Sales Tax Calculator — Add or Remove Tax From Any Price
What rate was I charged?
Enter the subtotal and the total from a receipt to get the rate that was applied.
Preset rates are statewide base rates and do not include county, city, or special-district surtaxes. Check your local rate before filing anything official.
Enter an amount and a rate to get the tax and the total. Switch to reverse mode and the same fields work the other way round: type a receipt total and get the pre-tax price back, which is what you need when a supplier quotes a tax-inclusive figure. State and local rates can be stacked, and the breakdown shows how much of the tax belongs to each.
How it works
- 1 Pick add or reverse Add tax starts from a pre-tax price. Reverse starts from a total that already includes tax and works back to the net amount.
- 2 Enter the amount and rate Type the price, then the tax rate. Pick a US state from the dropdown to fill in its base rate, and add any county or city percentage in the local field.
- 3 Read the result The pre-tax price, the tax, and the total update as you type. If both a state and a local rate are set, the split shows how much tax each one accounts for.
Your data stays private
All processing happens entirely in your browser. No files, text, or data are ever sent to our servers. You can disconnect from the internet and this tool will still work.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate sales tax?
- Multiply the pre-tax price by the tax rate and divide by 100. On $50 at 8.25%: 50 × 8.25 ÷ 100 = $4.13 of tax, so the total is $54.13.
- How do I work out the price before tax?
- Divide the total by 1 plus the rate as a decimal. A $107.25 total at 7.25% is 107.25 ÷ 1.0725 = $100.00 net, leaving $7.25 of tax. Subtracting 7.25% from the total instead gives $99.47, which is wrong by 53 cents — a common mistake on expense reports.
- Why does the state rate not match what I paid?
- In the US, most states let counties, cities, and special districts add their own percentages on top of the state rate. They add together rather than compound: a 6.25% state rate plus a 2% city rate is 8.25%, not 8.375%. Put the state figure in one field and everything else in the local field.
- Which states have no sales tax?
- Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon have no statewide sales tax. Alaska is the exception worth knowing about — it has no state rate but many boroughs and cities levy a local one, so a purchase in Juneau is still taxed.
- Can I use it for VAT or GST?
- Yes. The maths is identical for VAT, GST, and any other flat consumption tax. Enter 20 for UK VAT, 19 for German VAT, 10 for Australian GST, or 5 for Canadian GST, and use reverse mode for prices that already include it.