What your carrier will bill, from its own rate card, with volumetric weight and VAT.
Total to pay
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Enter the weight of a parcel and at least one band of the rate card to see the cost.
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Enter the weight of a parcel, its size if your carrier charges by volume, and the bands of your carrier's rate card. The calculator works out the chargeable weight, finds the band, adds the fuel surcharge, other charges and VAT, and shows each step. No carrier's prices are built in: they change during the year and depend on your account, so use the ones on your own rate card. It is kept on this device for next time.
A carrier that uses volumetric weight charges for whichever is greater: the actual weight, packaging included, or the volumetric weight, which reflects how much room the parcel takes up. To get it, multiply the length, width and height in centimetres and divide by the divisor your carrier sets in its terms. If your carrier does not use one, leave the dimensions empty.
Each row is a band: a maximum weight and the price of one parcel in that band. A band 'up to 5 kg' includes 5 kg; at 5.001 kg the next band applies. The rows can be in any order. If your rate card has a price per kilo above the last band, enter it: each kilo or part of a kilo is charged.
The fuel surcharge is a percentage of the rate-card price, at the rate your carrier states for the period. The calculator applies it to the rate-card price only; if your carrier also applies it to extras, its terms will say so. Other charges, such as signature, insurance or a remote-area supplement, are added per parcel.
Delivering somebody else's goods within the UK is standard-rated at 20%, even when the goods themselves are not. Postal services that Royal Mail provides as the universal service provider, at regulated prices, are exempt; similar services from Royal Mail or other operators are not. Your receipt or invoice shows whether VAT was charged, so choose 'Excl. VAT', 'Incl. VAT' or 'No VAT' to match it. This page covers parcels sent within the UK: transporting goods from the UK to a place outside it, or the other way round, is zero-rated where the place of supply is the UK (VAT Notice 744B, paragraph 5.3).
Prices are taken to the penny. The fuel surcharge is rounded to the nearest penny, with halves rounded up, and VAT is worked out once, on the total. From a VAT-inclusive total, the VAT is the total × the VAT fraction, 1/6 at 20% (VAT Notice 700, paragraph 7.3.1), rounded to the nearest penny, which paragraph 17.5.1 allows.
Volumetric weight = length × width × height (in cm) ÷ divisor.
Chargeable weight = the greater of the actual and the volumetric weight.
Cost per parcel = band price (+ extra kilos × price per kilo) + fuel surcharge + other charges.
Total excluding VAT = cost per parcel × number of parcels; VAT = total × 20%; total to pay = total + VAT.
With an example rate card at made-up prices (£4.20 up to 1 kg, £5.10 up to 2 kg, £7.90 up to 5 kg, £11.50 up to 10 kg, £19.00 up to 30 kg), a divisor of 5,000 and an 8% fuel surcharge: volumetric weight = 45 × 35 × 25 ÷ 5,000 = 7.875 kg, more than the actual 3.1 kg, so the 'up to 10 kg' band applies at £11.50. Fuel surcharge = £11.50 × 8% = £0.92, so £12.42 per parcel and £49.68 for all four, excluding VAT. With £9.94 of VAT at 20%, the total to pay is £59.62.
Multiply the parcel's length, width and height in centimetres and divide by your carrier's divisor. With a divisor of 5,000, a 45 × 35 × 25 cm box has a volumetric weight of 7.875 kg. The divisor is set by the carrier: it is in its terms and conditions or your account agreement.
Because a carrier that uses volumetric weight charges the greater of the actual and the volumetric weight: a light but bulky parcel takes up as much room in a van as a heavier one. A smaller box can bring the chargeable weight down into a cheaper band.
Postal services Royal Mail provides as the universal service provider, at regulated prices, are exempt from VAT (Value Added Tax Act 1994, Schedule 9, Group 3; HMRC VAT Notice 700/24, paragraph 1.3). Similar services from Royal Mail outside that remit, and services from other carriers, are standard-rated. Your receipt or invoice shows which applies: choose 'No VAT' if none is charged.
Choose 'Incl. VAT'. The calculator multiplies the total by the VAT fraction, 1/6 at 20% (VAT Notice 700, paragraph 7.3.1), and rounds to the nearest penny. In HMRC's own example, £2.40 including VAT contains £0.40 of VAT, leaving £2.00 net.
Add the next band of your rate card or, if your carrier charges by the kilo above a certain weight, enter that price per extra kilo: each kilo or part of a kilo counts. Without either, the calculator shows no figure rather than inventing one.
No. This calculator gives what the carrier charges you. The delivery charge you make to your customers follows other rules, including for VAT: use the delivery charge calculator for that.
This calculator gives general information, not legal, tax, financial or accounting advice. The prices, divisor and surcharges are your carrier's: check its terms and its invoice.
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