How to Subtract from 1000 Without Borrowing

Updated 4 October 2026

No borrowing: each digit from 9, the last nonzero digit from 10.

1000 - 473 = 527

How do you subtract from 1000 without borrowing?

To subtract a number from 1000 without borrowing, take each digit from 9 and the last digit from 10. For 1000 − 473, that gives 9 − 4 = 5, 9 − 7 = 2 and 10 − 3 = 7, so the answer is 527. It works because 1000 is 999 + 1, and no digit of 999 ever has to lend: 999 − 473 = 526 column by column, and the extra 1 lands on the last digit. When the number ends in 0, the rule applies to its last nonzero digit, and the zeros stay: for 1000 − 190, 9 − 1 = 8 and 10 − 9 = 1, then the 0, so 810. A number with fewer than three digits takes zeros in front, so 64 is read as 064, and 1000 − 64 gives 936. The same rule works for 100, 10000 and any power of ten, with one 9 for each place: 10000 − 2718 = 7282.

1. 1000 is 999 + 1. Take the 473 from 999 instead — no zero has to lend.

2. Every digit of 999 is big enough: 9−4=5, 9−7=2, 9−3=6. No borrowing anywhere.

3. Give the 1 back to the units: 6 + 1 = 7. So each digit came from 9, the last from 10.

4. Zeros at the end stay zeros, and the last nonzero digit comes from 10: 1000 − 190 = 810.

All 36 shortcuts: the Magic Tricks library.