From the published price to the final cost
- Identify the seller: Google, Microsoft or a reseller; its legal entity and billing country.
- Confirm the buyer: business or consumer, address and tax registration shown in the account.
- Check the quote: plan, users, commitment, currency, whether taxes are included or excluded, and validity date.
- Separate cash outlay from net cost: a tax payment may have a different accounting treatment; the calculator does not subtract credits or deductions.
- Document additional costs: currency conversion, fees, withholding, add-ons and migration. The simple model applies the percentage only to licenses.
Location and provider matter
Google maintains tax information by region. Microsoft documents treatment according to the account's address and tax details. Check this information against the tax authority's guidance and your invoice.
Starting points by country
Colombia
DIAN guidance describes conditions for excluding cloud computing services from tax. Calling a product “cloud” is not enough to classify the entire invoice.
Check: service characteristics, invoiced components and evidence supporting the classification (historical guidance; verify the current rules applicable to your contract).Spain
AEAT distinguishes the place of supply of services according to the recipient and the transaction's circumstances. A cross-border business purchase requires checking those rules.
Check: business or individual, recipient establishment and place of supply.Mexico
SAT sets obligations for foreign providers of certain digital services. This source describes the provider's obligations (2024 tax-year information); it does not automatically classify every SaaS license or by itself determine the buyer's tax treatment in 2026.
Check: contracted service, registered provider, issued invoice and current withholding or tax-credit obligations.United Kingdom
HMRC explains the treatment of services received from abroad under B2B rules, including a possible reverse charge. This requires a different analysis from an invoice issued to a consumer.
Check: VAT registration, place of supply and reverse charge where applicable.How to enter taxes in the calculator
An invoice with no tax charged does not establish that the buyer has no obligations. Check with the tax authority whether a reverse charge or self-assessment applies (for example, with AEAT in Spain or HMRC Notice 700 §5.4 in the United Kingdom), even if a foreign provider does not invoice local VAT. If confirmation is missing, keep “Unconfirmed: Base result, tax pending”. Where tax credits, different tax bases or withholding apply, this simple percentage-on-licenses model does not model self-assessment or deduct accounting credits.
If your invoice confirms a single rate on licenses, choose “Apply confirmed percentage” and enter it for each provider. Choose “Confirmed no tax on this invoice” only with evidence. Keep “Unconfirmed: Base result, tax pending” if documentation is missing: you will see a base estimate without a definitive winner after tax.
For regimes involving withholding, local taxes, different tax bases or tax credits, the calculator's figure needs additional reconciliation with your accounting records. Keep the source, date, invoice and scenario assumptions.