Sales Tax Calculator

Multiply the before-tax price by the tax rate as a decimal, then add that to the price: price + (price × rate). For a $50 item at a 7% rate, that's $50 + ($50 × 0.07) = $53.50. This calculator does that step for you — enter the price and rate and solve for 'After-tax price.'

The quick calculator-key version: enter the price, multiply by (1 + the rate as a decimal), and press equals. $50 × 1.07 = $53.50. That's the same result as adding the tax amount separately — just one fewer step.

A reverse sales tax calculator starts from a tax-included total — like the number on a receipt — and works backward to find the original price and the tax amount. Divide the total by (1 + the rate as a decimal): a $53.50 receipt at a 7% rate gives $53.50 ÷ 1.07 = $50.00 before tax. Set 'Solve for' to 'Before-tax price' above and enter the total and rate to do this automatically.

Set 'Solve for' to 'Sales tax rate,' then enter the before-tax price and the after-tax total you actually paid. The calculator divides the tax amount by the before-tax price to get the rate — useful for figuring out what combined rate a specific store or jurisdiction charged.

The underlying math is identical: the vehicle's taxable price times the tax rate gives the tax owed. The complication with cars is what counts as the taxable price — many states tax the price after subtracting a trade-in's value, while others tax the full purchase price regardless of trade-in. Check your state's rule before relying on a single flat-rate estimate, and use the Auto Loan calculator to see how the tax amount affects your financed total.

Local add-ons. Most states let counties, cities, and special districts layer their own sales tax on top of the state rate, so the combined rate — and the dollar amount of tax on an identical purchase — can differ from one zip code to the next within the same state.

Many states exempt or reduce the rate on specific categories, most commonly groceries, prescription drugs, and sometimes clothing, as a deliberate policy choice to reduce the tax burden on necessities. This calculator applies one flat rate and doesn't know about category-specific exemptions, so check your state's rules for items that might qualify.

Only if you itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, and only by choosing to deduct sales tax instead of state and local income tax (not both). The combined state and local tax deduction is capped, and the IRS publishes an optional Sales Tax Deduction Calculator if you don't have a full year of receipts.

The arithmetic is the same single-rate formula, so it will compute a number either way. The U.S. has no federal sales tax and taxes only the final retail sale; VAT and GST, used in most other countries, are collected at multiple stages of production, which this calculator doesn't model.