Why these six
Because none of them come out of your practice management system. It knows what you charged. It does not know how much of that was exempt dispensing, what the fee determination for your nation actually is this year, or what a locum costs you once employer National Insurance is added.
Common questions
Are these free, and is anything stored?
Free, no sign-up, and nothing is stored. They run entirely in your browser, so the figures you type never leave your device. There is no email gate in front of any of them, because a calculator you have to pay for with your contact details is an advert rather than a tool. If you would rather not type your own numbers in, the same calculations form part of the free review and we will run them from your actual VAT workings.
How accurate is the VAT apportionment tool?
It shows you the shape of the answer, not a figure to put on a return. Apportionment has to be done on a basis HMRC accepts and evidenced from your own cost structure, and VATHLT2190 sets out how. What the tool does well is show what the exempt dispensing element is plausibly worth, and therefore whether it is worth doing properly — which for most practices it emphatically is. Ask what basis your practice currently uses; if nobody can say, that is the answer.
Where do the fees come from?
Published determinations, cited in the code. England £24.13 from 1 April 2025; Wales WGOS 1 £46.20; Scotland banded from £46.53 for an undilated examination under 60; Northern Ireland £25.52. As at August 2026 there is no published 2026/27 England determination, so £24.13 remains operative — which the calculator states rather than quietly assuming an uplift. If a determination is published and backdated, the tool changes and the difference is yours to claim rather than to discover. Check the operative fee for your nation before you budget, not after.
Which should I use first?
The VAT apportionment calculator, without question. The GOS and locum tools tell you about income and cost; the apportionment tool tells you whether you have been handing HMRC 20% on money that was never standard-rated. For a practice that has never tested its position, that is the single largest number on this website. Everything else on this site is smaller than that one calculation. Run it first, then the others. For a practice that has never tested its apportionment, that single calculation is worth more than everything else on this website combined.