Sales tax calculator

Adding tax to a price:

tax = price × rate / 100, and total = price + tax, or in one step total = price × (1 + rate / 100).

Finding the price before tax from a total (reverse sales tax):

price = total / (1 + rate / 100), and tax = total − price.

A common mistake when working backward is to take the rate off the total: 7% of $53.50 is $3.75, but the tax actually paid was $3.50, because the 7% was applied to the pre-tax price, not to the total. Dividing by 1.07 gives the right answer.

A $100 purchase at a 7.25% rate (California's statewide base rate, before local add-ons):

1. Tax: 100 × 7.25 / 100 = $7.25.
2. Total: 100 + 7.25 = $107.25.

A $1,249.99 laptop in New York City, where the combined rate is 8.875%: the tax is $110.94 and the total is $1,360.93.

Your receipt shows $53.50 including tax, and the rate is 7%.

1. Price before tax: 53.50 / 1.07 = $50.00.
2. Tax paid: 53.50 − 50.00 = $3.50.

This is useful for expense reports, splitting a bill fairly, checking that a store charged the right rate, or figuring out how much sales tax you paid during the year if you itemize deductions.

The US has no national sales tax. Each state sets its own rate, and counties, cities and special districts can add their own on top, so the combined rate depends on your exact address. Two stores a few miles apart can charge different rates. A handful of states have no statewide sales tax at all, though some allow local sales taxes.

To find the rate for a specific address, use your state revenue department's rate lookup. Online orders are generally taxed at the rate of the address the item is shipped to.

What's taxed also varies by state. Many states exempt groceries or tax them at a lower rate, and prescription drugs are widely exempt. Clothing, digital downloads and services are treated differently from state to state. If an item may be exempt, enter 0% or the reduced rate that applies.

The calculator rounds the tax to the nearest cent at the end. Stores may round per item or per invoice, and some states have specific bracket rules, so a receipt can differ from this calculation by a cent. When you remove tax from a total, the result may have more decimal places than a real price would; it is shown to the cent.

Coupons and discounts generally reduce the taxable price, so apply the discount first and then the tax. The discount calculator can do the first step.

If you itemize deductions on your federal return, you can choose to deduct either state and local income taxes or state and local sales taxes, subject to the overall cap on state and local tax deductions. The sales tax option mostly helps people in states without an income tax or people who made a large purchase such as a car. The IRS offers a sales tax deduction calculator that estimates the amount from your income and location, and you can add the tax from major purchases on top. Keep receipts. This page doesn't give tax advice; check IRS guidance or a tax professional for your situation.

Sales tax is charged once, at the final sale to the consumer, and is usually added at the register on top of the shelf price. Value-added tax (VAT), used in the UK, the EU and most other countries, is collected at every stage of production and is normally included in the displayed price for consumers. If you're working with a VAT rate, use the VAT calculator, which handles adding and removing VAT the same way.