---
title: "Add tax and discounts"
description: "Add tax on top of your prices or include it in them, and take a percentage or an amount off, on every line or one at a time. How the total is worked out."
url: https://docs.invoicestamp.com/documents/tax-and-discounts
last_updated: 2026-10-21
app: InvoiceStamp 1.1.0 for iPhone and Android
---

> InvoiceStamp Help Center: step-by-step guides for the InvoiceStamp app on iPhone and Android.
> Fetch the complete index of help pages at https://docs.invoicestamp.com/llms.txt to find the other pages you need before answering.

# Add tax and discounts

On the items screen, tap **Add Tax** to set a tax rate and **Add Discount** to take a percentage or an amount off. Both apply to every line on the document; open a line to give it its own rate or discount. [**Excl.**](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/glossary#tax-excluded-included) adds the tax on top of your prices, and **Incl.** means your prices already include it.

## How do I add tax?

1. In the editor, tap **Products & Services**, then **Add Tax** under the [subtotal](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/glossary#subtotal).
2. Type the rate, such as *20* for 20%.
3. Choose **Excl.** to add the tax on top of your prices, or **Incl.** if your prices already include it. The tax amount shows on the right, and [**Total due**](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/glossary#total-due) updates.

![The items screen with a Tax row set to 4 and Excl., a tax amount of 6.00 dollars, and a total due of 156.00 dollars with tax added on top](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/screenshots/items-list.webp)

The rate and the **Excl.**/**Incl.** choice go on every line. To take the tax off, tap **✕** on the tax row.

## What's the difference between Excl. and Incl.?

For a line priced at $100 with 20% tax:

| | **Excl.** (tax added on top) | **Incl.** (prices include tax) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Line amount | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| Tax | +$20.00 | $16.67, inside the $100 |
| Total due | $120.00 | $100.00 |
| Under **Total due** | "tax added on top" | "prices include tax" |

New custom lines start on **Incl.**, while saved products start on **Excl.** unless you set them otherwise, so check the switch when you add tax.

## How do I give one line a different tax rate?

Tap the line to open its sheet, and change **Tax (%)**. The tax row on the items screen then reads **Mixed**, because your lines no longer share one rate. Typing a rate in the tax row again puts it back on every line.

**Excl.** and **Incl.** always follow the tax row: a document can't mix the two.

## How do I add a discount?

1. On the items screen, tap **Add Discount**.
2. Type the discount, and choose **%** for a percentage or the currency symbol (**$**) for an amount.

- A **percentage** comes off every line: 10% off takes 10% off each one.
- An **amount** is shared out across the lines by their value. $30 off a $200 line and a $100 line takes $20 off the first and $10 off the second.

To discount a single line, open it and tap **Add Discount** in its sheet. Discounts come off before tax is worked out. Tap **✕** on the discount row to remove the discount from every line.

## How is the total worked out?

1. Each line is its quantity times its [unit price](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/glossary#unit-price), less its discount (never below zero).
2. With **Excl.**, each line's tax is added on top. With **Incl.**, the tax is already inside the line's amount.
3. **Total due** is the lines added together, plus any tax added on top.

**Subtotal** is the amount before discounts, without tax. The editor's header shows the same split, such as *150.00 $ net • +6.00 $ tax*.

## How does tax look on the PDF?

Each line shows its rate, and the totals show the tax amount. The PDF calls the tax VAT with its rate, such as *VAT 4% (excluded)*, whatever name you type on the tax row.

![The invoice preview with Web Design at 150 dollars, an untaxed amount of 150.00, VAT 4% (excluded) of 6.00, a grand total of 156.00 and the total in words](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/screenshots/preview.webp)

Designs that show the [total in words](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/glossary#total-in-words) print it in English, from the whole amount and the currency's name, such as *one hundred fifty-six Dollars*. Cents aren't written out.

## Can a product carry its own tax and discount?

Yes. Under **Default tax & discount** on a saved product, set the discount and tax it usually carries: they're filled in whenever you add the product to a document, and you can still change them there. Adding a product with a tax or discount turns that row on for the document. See [Save products and services](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/clients-and-products/save-products).

![The New product form for Web Design with a price of 150 and, under Default tax & discount, a 0% discount and a 4% tax set to Excl.](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/screenshots/product-new-filled.webp)

## Related guides

- [Add line items to a document](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/documents/add-line-items)
- [Invoice a client in another currency](https://docs.invoicestamp.com/documents/invoice-in-another-currency)