Sales Tax Calculator
Add sales tax to a price, or work backward from a total to find the pre-tax price and tax paid.
About this tool
Sales tax in the United States varies by state, county, and city, with combined rates ranging from zero to more than 10 percent. This calculator handles both directions: adding tax to a sticker price, and the reverse problem of splitting a receipt total back into the base price and the tax portion.
The reverse calculation is the one people get wrong by hand. Extracting 8 percent tax from a total is not the same as subtracting 8 percent: a 108 dollar total at an 8 percent rate contains 8 dollars of tax, not 8.64. This tool divides by one plus the rate, which is the correct method.
Frequently asked questions
Why can I not just subtract the percentage to remove tax?
Because the tax was charged on the smaller pre-tax amount, not on the total. Dividing the total by one plus the rate recovers the exact base price.
Does this work for VAT and GST?
Yes. VAT and GST follow the same arithmetic; enter your local rate.