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Tax & Salary

Sales Tax Calculator

Add sales tax to a basket of items or work backwards from a tax-inclusive total to the pre-tax price.

%

Use the combined rate that applies where the sale takes place

Items (pre-tax prices)

USD
USD
USD

Receipt

  • T-shirt$25.00 + $2.50 tax
  • Headphones$60.00 + $6.00 tax
  • Notebook$8.00 + $0.80 tax
Subtotal before tax$93.00
Sales tax at 10%$9.30
Total to pay$102.30
Subtotal (before tax)
$93.00
Sales tax at 10%
$9.30
Total with tax
$102.30

Sales tax rates are set locally and often stack state, county, and city components on top of each other, with reduced rates or exemptions for categories such as food, medicine, and books. Check the combined rate for the point of sale.

Sales tax on a whole basket, not one item

Most sales-tax questions are really basket questions: you have several items, one rate, and you want to know what the till will actually charge. This calculator works like a receipt — list the items, set the rate, and it shows the pre-tax subtotal, the tax charged on it, and the total you pay. Edit any line and everything recalculates, and you can export the itemised receipt as a CSV for an expense claim or a reimbursement form.

Tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive prices

Markets differ on whether the price you see already contains the tax. Where prices are quoted before tax, the till adds it at checkout and the shelf price understates what you pay. Where prices are quoted after tax, the number on the label is the number you hand over, and any tax has to be extracted from it. Use the toggle to tell the calculator which convention your prices follow: leave it off and the tax is added on top; switch it on and the same total is split back into a pre-tax amount and the tax inside it.

Finding the right rate

Rates are set locally and change more often than people expect. Some countries apply a single national rate; others let states, provinces, counties, and cities stack their own rates on top of each other, so the combined rate can differ between two shops a few kilometres apart. Categories matter too — groceries, medicine, children's clothing, and books are frequently taxed at a reduced rate or exempt entirely. Enter the combined rate that applies where the sale takes place, and check with the relevant tax authority if the purchase is large enough for the difference to matter.

Frequently asked questions

+How do I calculate sales tax on a purchase?

Add the item prices together, then multiply the subtotal by the rate ÷ 100. A 60 basket at an 8% rate carries 60 × 0.08 = 4.80 in tax, for a total of 64.80. Tax is charged on the basket, not on each item in isolation, so add first and apply the rate once.

+How do I find the pre-tax price from a tax-inclusive total?

Divide by (1 + rate ÷ 100) — don't subtract the percentage. A 108 total at 8% is 108 ÷ 1.08 = 100 pre-tax, with 8 of tax. Subtracting 8% of 108 gives 99.36, which is wrong, because the tax was charged on the smaller pre-tax figure. Tick "prices already include tax" to have the calculator work backwards for you.

+Is sales tax the same as VAT?

They look identical at the till but work differently behind it. Sales tax is charged once, on the final sale to the consumer. VAT and GST are charged at every stage of the supply chain, with each business reclaiming the tax it paid on its own inputs. If you need to split VAT out of an invoice for a reclaim, use the VAT calculator instead.

+Why doesn't the per-item tax always add up to the basket total?

Rounding. Tax on each line is a fraction of a currency unit that has to be rounded to two decimal places, and four rounded numbers rarely sum to the rounded total of the four originals. This calculator applies the rate to the full subtotal, which is how most tills work, so the total is always exact and individual lines are shown unrounded.

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