How do I add sales tax to a price?

Multiply the price by the rate written as a decimal, then add that to the price. $84.50 at 7.5% is $84.50 × 0.075 = $6.34 (the exact figure is $6.3375, rounded to the cent), so the total is $90.84. The rate here is only an example.

How do I take sales tax out of a total?

Divide the total by 1 plus the rate as a decimal. $90.84 at 7.5% is $90.84 ÷ 1.075 = $84.50, and the tax inside it is $6.34. Subtracting 7.5% of the total instead gives the wrong answer, because the tax was charged on the smaller, pre-tax price.

Why does adding the tax back not always give the price I started with?

Prices are in whole cents, so the price before tax is rounded to a cent, and the tax charged on it is rounded again. Starting from $10.18 at 5%, the price before tax is $9.70, and adding 5% back gives $10.19, 1 cent off. The calculator shows the difference in cents whenever it happens. Several price and tax splits can be one cent apart, and this one is the nearest.

How do I find the tax rate from two prices?

Subtract the price before tax from the price with tax to get the tax, then divide the tax by the price before tax. For $84.50 before tax and $90.84 with tax, the tax is $6.34 and the rate is ≈ 7.503%. Because the tax was rounded to a cent, the rate that was really charged can differ slightly, and the calculator shows the range of rates that would give the same total. Larger prices narrow it.

What is the sales tax rate where I live?

This page has no table of rates by state or country on purpose. Rates change, and in many places they also depend on the city or county, on the kind of product, and on who is selling it, so any list would go out of date or be wrong for you. Check the rate with your local tax authority, the seller’s website or a recent receipt, then type it in.

Is VAT or GST calculated differently from sales tax?

The arithmetic is the same: a percentage of the price before tax. Choosing VAT or GST changes only the labels. In many places a shelf price already includes VAT or GST, so “Remove tax” is the useful mode there: with an illustrative 20% VAT, a $60.00 price includes $10.00 of VAT. Rules on what is taxed, and at what rate, depend on where you are.

How do I add up several items with tax?

Turn on line items and enter a quantity and a price for each item. The subtotal is the sum of the lines, each rounded to a cent, and the tax is worked out once on the subtotal. For example, 2 × $4.50, 1 × $12.99 and 3 × $1.25 make $25.74, and 7.5% tax on that is $1.93, $27.67 in all. A shop that taxes each line separately can differ from this by a cent or so.

How is the tax rounded?

To the nearest cent, with half a cent rounding up. The tax is worked out from the exact value of the rate and the price, so rounding happens once at the end. A shop may round in a different way (for instance per item), and the calculator makes no claim about what any particular seller does.

Can I use it for euros, pounds or other currencies?

Yes. Choose $, €, £ or no symbol; the symbol only changes how amounts are written. There are no exchange rates and no conversion.

Is anything I type stored or sent?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter leaves your device.

Sales Tax Calculator

To add sales tax, multiply the price by the rate and add the result to the price: $84.50 at an illustrative 7.5% rate is $6.34 of tax and $90.84 in all. To take tax out of a price that already includes it, divide by 1 plus the rate rather than subtracting the rate: $90.84 at 7.5% is $84.50 before tax. This calculator does both, and also works backwards from a price before tax and a price with tax to the rate that was charged (≈ 7.503% for the example). It handles sales tax, VAT and GST alike (the arithmetic is the same), works in whole cents so nothing drifts, rounds half up to the cent, and tells you when the cent rounding means adding the tax back does not land on the price you started with. You type the rate yourself: it does not know your local rate, so check it with your tax authority or on a receipt.

Updated 2026-10-03Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is uploadedHow this tool works

Total $90.84

$84.50 plus $6.34 sales tax at 7.5% is $90.84.

Price before tax: $84.50
Sales tax (7.5%): $6.34
Total with tax: $90.84

Sales tax on common prices

Each cell is the tax on that price at that rate, to the cent; add it to the price for the total. The rates are examples, not the rates of any place.
Price	5% tax	6% tax	7% tax	8.25% tax	10% tax
$10.00	$0.50	$0.60	$0.70	$0.83	$1.00
$25.00	$1.25	$1.50	$1.75	$2.06	$2.50
$50.00	$2.50	$3.00	$3.50	$4.13	$5.00
$100.00	$5.00	$6.00	$7.00	$8.25	$10.00

Removing tax from a price that includes it

Price before tax is the price with tax divided by 1 plus the rate, rounded to the cent. The last column adds the rate back to that rounded price: when it misses, the cents shown are the whole difference.
Rate	Price with tax	Price before tax	Tax included	Adding the tax back gives
5%	$10.18	$9.70	$0.48	$10.19 (1 cent over)
7%	$10.32	$9.64	$0.68	$10.31 (1 cent short)
7%	$19.99	$18.68	$1.31	$19.99 (exact)
8.25%	$10.30	$9.52	$0.78	$10.31 (1 cent over)
10%	$110.00	$100.00	$10.00	$110.00 (exact)
20%	$60.00	$50.00	$10.00	$60.00 (exact)

