore | GST | 9% |
| South Korea | VAT | 10% |
| Thailand | VAT | 7% |
| Vietnam | VAT | 10% |
| Egypt | VAT | 14% |
| Israel | VAT | 18% |
| Nigeria | VAT | 7.5% |
| Saudi Arabia | VAT | 15% |
| South Africa | VAT | 15% |
| United Arab Emirates | VAT | 5% |
Rates last reviewed September 2026. Governments change them at short notice, so confirm against your own tax authority before you file anything.
Country guides
Each guide keeps this calculator and adds what the country's own revenue authority says about the tax: which rate applies to what, when registering stops being optional, and what falls outside the rate altogether.
Common questions
What is the difference between GST and VAT?
Very little, mechanically. Both are consumption taxes charged at each stage of supply, with businesses claiming back the tax they paid on inputs so that only the final consumer carries the cost. The name is regional: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India and Canada say GST, most of Europe and much of the world says VAT, Japan says consumption tax. The arithmetic on this page is identical either way.
How do I work out the GST included in a total?
Divide the total by one plus the rate to get the price before tax, then subtract that from the total. At a 10% rate there is a faster route: divide the total by 11. Switch this calculator to "includes tax" and it does either for you.
Why doesn't the tax equal 10% of my total?
Because the 10% was added to the smaller number. Ten per cent of $100 is $10, and that $10 is only 9.09% of the $110 total. Any time you work backwards from a tax-inclusive figure, you divide rather than subtract a percentage.
Which rate should I use?
Pick your country above and the standard rate fills in. Many countries tax food, books or transport in a lower band; if your supply sits in one of those, type that rate into the box instead. Where a supply is zero-rated or exempt, no tax applies at all, though the two differ for reclaim purposes.
How should rounding be handled on an invoice?
This page rounds to the nearest cent and always keeps the three figures consistent, so the base and the tax add exactly to the total. Accounting systems and tax authorities vary on whether rounding happens per line or per invoice, which can shift a total by a cent. If you are reconciling against a system that disagrees, that is usually the reason.
Is this a salary calculator?
No. This one handles sales tax, where net is the price before tax and gross is the price after it. Payroll uses the same two words the other way round: there, gross is your pay before deductions and net is what actually reaches your account. If you are converting a salary, you want a take-home pay calculator for your country, not this page.
Does this send my numbers anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged or stored beyond your last-used country and rate, which stay on your own device.