Finance
Sales Tax Calculator
Add sales tax to a price or work backward from a tax-included total — with a state rate picker, a quantity field, and every step shown live as you type.
Enter the price
7.25% rateThe pre-tax sticker price
$
Type it, or pick a state to fill the base rate
%
How many of this item
Total with tax
$107.25
$100.00 + $7.25 tax
price 93%tax 7%
Subtotal
$100.00
Tax (7.25%)
$7.25
Grand total
$107.25
Try an example
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The basics
What is sales tax?
Sales tax is a percentage added to the price of goods and services at the point of sale. The same relationship runs in two directions: forward to add tax onto a price, and backward to pull the pre-tax price out of a tax-included total. Both use one rate.
total = price × (1 + rate)
Adding tax (forward)
Multiply the pre-tax price by one plus the rate as a decimal. The extra portion above the price is the tax you hand to the cashier.
$100 × 1.07 = $107.00
price = total ÷ (1 + rate)
Removing tax (reverse)
Given only a total and the rate, divide to recover the original price. Whatever is left over once you subtract the price is the tax that was charged.
$107.00 ÷ 1.07 = $100.00
Method
How to add sales tax by hand
Three steps turn any price and rate into a total.
- 1
Convert the rate to a decimal
Divide the percentage by 100. A rate written as a percent becomes the multiplier you actually compute with.
7% → 0.07 - 2
Multiply the price by the rate
Multiply the pre-tax price by that decimal to get the tax amount in dollars and cents.
$100 × 0.07 = $7.00 - 3
Add the tax to the price
Add the tax amount onto the original price to land on the grand total you pay.
$100 + $7.00 = $107.00
Worked examples
See it across the common cases
The same arithmetic handles a single purchase, a receipt you need to reverse, and a bulk order — switch tabs to follow each.
Given Buy an item for $120.00 where tax is 8.25%.
Tax = $120.00 × 8.25% = $9.90
Total = $120.00 + $9.90 = $129.90
Total with tax = $129.90
Quick chart
What is $X plus tax?
Pick a state and read the tax and total for every common price. Handy for tipping a quick mental check or pricing a cart.
Tax rate
Statewide base rate 7.25%| Price | Tax | Total |
|---|---|---|
| $1.00 | $0.07 | $1.07 |
| $5.00 | $0.36 | $5.36 |
| $10.00 | $0.73 | $10.73 |
| $20.00 | $1.45 | $21.45 |
| $25.00 | $1.81 | $26.81 |
| $50.00 | $3.63 | $53.63 |
| $75.00 | $5.44 | $80.44 |
| $100.00 | $7.25 | $107.25 |
| $150.00 | $10.88 | $160.88 |
| $200.00 | $14.50 | $214.50 |
| $500.00 | $36.25 | $536.25 |
| $1,000.00 | $72.50 | $1,072.50 |
Base statewide rate only. Local county and city taxes can push the combined rate higher — check your address for the exact figure.
Reference
Sales tax rate by state
Statewide base rates for all 50 states, plus the realistic combined ceiling once local county and city taxes stack on top. Search or sort to find yours.
| Alabama AL | 4% | 13.5% |
| Alaska AK | — | 7.85% |
| Arizona AZ | 5.6% | 11.2% |
| Arkansas AR | 6.5% | 12.63% |
| California CA | 7.25% | 10.75% |
| Colorado CO | 2.9% | 11.2% |
| Connecticut CT | 6.35% | 6.35% |
| Delaware DE | — | — |
| Florida FL | 6% | 8% |
| Georgia GA | 4% | 9% |
| Hawaii HI | 4% | 4.5% |
| Idaho ID | 6% | 9% |
| Illinois IL | 6.25% | 11.5% |
| Indiana IN | 7% | 7% |
| Iowa IA | 6% | 7% |
| Kansas KS | 6.5% | 11.5% |
| Kentucky KY | 6% | 6% |
| Louisiana LA | 5% | 12.95% |
| Maine ME | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| Maryland MD | 6% | 6% |
| Massachusetts MA | 6.25% | 6.25% |
| Michigan MI | 6% | 6% |
| Minnesota MN | 6.88% | 9.03% |
| Mississippi MS | 7% | 8% |
| Missouri MO | 4.22% | 11.99% |
| Montana MT | — | — |
| Nebraska NE | 5.5% | 8% |
| Nevada NV | 6.85% | 8.38% |
| New Hampshire NH | — | — |
| New Jersey NJ | 6.63% | 6.63% |
| New Mexico NM | 4.88% | 8.94% |
| New York NY | 4% | 8.88% |
| North Carolina NC | 4.75% | 7.5% |
| North Dakota ND | 5% | 8.5% |
| Ohio OH | 5.75% | 8% |
| Oklahoma OK | 4.5% | 11.5% |
| Oregon OR | — | — |
| Pennsylvania PA | 6% | 8% |
| Rhode Island RI | 7% | 7% |
| South Carolina SC | 6% | 9% |
| South Dakota SD | 4.2% | 6.2% |
| Tennessee TN | 7% | 9.75% |
| Texas TX | 6.25% | 8.25% |
| Utah UT | 6.1% | 9.05% |
| Vermont VT | 6% | 7% |
| Virginia VA | 5.3% | 7% |
| Washington WA | 6.5% | 10.6% |
| West Virginia WV | 6% | 7% |
| Wisconsin WI | 5% | 7.9% |
| Wyoming WY | 4% | 8% |
Base rate is the statewide figure. Max combined shows the realistic ceiling once county and city taxes stack on top. A dash means no statewide sales tax.
