Calculate profit margin, markup, and VAT-inclusive pricing from cost price. Supports forward and reverse calculations with margin comparison tables.
Pricing products and services requires understanding the interplay between cost, margin, markup, and VAT (Value Added Tax). Margin and markup are often confused — margin is profit as a percentage of selling price, while markup is profit as a percentage of cost. When VAT is added on top, the final consumer price can be significantly higher than the ex-VAT selling price.
For businesses operating in VAT jurisdictions (EU, UK, Australia, India GST, and many others), correctly separating VAT from profit calculations is essential for pricing strategy, tax compliance, and profitability analysis. VAT is collected from the consumer but must be remitted to the tax authority — it's revenue that isn't profit.
This calculator handles both forward calculations (cost + desired margin → selling price with VAT) and reverse calculations (final price → extracted VAT and profit). It provides a margin comparison table to help optimize pricing at different margin levels.
Margin, markup, and VAT answer different questions, so mixing them together is one of the fastest ways to misprice a product. This calculator keeps those pieces separate, showing the pre-tax selling price, the VAT amount, and the actual profit so you can test whether a target margin still works after tax is added for the customer.
Forward: Selling Price (ex-VAT) = Cost ÷ (1 − Margin%) VAT Amount = Selling Price × VAT Rate Selling Price (inc-VAT) = Selling Price + VAT Markup% = (Profit ÷ Cost) × 100 Margin% = (Profit ÷ Selling Price) × 100
Result: $171.43 inc. VAT
Cost $100 at 30% margin: Selling price = $100 ÷ 0.70 = $142.86 (ex-VAT). Plus 20% VAT = $28.57. Final price = $171.43. Profit = $42.86, markup = 42.86%.
Margin tells you how much of the selling price becomes profit, while markup tells you how much you added on top of cost. VAT is neither profit nor markup because it is collected for the tax authority. Keeping those figures separate helps you avoid setting a price that looks profitable on paper but leaves less margin than expected after tax is removed.
Use forward mode when you know your cost and target margin and want to build the correct VAT-inclusive selling price. Use reverse mode when the final shelf price is already fixed and you need to back out the VAT portion and see what profit remains after tax.
The two common mistakes are calculating margin from cost instead of selling price and treating VAT-inclusive revenue as if it were fully yours. Check both the ex-VAT selling price and the displayed markup before finalizing a quote or invoice.
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In forward mode, this worksheet starts from cost price and desired margin, solves for the ex-VAT selling price, adds VAT at the selected rate, and then reports profit, markup, and VAT-inclusive customer price. In reverse mode, it starts from a VAT-inclusive selling price, removes VAT, and then shows the ex-VAT revenue, profit, margin, and markup on the entered cost base.
The page treats VAT as a pass-through tax rather than profit. It is intended to validate pricing arithmetic, not to determine whether a product qualifies for a reduced rate, whether input-tax recovery is allowed, or which jurisdiction-specific invoicing rules apply to the transaction.
Margin is profit ÷ selling price (e.g., $30 profit on $100 sale = 30% margin). Markup is profit ÷ cost (e.g., $30 profit on $70 cost = 42.9% markup). Same dollar profit, different percentages.
To extract VAT: VAT Amount = Price ÷ (1 + VAT Rate) × VAT Rate. For example, $120 with 20% VAT: VAT = $120 ÷ 1.20 × 0.20 = $20. Ex-VAT price = $100.
Standard VAT rates: UK 20%, EU varies (19-27%), Australia GST 10%, India GST 5-28%, Canada GST/HST 5-15%. Some goods have reduced or zero rates.
No — VAT is collected from customers and paid to the government. Your profit margin should be calculated on ex-VAT prices. VAT is a pass-through, not a cost to your business.
It varies by industry: retail 2-5%, SaaS 70-80%, restaurants 3-9%, professional services 15-40%. Compare to industry benchmarks rather than absolute numbers.
Margin = Markup ÷ (1 + Markup). For example, 50% markup = 0.50 ÷ 1.50 = 33.3% margin. Conversely, Markup = Margin ÷ (1 − Margin).