# Cost & tax

> The currency every price is reported in, your VAT rate, and whether the figures you see include tax.

Source: https://infranest.io/docs/cost-and-tax
Last updated: 2026-09-19

---

Set the currency, VAT rate, and tax display used for every cost figure in InfraNest — for anyone who manages billing or reviews infrastructure spend.

## Overview

- InfraNest reports what your infrastructure costs across resources, providers, and tags — but it needs to know which currency to convert everything into, what VAT rate to apply, and whether prices shown include tax or not.
- These settings live under **Settings → Cost & tax**, and they affect every money figure you see: the Spend report, Itemised costs, renewals, and the cost column on each resource.
- Changing any of them updates every figure at once — this is expected. If you switch from net to gross, totals will go up, but they weren't wrong before; they're just answering a different question now.

<!-- screenshot: cost-and-tax -->

<!-- docs-screenshots:start:cost-and-tax -->

![Cost & tax](/media/9037a17f-9f3a-46f7-8cd0-36112d4d0f91)

<!-- docs-screenshots:end:cost-and-tax -->

## Set your base currency

1. Go to **Settings → Cost & tax**.
2. Find the **Base currency** setting.
3. Choose the currency you want every price converted into and reported in.
4. Select **Save changes**.

> [!NOTE]
> Converted figures use exchange rates, so a total in your base currency won't match a foreign-currency invoice to the cent. This setting changes how costs are displayed, not what a provider actually charges you.

## Set your VAT rate

1. Go to **Settings → Cost & tax**.
2. InfraNest suggests a standard VAT rate based on your organization's country, which is set under **Settings → General**.
3. Select **Use {rate}% (standard rate)** to accept the suggestion, or enter your own rate by hand.
4. Select **Save changes**.

## Switch between net and gross

1. Go to **Settings → Cost & tax**.
2. Choose whether prices should be shown as **net** (before VAT) or **gross** (including VAT).
3. Select **Save changes**.

> [!TIP]
> Use net if your organization is VAT-registered and reclaims tax — it matches what's on a supplier invoice. Use gross if you can't reclaim VAT, or if you want figures that match what actually leaves your bank account.

## Troubleshooting

- **My totals don't match a provider's invoice.** This is expected if your base currency differs from the currency the provider bills in — the conversion uses exchange rates, not the exact rate charged at billing time.
- **The suggested VAT rate looks wrong.** It's based on your organization's country under **Settings → General**. You can always overwrite it by entering your own rate on the **Cost & tax** page.