Where it shows up
Why sales tax matters
Beyond the cash register, the same calculation drives budgets, bookkeeping, and big-ticket decisions.
receipt total
Everyday shopping
Knowing the tax up front means no surprises at checkout — especially in the US, where the shelf price almost never includes tax.
reverse from a receipt
Expenses & bookkeeping
Businesses split a tax-included total back into net sales and tax collected to file returns and reconcile books.
rate × big purchase
Big-ticket budgeting
On a car or appliance, a point or two of tax is real money — worth computing before you commit.
Worth knowing
Rules and gotchas
A handful of facts that keep your sales-tax math accurate and your receipts reconciling.
base + local = combined
State rate isn't the whole story
Counties and cities add their own tax on top of the statewide base. The combined rate is what you actually pay at the register.
tax after discount
Discounts come first
Coupons and markdowns lower the taxable price, so subtract the discount before applying the rate.
origin vs destination
Where the rate comes from
Most states tax by the buyer's destination; a few use the seller's location. It decides which local rate applies to an online order.
exempt categories
Not everything is taxed
Many states exempt groceries, prescription drugs, or clothing — so the effective tax on a mixed basket can be lower than the headline rate.
tax the subtotal once
Round at the end
Tax the combined subtotal, then round once. Taxing and rounding each item separately can drift by a cent or two.
NOMAD = 0%
Five states charge nothing
Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon have no statewide sales tax — though Alaska localities may still levy their own.
Compared
Sales tax vs VAT and excise tax
Sales tax is one of several consumption taxes. Knowing the difference explains why a US sticker price and a European one behave so differently.
point of sale
Sales tax (US)
Added once, at the final retail sale, and shown on top of the shelf price. Only the end consumer pays it.
each stage
VAT (most of the world)
Charged at every step of production with credits along the way, and usually baked into the displayed price so the tag is what you pay.
per unit / category
Excise tax
A targeted tax on specific goods — fuel, tobacco, alcohol — often a flat amount per unit rather than a percentage of price.
FAQ
Common questions
Multiply the pre-tax price by the tax rate written as a decimal. For a 7% rate, multiply by 0.07. A $100 item carries $7.00 of tax, for a $107.00 total. The tool shows each step as you type.
Find the tax amount (price × rate ÷ 100), then add it to the original price. A shortcut: multiply the price by 1 plus the rate as a decimal. $50 at 8% becomes $50 × 1.08 = $54.00.
Divide the tax-included total by 1 plus the rate as a decimal. A $107.00 total at 7% gives a pre-tax price of $107.00 ÷ 1.07 = $100.00, leaving $7.00 of tax. Switch the tool to Remove tax to do this automatically.
Statewide base rates range from 0% (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon have none) up to California's 7.25%. The full table on this page lists every state's base rate and its realistic combined ceiling once local taxes are added.
Most states let counties, cities, and special districts add their own sales tax on top of the statewide base. The combined rate is what you actually pay — in some Louisiana and Colorado localities it tops 11%. Always check the rate for the exact address.
Five states levy no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon (remembered as NOMAD). Alaska is a partial exception — it has no state tax but allows local sales taxes, so some Alaskan towns still charge it.
Add up the pre-tax prices first to get the subtotal, then apply the rate once to the whole subtotal. Taxing each item separately and rounding can drift by a cent or two, so tax the combined subtotal. The Quantity field does this for identical items.
After. Sales tax applies to the price you actually pay, so a coupon or store discount lowers the taxable amount. Subtract the discount first, then multiply the reduced price by the tax rate.
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Ugo CharlesBuilt and fact-checked against our editorial standards · Last updated June 2026
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