Sales Tax Calculator

This calculator works in both directions. In add mode it takes a pre-tax price and your sales tax rate and gives the tax and the total you will pay at the register. In remove mode it takes a tax-inclusive total — a receipt, an expense claim, a price from a till — and splits it into the pre-tax price and the tax included.

Use the combined rate where the sale happens: the state rate plus any county, city and special-district rates. Those local add-ons are why two stores a few miles apart can charge different totals. For a discount followed by tax, apply the discount calculator first, then add tax to the sale price.

US sales tax is charged on the final retail sale and quoted on top of shelf prices. Countries with VAT or GST usually include tax in the displayed price; for those, use the VAT calculator, which works the same way at rates such as 20%.

This is the standard percentage-of-price calculation used by state revenue departments. Retailers usually round tax to the nearest cent per transaction, and some states round per line item, so a receipt can differ by a cent. It does not handle items taxed at different rates on one bill (for example groceries at a reduced rate) — calculate those lines separately. The remove mode serves searches for a reverse sales tax calculator.

Sales tax is a percentage of the pre-tax price, not of the total. Taking 8% off a total that already includes 8% tax removes too much, because the tax was calculated on a smaller number.

For a $108 total at 8%: 108 ÷ 1.08 = $100.00 pre-tax and $8.00 tax. Subtracting 8% of $108 gives $99.36 — 64 cents off. The error grows with the rate and the size of the purchase.

Your rate is the state rate plus any county, city and special-district rates that apply at the point of sale (or the delivery address for online orders).

• No statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Some Alaska cities and boroughs still levy a local sales tax.
• Highest statewide base rate: California at 7.25%, before local district taxes.
• Combined rates above 9% are common in parts of states with heavy local add-ons, such as Louisiana, Tennessee and Washington.

The most reliable source is your state department of revenue's rate lookup tool, which finds the rate by address. Rates change, often on January 1 or July 1.

Taxability varies by state, so check before assuming:

• Groceries are exempt or taxed at a reduced rate in most states.
• Clothing is exempt in a few states, sometimes only below a price threshold.
• Services such as haircuts or repairs are untaxed in many states but taxed in others.
• Shipping charges may or may not be taxable depending on the state and how they are billed.
• Tips on a restaurant bill are not subject to sales tax when left voluntarily; see the tip calculator to work out the gratuity on the pre-tax subtotal.