Spain IVA / VAT calculator

The three Spanish IVA rates (peninsula and Balearic Islands)

• Tipo general — 21%: most goods and services. Restaurants, professional services, electronics, alcohol, adult clothing, almost all retail.
• Tipo reducido — 10%: hotel accommodation, passenger transport, restaurants (food only, alcohol excluded), most non-staple food, water bottled for human consumption, eyewear, certain cultural and sporting events.
• Tipo superreducido — 4%: bread, milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables, cereals, books, newspapers, magazines, medicines for human use, certain mobility products.

The general rate increased to 21% in September 2012 as part of the austerity package; before that it had been 18%, and before 2010 it was 16%.

The Canary Islands are different: IGIC

Important for anyone shopping in or selling to the Canary Islands: the Canaries do not use IVA. They have their own indirect tax system called IGIC (Impuesto General Indirecto Canario) with a general rate of 7% and reduced rates of 3% and 0%. The Canary Islands are part of the EU customs territory but outside the EU VAT area. A laptop costing €1,000 net is €1,210 inclusive in Madrid but €1,070 inclusive in Las Palmas — a 13% gap on consumer pricing that has driven decades of cross-Spain shopping arbitrage.

The same exclusion applies to Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish exclaves in North Africa, which run a third system (IPSI). For the VAT calculator on this page, use IGIC mode separately when calculating Canary Islands prices.

The math: add or remove IVA

• Add 21% IVA: gross = net × 1.21
• Remove 21% IVA: net = gross ÷ 1.21
• Add 10% IVA: gross = net × 1.10
• Add 4% IVA: gross = net × 1.04

Worked example: a Spanish e-commerce site shows €121 IVA included. The net price is 121 ÷ 1.21 = €100. The IVA portion is €21. A registered business reclaims that on the next quarterly (Modelo 303) return.

Recargo de equivalencia: the retail simplification

Spanish retail sole-traders (autónomos engaged in retail activities) can opt into "recargo de equivalencia," which adds a small percentage (5.2% at the 21% rate, 1.4% at 10%, 0.5% at 4%) to the wholesale invoice but exempts the retailer from IVA filings. The wholesaler collects the IVA + recargo and remits both to the tax agency. This is the Spanish equivalent of a turnover tax for small retailers and avoids the bookkeeping overhead of quarterly IVA returns for mom-and-pop shops.

Common Spanish IVA edge cases

• Restaurants: Food at 10%, alcohol at 21%. A meal with wine carries a split bill. The 10% rate covers takeaway as well as eat-in.
• Books vs e-books: Both at 4% since June 2018. Spain was the first major EU member to apply the super-reduced rate to e-books, well before the 2020 EU directive.
• Period products: Lowered from 10% to 4% in 2023.
• Energy: Domestic electricity moved from 21% to 10% in 2021 and to 5% in 2022 during the energy crisis; restored to 10% in October 2024 as wholesale prices stabilized.
• Hotels and tourism: 10% IVA on hotel rooms and restaurant meals — a relatively low tourism-VAT compared to the UK's 20% and France's 10–20% mix.

How to use the calculator

Pick 21%, 10% or 4% from the rate selector, enter the amount, choose add-or-remove direction. The calculator returns net, IVA and gross. For Canary Islands prices, use 7% (IGIC) instead of 21%. For mixed-rate baskets, run each line separately and total.