UK VAT Display Rules for Websites: What You Must Show

UK businesses selling to consumers are required by law to display prices that include VAT. This applies to websites, apps, catalogues, and any other form of price indication in a commercial context. Displaying a price net of VAT — or prominently showing the ex-VAT figure while burying the VAT-inclusive total — is a breach of consumer protection law.

This guide explains the rules, who they apply to, what the exceptions are, and what enforcement looks like.

To check whether your website's pricing display creates consumer protection risk, run a free scan at /uk/en/scan.

The legal basis: CPUTRs and HMRC guidance

Two legal instruments govern price display for UK consumer-facing businesses.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTRs): these implement the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in UK law and remain retained law post-Brexit. Schedule 1 of the CPUTRs lists commercial practices that are always unfair regardless of context. One of these is advertising a price that does not include VAT when the product or service is typically purchased by consumers who cannot reclaim VAT.

More broadly, Regulation 5 CPUTRs prohibits misleading actions — providing false information or presenting information in a way that deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, causing them to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise take. A price that excludes VAT is likely to be misleading because the consumer's actual out-of-pocket cost is the VAT-inclusive figure.

HMRC's Price Indication guidance: HMRC publishes guidance on VAT-inclusive pricing obligations under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 and the Price Indications (Method of Payment) Code. This guidance requires that prices given to consumers are fully inclusive of VAT, and that where VAT is mentioned separately it must be clearly subordinate to the inclusive price.

Together, these instruments mean that a UK website displaying prices excluding VAT to consumers is almost certainly in breach of CPUTRs and HMRC's guidance.

What "VAT-inclusive" requires in practice

The obligation is to include VAT in the displayed price, not merely to mention VAT alongside the price. Common non-compliant patterns include:

"£100 + VAT": the £100 figure is the prominent price; the £120 total is buried. Non-compliant.

"From £83.33 (£100 inc. VAT)": the ex-VAT figure is the headline. Non-compliant.

"£100 (excl. VAT)": the consumer must calculate the actual price. Non-compliant.

"£120 inc. VAT": compliant. The price including VAT is the primary displayed figure.

The HMRC guidance does not require businesses to display the VAT amount separately, or to show a breakdown of the price components. The requirement is simply that the figure the consumer sees first and prominently is the amount they will pay.

For products where the VAT rate is zero (children's clothing, most food, books), the inclusive and exclusive prices are identical, so no issue arises. For standard-rated products (20% VAT) and reduced-rated products (5% VAT), the distinction matters.

Showing prices on product pages vs checkout

The obligation applies to all price indications, including those on product listing pages and category pages. It is not sufficient to show ex-VAT prices on listing pages on the basis that VAT will be added and shown at checkout.

The CMA's guidance on pricing transparency, published in the context of its drip pricing and hidden fees work, specifically addresses the requirement that the price shown first must be the total the consumer will pay for the standard product. Adding VAT at checkout after showing a lower figure on the product page is a form of drip pricing that CPUTRs prohibits.

B2B websites and trade-specific platforms

A website that exclusively serves VAT-registered businesses may display prices excluding VAT, provided:

The website makes clear that it is a trade-only platform.

Access is controlled — for example, by requiring a VAT registration number at registration or login, or by restricting access to accounts that have been verified as businesses.

There is no consumer-facing element (public browsing, consumer checkout).

Websites that have both a public consumer-facing element and a trade element should display inclusive prices in the consumer sections and may offer a VAT-exclusive view only in authenticated trade account areas.

Many B2B software platforms operating a freemium or trial model are caught by this distinction. If any member of the public can view pricing without being verified as a business, the pricing pages are consumer-facing and must show VAT-inclusive figures.

Companies House requirements: a related obligation

UK limited companies are also required to include their registered name, registered number, and registered office address on their website under the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008. For VAT-registered businesses, displaying the VAT registration number on the website is required for invoices under the VAT Regulations 1995 and is strongly recommended on the main website or contact page for consumer trust. It is not strictly required on every page but must appear on VAT invoices. See company website trading disclosures for the full requirements.

Enforcement

Enforcement of CPUTRs price display obligations is primarily the responsibility of local trading standards authorities. The CMA has concurrent enforcement powers and has investigated pricing practices in specific sectors (hotel booking fees, grocery pricing) using its market investigation powers. Under DMCCA 2024, the CMA has direct civil enforcement powers for consumer protection breaches including misleading pricing.

In practice, consumer complaints about misleading pricing rarely result in individual prosecution of a single business for VAT display alone. Enforcement action tends to target systematic or widespread practices, persistent non-compliance after warning, or cases involving significant consumer detriment. However, the legal obligation is clear and there is no minimum harm threshold before a breach occurs.

For a review of your website's pricing, disclosure, and consumer protection practices, run a free scan at /uk/en/scan.