Sales Tax Calculator
Add sales tax to a price and see the subtotal, tax and total.
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Sales tax is added at the checkout in the United States and a few other places, on top of the price on the shelf. Enter the pre-tax amount and the combined sales tax rate, and this sales tax calculator shows the subtotal, the tax and the total you will actually pay.
Formula and a quick example
Tax = amount × rate ÷ 100 and Total = amount + tax. With the placeholder values, 100 at 8.5% gives 8.50 of tax and a total of 108.50. The result lists the total with tax first, then the subtotal and the tax line with the rate you used.
| Purchase | Tax | Total |
|---|---|---|
| $249.99 at California's 7.25% base rate | 18.12 | 268.11 |
| $1,200 at New York City's 8.875% | 106.50 | 1,306.50 |
| $100 at 8.5% | 8.50 | 108.50 |
Finding the right rate
There is no federal sales tax in the US. Each state sets a base rate, and counties, cities and special districts can add their own, so the rate that applies is the combined rate for the store's location or, for deliveries, usually the delivery address.
- Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no statewide sales tax, although Alaska allows local sales taxes.
- California has the highest statewide base rate at 7.25%, and local additions push many areas higher.
- New York City's 8.875% is made up of 4% state tax, 4.5% city tax and a 0.375% transportation district surcharge.
- Many states exempt or reduce tax on groceries and prescription medicines, so the rate on a mixed shopping bill is not always uniform.
Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require online sellers to collect sales tax even without a physical presence, so most online orders now carry it.
Working backwards from a receipt total
To remove tax from a total, divide by one plus the rate: 108.50 ÷ 1.085 = 100.00, so the tax was 8.50. A common mistake is to take 8.5% of the total instead, which gives 9.22 and overstates the tax, because the total already includes it.
Sales tax, GST and VAT are different systems
Sales tax is collected once, at the final sale to the consumer. India's GST and the VAT used in the UK, EU and Gulf countries are collected at every stage of the supply chain, with businesses claiming credit for tax paid on their inputs, and the consumer price usually includes the tax already. In India, the MRP on a product is inclusive of GST. For those systems use the GST Calculator or the VAT Calculator, which also handle tax-inclusive prices.
Shops may round tax on each line item rather than on the whole bill, so a long receipt can differ from this calculation by a cent or two.