Math

Sales tax calculator.

Add tax to a price — or pull the tax back out of a tax-included total.

Adding and removing sales tax

Adding tax is a single step: multiply the price by the tax rate to get the tax, then add it on — $100 at 7.5% is $7.50 tax, for a $107.50 total. Going the other way is the part people miss. To find the pre-tax price hidden inside a tax-included total, you divide rather than subtract: total ÷ (1 + rate). So a $107.50 receipt at 7.5% breaks down to $107.50 ÷ 1.075 = $100 plus $7.50 tax. Subtracting 7.5% of $107.50 would give the wrong answer, because the tax was charged on the smaller pre-tax figure. US sales tax varies by state, county and city, so use your exact local combined rate.

FAQ

How do I back sales tax out of a total?
Divide the tax-included total by (1 + the tax rate as a decimal). A $107.50 total at 7.5% is $107.50 ÷ 1.075 = $100 before tax, leaving $7.50 of tax.
Why can't I just subtract the tax percentage from the total?
Because the tax was calculated on the pre-tax price, not the total. Subtracting the rate from the total over-counts; dividing by (1 + rate) gives the correct pre-tax amount.

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