What VAT rate applies to this?
Most things are 20%, but food, children's clothes, books and new homes are often 0%, and some things are exempt. 0% and exempt both mean no VAT on the sale, but only 0% lets you claim back the VAT on your costs.
Your answer
Choose what you're selling to see its VAT rate.
About this calculator
For VAT-registered businesses, and anyone pricing a job, who want to know which VAT rate applies to what they sell: 20%, 5%, 0% or exempt.
It's a guide to the usual rate. Each relief has conditions (sizes, ages, who's selling, whether you fit it), so we name the HMRC notice to read and the mistake people most often make.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
We look up the rate for the category you choose on HMRC's list of VAT rates on different goods and services, checked against the notice for that category.
If you enter an amount, we work out the VAT: the amount × the rate if it's before VAT, or the amount × rate ÷ (100 + rate) if it includes VAT (1/6 at 20%, 1/21 at 5%).
We say whether you can claim back VAT on your costs: yes for 20%, 5% and 0% sales, but normally not for exempt ones.
Worked example
Cold takeaway food: 0% (zero-rated), so there's no VAT on £1,000.00, and you can still claim back VAT on your costs.
Cold takeaway food · amount before VAT · you're VAT-registered · one kind of sale, not a mix
| The amount before VAT | £1,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Most cold food taken away to eat elsewhere is 0% (zero-rated), unless it's a type that's always 20%, like crisps, sweets or most drinks. | 0% (zero-rated) |
| VAT | £0.00 |
| Total including VAT | £1,000.00 |
| VAT on your costs for these sales | Can be claimed back |
Based on GOV.UK's VAT rates on different goods and services and the HMRC VAT notice for each category.
Questions people ask
What's the difference between zero-rated and exempt?
Neither has VAT on the sale. A zero-rated (0%) sale is still taxable, so you can claim back the VAT on your costs. An exempt sale isn't, so you normally can't claim it back. If you make both, see partial exemption.
Why is the same sandwich 0% and 20%?
Cold food taken away is usually 0%. Eaten at your tables, or sold hot, it's catering, which is 20% (VAT Notice 709/1).
Is electricity 0% now?
For homes in England, Scotland and Wales, from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. In Northern Ireland, and for gas, it stays 5%.
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