Add sales tax to a price, or back it out of a receipt total. Enter any rate — switch modes to work forwards or backwards.
Sales tax in the United States is a consumption tax added at the point of sale. Unlike the value-added tax used elsewhere, it is charged only once — on the final retail purchase — and is shown as a separate line at checkout rather than baked into the shelf price. That is why the total you pay is always a little higher than the sticker.
To add sales tax, multiply the price by one plus the rate: a $50 item at 7% becomes $50 × 1.07 = $53.50. To remove it — say, to find the pre-tax price from a receipt total — divide by one plus the rate: $53.50 ÷ 1.07 = $50.00. The calculator does both; just switch between the Add and Remove modes.
There is no national sales tax. Each state sets its own base rate, and thousands of cities, counties and special districts add local rates on top, so the combined rate at the register can differ from one town to the next. Five states levy no statewide sales tax at all. Use the table below as a starting point, but check your exact local rate for precise figures.
| State | Base rate |
|---|---|
| California | 7.25% |
| Texas | 6.25% |
| New York | 4.00% |
| Florida | 6.00% |
| Illinois | 6.25% |
| Washington | 6.50% |
| Pennsylvania | 6.00% |
| Ohio | 5.75% |
| Georgia | 4.00% |
| Arizona | 5.60% |
| Tennessee | 7.00% |
| Nevada | 6.85% |
| Colorado | 2.90% |
| Michigan | 6.00% |
| Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware, Alaska | 0% (no state sales tax) |
Shoppers use it to check a receipt or budget for the true cost of a purchase. Sellers and freelancers use it to add the correct tax to invoices, and to back tax out of a gross total for bookkeeping. Because the tool works in both directions at any rate, it covers state rates, combined local rates, and one-off situations alike.
Multiply the pre-tax price by the sales tax rate (as a decimal) to get the tax, then add it to the price. At 7%, a $50 item has $50 × 0.07 = $3.50 tax, for a $53.50 total.
Divide the total by 1 plus the rate. At 7%, divide the receipt total by 1.07 to get the pre-tax price; the difference is the tax. $53.50 ÷ 1.07 = $50.00, so the tax was $3.50.
State base rates range from 0% (Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware) to over 7%. Many cities and counties add local sales tax on top, so the rate you actually pay at checkout can be a couple of points higher than the state figure.
No. US sales tax is added once, at the final retail sale, and shown separately at checkout. VAT, used in most other countries, is collected at each stage of the supply chain and usually built into the displayed price.
No. Five states have no statewide sales tax: Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware and Alaska — though Alaska allows local sales taxes. Everywhere else charges a state rate, often plus local add-ons.