Sales Tax Calculator

Add sales tax to a price, or work backwards from a receipt total to the pre-tax amount — the reverse calculation almost every other calculator gets wrong.

Reference table

Amount	Result	Tax amount	Price before tax
1	$1.07	$0.07	$1.00
2	$2.15	$0.15	$2.00
3	$3.22	$0.22	$3.00
4	$4.29	$0.29	$4.00
5	$5.36	$0.36	$5.00
10	$10.73	$0.73	$10.00
15	$16.09	$1.09	$15.00
20	$21.45	$1.45	$20.00
25	$26.81	$1.81	$25.00
30	$32.18	$2.18	$30.00
40	$42.90	$2.90	$40.00
50	$53.63	$3.62	$50.00
60	$64.35	$4.35	$60.00
70	$75.08	$5.07	$70.00
75	$80.44	$5.44	$75.00

🚫 The Five States With No Sales Tax

New Hampshire0%
Oregon0%
Montana0%
Alaska0% state, local allowed
Delaware0%
MnemonicNOMAD

What Trips People Up

To remove tax from a total you divide by 1 + rate, you do not subtract the rate. Taking 8.25% off $108.25 gives $99.32, not $100 — the tax was charged on the smaller number.
These are state base rates. County and city taxes stack on top, and in Louisiana, Alabama and Colorado the local part can add more than 5%.
Alaska has no state sales tax but lets boroughs charge their own, so a 0% state can still hand you a taxed receipt.
Most states exempt unprepared groceries and prescription drugs. A receipt with mixed items rarely has one single effective rate.

Added at the Till, Not on the Label

American sales tax is charged once, at the final sale to the consumer, and it is added after the price you see on the shelf. That is the single biggest surprise for visitors: a nine dollar item does not cost nine dollars. The tax is set by each state, then again by counties and cities, so two shops a few miles apart can charge different totals for the same product. There is no federal sales tax at all — every rate in this calculator is a state-level base rate, and the real figure on your receipt is that base plus whatever the local jurisdictions add.

Working Backwards Is Not Subtraction

Adding tax is easy: multiply the price by one plus the rate. A $100 item at 8.25% costs $108.25. Reversing it is where almost everyone slips, because the instinct is to take 8.25% off the total — and that gives $99.32, which is wrong by 68 cents. The reason is that the tax was calculated on $100, not on $108.25, so a percentage of the larger number is always too big. The correct move is division: $108.25 ÷ 1.0825 = $100 exactly. The same logic applies to VAT, tips and any percentage added on top: to undo a multiplication you divide, you never subtract the same percentage.

Why the State Rate Is Only Half the Answer

State rates run from 0% to 7.25% in California, the highest state base rate in the country.
Counties and cities add their own on top. Combined rates above 10% exist in parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Washington and Illinois.
Louisiana has a modest state rate but the highest average local add-on, which is why its combined rate leads the country.
Alaska charges 0% at state level yet allows local sales tax, so some boroughs tax and others do not.
Rates are tied to where the sale is delivered, not where the seller is. Online orders are taxed at the buyer's address.
Take the rate off your own receipt when you can. It is the only figure guaranteed to match your jurisdiction on that date.

Sales Tax Is Not VAT

Sales tax is charged once, at the final consumer sale. VAT is charged at every stage of production, with businesses reclaiming what they paid.
US prices are shown before tax; European prices are shown with VAT already included. Same shelf, different meaning.
A business buying supplies for resale pays no sales tax, using a resale certificate instead. There is no reclaim later.
VAT rates are national — 21% in Spain, 20% in France. Sales tax is local, which is why the US has thousands of distinct rates.
For IVA, ITBIS or IGV, use the VAT calculator instead: the arithmetic looks similar but the rules for exemptions and reclaims are not.
Both share the reverse-calculation trap: dividing by 1 + rate, never subtracting the percentage.

Worked Examples

Forwards and backwards

$100 at 7.25% in California

Tax = 100 × 0.0725 = $7.25
Total = 100 + 7.25 = $107.25

$107.25 total

A $108.25 receipt at 8.25%

Wrong: 108.25 − 8.25% = $99.32
Right: 108.25 ÷ 1.0825 = $100.00
Tax = 108.25 − 100 = $8.25

$100 before tax — a 68¢ difference

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate sales tax?

Multiply the pre-tax price by the tax rate as a decimal, then add it. At 7.25%, a $100 item has $7.25 of tax and costs $107.25 in total.

How do I remove sales tax from a total?

Divide by 1 plus the rate. A $108.25 total at 8.25% becomes 108.25 ÷ 1.0825 = $100. Do not subtract 8.25% from the total — that gives $99.32, because the tax was charged on the smaller base amount.

Which states have no sales tax?

New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska and Delaware — remembered as NOMAD. Alaska is the caveat: it charges nothing at state level but permits local sales tax, so some boroughs do tax purchases.

Are these the rates I'll actually pay?

They are state base rates. Counties and cities add their own on top, and combined rates over 10% exist in parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Washington and Illinois. Use the rate printed on your own receipt when you have it.

Is sales tax the same as VAT?

No. Sales tax is collected once at the final sale and added on top of the displayed price. VAT is collected at every stage of production and is already included in European shelf prices. The arithmetic resembles each other; the rules do not.

Is sales tax charged on groceries?

Usually not on unprepared food. Most states exempt groceries and prescription drugs, some tax them at a reduced rate, and prepared or restaurant food is nearly always taxed in full. A mixed receipt therefore has no single effective rate.