Calculate VAT: Calculator (Free) For Your Site

Okay, so VAT – otherwise known as the UK's Value Added Tax – isn’t the most thrilling subject in the world. But there are times when you need to be able to work outthis.

Now you can work out VAT on your own if you really want to. But why take the long route when you can go to http://www.vatcalculator.com/vat-calculator/ and use the ready made and easy to use tool that’s been created for you?

Let’s take a closer look to see how this would be of use to you.

How can I use this VAT calculator?

There are two ways you can make use of this calculator. Firstly you can use it yourself as it appears on the page.

Secondly, do you have a website or a blog that might benefit from having a VAT calculator on it? If you do, then you can share the calculator with your readers. You could dedicate a page of your website to the calculator, or perhaps add a blog post that tells readers how they can use it.

And if you have more than one blog or website that is involved with the subject of finance, VAT or business in some way, you’ll be able to use it in more than one place too. Wouldn’t it be great to provide an extra service to your readers that they would normally have to go elsewhere to find? If you do that, you’ll keep them on your site for longer!

So how does it work?

Okay, let’s take a look at how the VAT calculator makes life so much easier for you. It can work out sums for you regardless of whether you already know the amount of VAT or not, which makes it doubly valuable if you are doing accounts for your own business.

The first thing you’ll notice is that little drop down box at the top of the calculator.

If you click on the down arrow you will see that you have more than one choice of VAT rate to go for. At the moment – and until 1^st January 2010 – the standard rate is pegged at 15%, so this is what will appear as standard when you access the page.

You can still change it to 17.5% though, and the reduced rate of VAT (currently 5%) can also be selected. Obviously, for the calculation to be correct you need to make sure you select the right amount, depending on what goods you are working out your sums for.

Now let’s suppose you have the net amount, and you want to work out how much VAT you should add to it. This could occur if you are selling something and you are registered for value added tax, for example.

All you need to do in this case is enter the net amount in the input amount box.

Once that is done, just make sure the tick box below it ISN’T filled in. If you tick it you’ll get the wrong amount.

All you need to do then is click on the calculate button to get your answer. In the example shown below the input amount is shown as £100, so you can easily work out what 15% VAT would be on that.

The VAT amount is shown separately from the total, so you’ll have all the figures you need to make life easy for yourself.

Now what do you do if you have the total figure, and you want to work out how much of that is VAT?

Well much of the process is exactly the same. You make sure the rate of VAT is correct and then you enter the total amount you have to hand. Only this time, you make sure that little box is ticked, just like it appears in the picture below:

This will ensure that the amount of VAT – as well as the net amount you are after – appears correctly. And that is all there is to it! It’s so easy to use that you can go through a lot of calculations in super fast time, without having to clear all the boxes before you do it.

So long as you type the correct starting amount in the box before you begin, and ensure that the ‘inclusive of VAT’ box is either ticked or not (depending on what you want to work out), you can speed through your figures very quickly indeed.

How can I install it on my own website/blog?

This is just as easy as using the VAT calculator itself. Let’s see how it works.

To the right hand side of the calculator you’ll see a short set of simple instructions on how to add it to your website or blog. But all you actually need to do is copy and paste the text that appears on the page. This is shown in the following screenshot:

This is the only piece of code you will need to give your visitors the chance to use the VAT calculator too. All you have to decide is where you want to put it. For example, if you have a blog you might want to incorporate it into a blog post when you first announce the new addition to your site. But it would also work well on a separate page that can be easily accessed from the blogroll.

Creating a page purely for the VAT calculator would work well on your website too. And if you can link to it in the text of some pages and articles elsewhere on your site, that’s even better.

So there you have it – a VAT calculator that makes life easy for you when it comes to doing your accounts. It doesn’t matter why you need it or how often you use it; all that matters is that it works and it is easy to use over and over again.

Couldn’t your website visitors do with a useful tool like this too?

by Julie-Ann Amos, professional writer, and owner of international writing agency www.ExquisiteWriting.com

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