Breakdown of an invoice carrying the equivalence surcharge
Taxable base
€1,000.00
VAT at 21%
€210.00
Surcharge at 5.2%
€52.00
Total
€1,262.00
Base if you divide by the VAT alone
€1,042.98
What that divisor overstates by
€42.98
Art. 154.Tres forbids passing the surcharge on: the retailer charges the customer the ordinary rate «without, in any case, being able to increase that percentage by the amount of the surcharge». The surcharge comes out of the margin.
Nothing paid in is deductible (art. 154.Dos), and the deductible proportion of this separate sector is zero. The VAT on the invoice is a cost, not an advance.
A total carrying the surcharge holds 26.2 points, not 21. Dividing by 1.21 overstates the base by €42.98 per €1,000 of base.
Which VAT rate a product carries is decided by art. 91 LIVA and not by this page: olive oils moved to 4% in 2025 and sweetened drinks sit at 21%.