Sales Tax Calculator

Use this free sales tax calculator to see the tax and the total on any purchase. Enter a price and a rate, or pick a state and add your local tax. You can add sales tax to a price, take it out of a total (reverse sales tax) or find the tax rate from two prices. Add a number of items and a discount, and see the tax per item. A table lists the 2026 sales tax rates for every state. It is free and instant, and your numbers stay in your browser.

Amounts in this guide are in US dollars. Unless it says otherwise, the examples use a sales tax rate of 8.2%.

How to calculate sales tax

Multiply the price by the tax rate, then divide by 100. That is the sales tax. Add it to the price to get the total you pay. So how much is tax on $100? At 8.2% it is $8.20, and the total is $108.20.

Shops round tax to the nearest cent, and so does the calculator. At 8.25% the tax on $250 is $20.625, which rounds to $20.63, and on $19.99 it is $1.65, for a total of $21.64.

How to remove sales tax from a total

If a total already includes tax, divide it by 1 plus the rate. At 8.2% you divide by 1.082. A total of $270.50 is $250 before tax, so the tax in it is $20.50. This is the reverse sales tax calculation, and it is useful for receipts. Use the Remove sales tax tab.

Do not just take 8.2% off the total. That gives $248.32, which is wrong, because the rate applies to the price before tax, not to the total. The true price before tax is $250.

How to find a sales tax rate

If you know the price before tax and the price you paid, subtract one from the other to get the tax, then divide by the price before tax. For $250 before tax and $270.50 after, the tax is $20.50, and 20.50 ÷ 250 × 100 = 8.2%. Use the Find the rate tab.

State and local sales tax

In the United States, 45 states charge a state sales tax, and 38 states let cities and counties add a local tax on top. So the rate you pay is the state rate plus the local rate. In Texas the state rate is 6.25%, and local taxes can add up to 2%, so the most you can pay is 8.25%. The average local rate in Texas is 1.95%, which makes 8.2%. Pick a state in the calculator and it fills in the state rate and the average local rate. Change the local rate if you know yours.

California has the highest state rate at 7.25%, and Colorado has the lowest rate above zero at 2.9%. Counting local taxes, the average combined rate is highest in Louisiana at 10.11%, followed by Tennessee (9.61%) and Washington (9.51%). Across the country the average is 7.53%, weighted by population. The table under the calculator lists all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

States with no sales tax

Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Of these, only Alaska lets local governments charge their own sales tax, so a purchase there can still have some tax. In the other four, you pay no sales tax at the till.

Sales tax and discounts

In most places sales tax is worked out on the price after a store discount. Take $200 of goods with 20% off at 8.2%: the discount is $40, the taxable price is $160, the sales tax is $13.12 and the total is $173.12. Rules for some coupons and trade-ins differ by state, so check yours. Open More options in the calculator to enter a discount.

Sales tax on food, clothing and cars

Not everything is taxed the same way. Some states do not tax groceries, or tax them at a lower rate, and a few exempt clothing. For a car, the tax is usually worked out on the purchase price, and some states reduce it by the value of your trade-in. Check the rules for the state where you buy or register the vehicle.

Sales tax and VAT

Sales tax is charged once, at the final sale, and added to the shelf price. VAT, used in the UK and the EU, is charged at each step of production and is normally already included in the price you see. To work with VAT or GST, use the VAT calculator. To find the percentage of a number, try the percentage calculator, and to work out a sale price, the discount calculator.