Free VAT calculator for South Africa

How to add VAT

Add VAT when you have a VAT-exclusive price, such as your own price before VAT, and need the VAT and the VAT-inclusive total.

1. Multiply the amount excluding VAT by 15% to get the VAT.
2. Add the VAT to the amount to get the total including VAT.
3. Or do both in one step: multiply the amount by 1.15.

Example: R2 400 excluding VAT. R2 400 × 15% = R360 VAT, and R2 400 + R360 = R2 760 including VAT. In one step: R2 400 × 1.15 = R2 760.

The calculator rounds the VAT on each amount to the cent. With several amounts it adds up the rounded lines, as an invoice does, so its total can differ by a cent from VAT worked out on the grand total.

How to remove VAT

Remove VAT when you have a VAT-inclusive price, such as a till slip or a supplier's invoice total, and need the VAT-exclusive amount or the VAT in it. Some calculators call this reverse or backwards VAT.

1. Divide the amount including VAT by 1.15 to get the amount excluding VAT.
2. Subtract that from the amount including VAT to get the VAT.
3. Or find the VAT in one step: multiply the amount including VAT by 15/115.

SARS calls 15/115 the tax fraction: it gives the VAT inside a VAT-inclusive amount (VAT 404 Guide for Vendors).

Example: R2 760 including VAT. R2 760 ÷ 1.15 = R2 400 excluding VAT, and R2 760 − R2 400 = R360 VAT. Check: R2 760 × 15/115 = R360.

So the VAT-inclusive formula is the amount excluding VAT × 1.15, and the VAT-exclusive formula is the amount including VAT ÷ 1.15.

Don't take 15% off the total. R2 760 × 15% = R414, which is R54 too much: the 15% was worked out on R2 400, not on R2 760.

Who must register for VAT?

New thresholds apply from 1 April 2026 (SARS). Some calculators still show the old thresholds.

• Compulsory: over R2.3 million. You must register if your taxable supplies in any 12 months in a row went over R2.3 million or are likely to, or if a written contract means they will in the next 12 months (SARS: Register for VAT). Before 1 April 2026 this was R1 million.
• Voluntary: over R120 000. You may choose to register if your taxable supplies are under R2.3 million but went over R120 000 in the past 12 months, in the circumstances SARS sets out (SARS). Before 1 April 2026 this was R50 000.
• Already registered and under R2.3 million? Your registration isn't cancelled automatically. You can choose to apply to cancel it (SARS Budget 2026 FAQs).

Taxable supplies are the goods and services you charge VAT on, at 15% or at the zero rate (SARS).

VAT on a quote or invoice

Once you're registered, "all prices charged, advertised or quoted by a vendor must include VAT" (VAT 404, important principle 1). The free quote maker adds 15% VAT as its own line under the subtotal, so the total your client sees includes VAT.

A tax invoice has its own rules, in section 20 of the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991. When the price, including VAT, is more than R5 000, you need a full tax invoice. It must show (section 20(4)):

• the words "tax invoice", "VAT invoice" or "invoice"
• your name, address and VAT registration number
• your client's name and address, and their VAT registration number if they're a registered vendor
• an individual serialised number and the date it's issued
• a full and proper description of the goods or services, saying where goods are second-hand
• the quantity or volume
• the value of the supply, the VAT and the total; or the total with either the VAT or a statement that it includes VAT and at what rate

When the price is R5 000 or less, an abridged tax invoice will do: it may leave out your client's details and the quantity, and needs only a description (section 20(5)). Zero-rated supplies always need a full tax invoice. For R50 or less paid in money, you don't need a tax invoice, but you must give your client a document SARS accepts (section 20(6)).