How to add or remove sales tax

Choose what you want to do. Pick “Add tax” to get a total from a price before tax, “Remove tax” to find the price before tax inside a total, or “Find the rate” when you have both prices and want the rate.
Enter the tax rate. Type the rate as a percentage, such as 7.5 or 8.875, in the rate field. The example uses an illustrative 7.5% that is not any place’s real rate, so look up the one that applies to your purchase.
Enter the price. Type the price: $84.50 before tax in the example. To add up several things, turn on line items and enter a quantity and a price for each; the subtotal is what the tax is worked out on.
Read the result. Adding 7.5% to $84.50 gives $6.34 of tax and $90.84. Removing it from $90.84 gives $84.50.
Pick the wording and currency. Choose sales tax, VAT or GST for the labels, and $, €, £ or no symbol. This changes only the words and the symbol: with VAT at 20%, $50.00 is $10.00 of VAT and $60.00 in all.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add sales tax to a price?: Multiply the price by the rate written as a decimal, then add that to the price. $84.50 at 7.5% is $84.50 × 0.075 = $6.34 (the exact figure is $6.3375, rounded to the cent), so the total is $90.84. The rate here is only an example.
How do I take sales tax out of a total?: Divide the total by 1 plus the rate as a decimal. $90.84 at 7.5% is $90.84 ÷ 1.075 = $84.50, and the tax inside it is $6.34. Subtracting 7.5% of the total instead gives the wrong answer, because the tax was charged on the smaller, pre-tax price.
Why does adding the tax back not always give the price I started with?: Prices are in whole cents, so the price before tax is rounded to a cent, and the tax charged on it is rounded again. Starting from $10.18 at 5%, the price before tax is $9.70, and adding 5% back gives $10.19, 1 cent off. The calculator shows the difference in cents whenever it happens. Several price and tax splits can be one cent apart, and this one is the nearest.
How do I find the tax rate from two prices?: Subtract the price before tax from the price with tax to get the tax, then divide the tax by the price before tax. For $84.50 before tax and $90.84 with tax, the tax is $6.34 and the rate is ≈ 7.503%. Because the tax was rounded to a cent, the rate that was really charged can differ slightly, and the calculator shows the range of rates that would give the same total. Larger prices narrow it.
What is the sales tax rate where I live?: This page has no table of rates by state or country on purpose. Rates change, and in many places they also depend on the city or county, on the kind of product, and on who is selling it, so any list would go out of date or be wrong for you. Check the rate with your local tax authority, the seller’s website or a recent receipt, then type it in.
Is VAT or GST calculated differently from sales tax?: The arithmetic is the same: a percentage of the price before tax. Choosing VAT or GST changes only the labels. In many places a shelf price already includes VAT or GST, so “Remove tax” is the useful mode there: with an illustrative 20% VAT, a $60.00 price includes $10.00 of VAT. Rules on what is taxed, and at what rate, depend on where you are.
How do I add up several items with tax?: Turn on line items and enter a quantity and a price for each item. The subtotal is the sum of the lines, each rounded to a cent, and the tax is worked out once on the subtotal. For example, 2 × $4.50, 1 × $12.99 and 3 × $1.25 make $25.74, and 7.5% tax on that is $1.93, $27.67 in all. A shop that taxes each line separately can differ from this by a cent or so.
How is the tax rounded?: To the nearest cent, with half a cent rounding up. The tax is worked out from the exact value of the rate and the price, so rounding happens once at the end. A shop may round in a different way (for instance per item), and the calculator makes no claim about what any particular seller does.
Can I use it for euros, pounds or other currencies?: Yes. Choose $, €, £ or no symbol; the symbol only changes how amounts are written. There are no exchange rates and no conversion.
Is anything I type stored or sent?: No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter leaves your device.

How it works

Prices are whole cents in integer arithmetic and the tax rate is an exact fraction of what you type, so there is no floating-point error: 7.5% of $84.50 is exactly $6.3375, which is rounded to a cent once, half up ($6.34). To add tax, the tax is the price times the rate, rounded to the cent, and the total is price plus tax. To remove tax, the price before tax is the price with tax divided by 1 plus the rate, rounded to the cent, and the tax is the difference, so price and tax always add up to the price you entered. Because the price before tax is itself rounded, adding the tax back can miss the price you started with by a cent or two; the calculator computes that and reports it. To find the rate, the tax is the price with tax minus the price before tax, and the rate is that tax divided by the price before tax, shown to up to four decimals; since the tax was rounded to a cent, it also shows the range of rates between half a cent below and half a cent above that would produce the same total. With line items, each line is quantity times price rounded to a cent and the tax is worked out once on the subtotal. VAT and GST use the same formulas as sales tax; only the labels change. The rate is whatever you type, from 0 to 1,000%. The tool holds no tax rates, because they change and vary by place, product and seller. Everything runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Sources

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