Spain IVA (VAT) Calculator: Add or Remove IVA

IVA (Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido, Spain's value-added tax or VAT) is an indirect tax added to the price of most goods and services sold in Spain. The final consumer pays it as part of the price, but it is the company or professional who sells that pays it over to Hacienda (the Spanish tax authority): that is why an invoice shows three different figures, the taxable base (the price without tax), the IVA amount (the tax) and the total that is charged.

This calculator does in one click the two operations that come up most often: adding IVA to a price without tax and removing IVA from a price that already includes it. The result always shows the three figures.

In the territory where IVA applies there are three rates. The values in the table are those published by the Agencia Tributaria (the Spanish tax agency) and the ones the calculator uses:

• General rate (21 %): applies by default to transactions that do not have a special rate.
• Reduced rate (10 %): applies to the transactions that the law expressly places in that category.
• Super-reduced rate (4 %): it is the lowest and is reserved for the transactions that the law mentions specifically.

Which rate applies to each product or service is set by the law, not by the calculator. Before issuing or paying an invoice, confirm on the Agencia Tributaria website or with your tax adviser (gestoría) which rate applies to your specific case.

To go from the taxable base to the total, multiply the base by the percentage and add the result:

cuota = base × tipo / 100  ·  total = base + cuota

With a base of 100,00 € and 21 % IVA, the tax amount (cuota) is 21,00 € and the total is 121,00 €. With a base of 59,99 € and the reduced rate of 10 %, the exact tax amount is 5,999 € and it is rounded to 6,00 €, so the total is 65,99 €. Rounding to two decimals is done on the tax amount, which is how it appears on an invoice.

If you have the final price and want to know how much of it is IVA, divide the total by one plus the percentage in decimal form and subtract:

base = total / (1 + tipo / 100)  ·  cuota = total − base

A common mistake: subtracting the percentage directly from the total (for example, taking 21 % off 121 €) gives a wrong result, because IVA is calculated on the base and not on the total. With a total of 121,00 € and 21 % IVA, the base is 100,00 € and the tax amount is 21,00 €. With a total of 1.000,00 € and the reduced rate of 10 %, the base is 909,09 € and the tax amount is 90,91 €.

These five cases are calculated by the tool itself, so you can reproduce them in the form:

In the last case, a base of 250,00 € with the super-reduced rate of 4 % gives a tax amount of 10,00 € and a total of 260,00 €.

An invoice must clearly separate the taxable base, the rate applied and the tax amount. If one invoice includes transactions with different rates, one base and one tax amount are itemised for each rate. When the customer is another professional or company, the IVA they pay (IVA soportado, input IVA) can be deducted from the IVA they charge their own customers (IVA repercutido, output IVA); the final consumer is not allowed that deduction.

If you work as a self-employed person (autónomo), keep in mind that the IVA you charge is not your income: it is money you must pay over to Hacienda on the dates of each quarter. What does form part of your income is the taxable base, which is also subject to IRPF; you can estimate that tax with the Spain IRPF and tax return calculator.

• To issue an invoice: copy the base, the rate, the tax amount and the total as they appear and check that the total matches what you agreed with the customer.
• To compare prices: remove the IVA from the prices that include it and always compare taxable bases with taxable bases.
• If you are an employee: IVA does not appear on your payslip; work out your salary with the Spain net salary calculator.
• If you are going to finance a large purchase: remember that the price of a home or a car may include IVA; simulate the instalment with the mortgage calculator with Euribor using the amount you will actually finance.
• If you are unsure about the rate: ask the Agencia Tributaria or your tax adviser before issuing the invoice; a wrongly applied rate forces you to correct the invoice.

• It only applies the IVA rates 21 %, 10 % and 4 %. It does not cover the IGIC of the Canary Islands or the IPSI of Ceuta and Melilla, which have their own rates.
• It does not take into account exemptions, the equivalence surcharge (recargo de equivalencia), the special agriculture regime or transactions with other countries.
• It rounds to two decimals, as an invoice does; with very large amounts or many lines, rounding line by line may differ by a few cents from rounding the total.
• It is an indicative tool and does not replace professional advice. Everything is calculated in your browser and no data is sent.

• Agencia Tributaria: IVA tax rates

Informational content, not legal, accounting or financial advice. Always confirm with the official sources.