United Kingdom VAT rates 2026 and calculator

A 0% rate also applies to most food, children’s clothing, books and newspapers.

Domestic electricity in Great Britain moved from 5% to 0% on 1 October 2026. Gas stays at 5%, and Northern Ireland stays at 5%.

There is no registration threshold for a business established outside the UK: it registers from its first taxable sale. For goods of £135 or less sent to UK consumers, the seller charges UK VAT at checkout instead of it being collected at import.

At 20%, a price of £100.00 before VAT becomes £120.00, of which £20.00 is VAT.

The other way round, £100.00 including VAT is £83.33 before it — divide by 1.2 rather than taking 20% off, which is the usual mistake.

4 of the 16 non-EU European countries on this site charge more.

Under WooCommerce → Settings → Tax → Standard rates, add a row with the country code GB and a rate of 20, leaving the state and postcode empty. Reduced rates go in their own tax class, each with a GB row, and the products that qualify are assigned to it.

If one product you sell is really two things taxed at different rates — a meal deal with food and drink in it, a gift box with a book — a single tax class cannot be right for it. SplitVAT divides that product's price across the tax classes you already have, so the order shows each part at its own rate. It is our plugin, and you only need it if your products are like that.

Rates checked on 30 October 2026. Two published rate tables were compared, and every rate they disagreed on — or that had changed since either was written — was checked against the tax authority or a tax adviser’s published guidance. Rates and the goods they apply to change; confirm with the national tax authority before you file.

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