VAT receipt
- The VAT on it
- £20
- Net, the figure before VAT
- £100
- Gross, the total paid
- £120
- If this is a purchase: box 7, net value of purchases
- £100
Every figure on this page is computed from the figures you enter, by the method stated beside it. Vatnix supplies the rates and thresholds and cites all of them: the standard rate of 20%, the reduced rate of 5% and the zero rate from GOV.UK's VAT rates guide, and the £90,000 registration threshold, the £88,000 deregistration threshold and the one-calendar-month-and-7-days return deadline from GOV.UK's register for VAT and VAT returns guides. The defaults are a worked example, not advice about your own supplies.
The figures above start from a worked example (£20). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the VAT receipt worked example (CSV)
A VAT receipt shows one number more often than three, and which number it is decides the arithmetic. If the figure already includes VAT, the VAT is not 20% of it: on a £120.00 standard-rated total the VAT is £20.00, which is one sixth of the total and 20% of the £100.00 net underneath. This tool takes whichever figure you have, at 20%, 5% or zero, and gives back the net, the VAT and the gross, plus the box of the VAT return each total belongs in. The rates are GOV.UK's and are cited under the tool.
The commonest mistake on a VAT receipt is a fifth instead of a sixth
VAT is charged on the net, not on the total. £100.00 net at the 20% standard rate becomes £120.00 gross, so the £20.00 of VAT is a fifth of the net and a sixth of the total. Take 20% of the £120.00 printed on the receipt and you get £24.00, which is £4.00 too much on every line you copy. The worked example above is exactly that receipt: £120.00 in, £100.00 net and £20.00 VAT out. At the 5% reduced rate the VAT is 1/21 of the gross rather than 1/6.
Which rate applies is a question about the supply, not about the tool
GOV.UK's VAT rates guide sets three: the standard rate of 20% for most goods and services, a reduced rate of 5% for some: children's car seats and home energy among them: and a zero rate of 0% for zero-rated goods and services such as most food and children's clothes. Exempt is a fourth thing and is not a rate: an exempt supply carries no VAT and, unlike a zero-rated one, does not let you reclaim the VAT on what you bought to make it. The tool does the arithmetic once you have decided which of the three applies; deciding is the part a calculator cannot do for you.
The split is the return: two boxes per receipt
Every receipt you put through here lands in two boxes rather than one. A purchase puts its net into box 7, the total value of purchases excluding VAT, and the VAT you may reclaim into box 4. A sale puts its net into box 6 and the VAT you charged into box 1. Keeping the two apart as you go is what makes a quarter a total rather than a reconstruction: the £120.00 example contributes £100.00 to box 7 and £20.00 to box 4 if you bought it, and £100.00 to box 6 and £20.00 to box 1 if you sold it.
VAT receipt: common questions
Why is the VAT on a VAT-inclusive figure one sixth and not one fifth?
Because 20% is charged on the net, not on the total. A £100.00 net becomes £120.00 gross, so the £20.00 of VAT is 20% of the net and 1/6 of the gross. Taking 20% of £120.00 gives £24.00, which is the commonest VAT mistake on a receipt. At the 5% reduced rate the VAT fraction of the gross is 1/21.
Which box of the return does a receipt go in?
A purchase splits two ways: the net goes into box 7 (total value of purchases excluding VAT) and the VAT you may reclaim goes into box 4. A sale splits the same way: the net into box 6 and the VAT you charged into box 1. The tool prints both totals so you are copying figures rather than deriving them at the end of the quarter.
What has to be on a receipt for me to reclaim the VAT?
A valid VAT invoice, which shows the supplier's VAT registration number: a 9-digit number that must appear on every invoice they raise (GOV.UK, register for VAT): the date, what was supplied, the net, the rate and the VAT. A simplified invoice is allowed for smaller retail sales. A card slip with no VAT number on it is not enough, and VAT records have to be kept for 6 years.
Vatnix Pro
Keeping what you work out
The calculators and their answers are free forever. Pro turns them into your VAT record: every quarter kept with the figures behind each box, sales and purchases held as the digital records Making Tax Digital asks for, the rolling twelve-month turnover tracked against the threshold, and the lot exportable for whoever actually submits the return.
- Save a quarter's figures and reopen them
- Compare two quarters side by side
- Print the VAT summary under your own name
- Email the quarter's summary to your accountant
- Connect your own Stripe account
- Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero
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Cite or embed this figure
VAT receipt (The VAT on it): £20, Vatnix, worked example.
Cite as: "VAT receipt, Vatnix", updated 2026-09-05, https://vatnix.com/tools/vat-receipt/.