Gulf VAT calculator
Add VAT to a net amount, or back it out of a total that already includes it, at Saudi, UAE, Bahraini, Omani or any custom rate.
Everything on this page runs in your browser. Nothing you paste or type is uploaded, logged or stored — an invoice QR carries a seller's VAT number, totals and signature, and that belongs to you.
Removing VAT is where it goes wrong
Adding VAT is simple arithmetic. Backing it out of a gross figure is where the common error lives: at 15%, the tax inside a 1,150 total is not 15% of 1,150. The total is 115% of the net, so you divide by 1.15 to get the net of 1,000 and a tax of 150.
Taking 15% of the gross instead gives 172.50 — an overstatement of 22.50 on a single small invoice, and a reconciliation that will never agree across a period of them.
Rates differ across the Gulf
The standard rate is 15% in Saudi Arabia, 10% in Bahrain, and 5% in the UAE and Oman. Qatar and Kuwait have not introduced a general VAT. If you trade across the region, the rate belongs to the transaction rather than to your system settings.
Rates also change — Bahrain doubled its standard rate — so a document should keep the rate that applied when it was issued, which is why a credit note against an old invoice must carry the old rate.
Common questions
Are the amounts I type sent to your servers?
No. The whole calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded, logged or stored. Your figures never leave the machine you are working on, which is why the page carries no form that submits anything.
How do I take VAT out of a total that already includes it?
You divide, you do not take a percentage. At 15% the total is 115% of the net, so a 1,150 total divided by 1.15 gives a net of 1,000 and a tax of 150. Taking 15% of the gross instead gives 172.50 — an overstatement of 22.50 on a single small invoice, and a reconciliation that will never agree across a period of them.
Which VAT rates does the calculator offer?
The standard rate is 15% in Saudi Arabia, 10% in Bahrain, and 5% in the UAE and Oman, and all of those are in the list along with 0%. Qatar and Kuwait have not introduced a general VAT. If you trade across the region, the rate belongs to the transaction rather than to your system settings.
Which rate applies to a credit note against an old invoice?
The rate that applied when the original invoice was issued. Rates change — Bahrain doubled its standard rate — so a document should keep the rate that was in force on its own date, and a credit note that adopts today's rate instead will not agree with the invoice it corrects.
Can I use a rate that is not in the list?
Yes. Choosing the custom option lets you enter any rate, which is what you need for a market outside the Gulf or for a historic rate you are checking an old document against. The arithmetic is the same in both directions: adding to a net amount, or backing the tax out of a total.