Scenario 1
US retail purchase
$250 item, 8.5% sales tax → $21.25 tax, $271.25 total.
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Sales Tax Calculator
Know the full cost before you buy — or the correct amount to charge.
Adjust your inputs
Results update instantly as you type or drag.
0 – 100,000,000
$
0 – 50
%
Quick insights
Total with tax
$271.25
Pre-tax (if price includes tax)
$230.41
Quick answer
How do you calculate sales tax?
Tax amount = Price × Tax rate ÷ 100. Total = Price + Tax. For reverse (tax-inclusive): Pre-tax price = Total ÷ (1 + rate/100).
How it works
From inputs to result in four steps
A quick walkthrough of what this calculator does behind the scenes.
- 1
Enter the pre-tax price.
- 2
Enter the applicable tax rate.
- 3
See the tax amount and total price including tax.
Formula
The math behind the number
No black box — here's exactly how the result is computed.
Formula
Tax amount = Price × (Rate ÷ 100)
Total (with tax) = Price × (1 + Rate ÷ 100)
Pre-tax (from inclusive) = Inclusive ÷ (1 + Rate ÷ 100)Examples
Real-world scenarios
See how the numbers play out for typical use cases.
Scenario 2
EU VAT (20%)
€100 pre-tax price, 20% VAT → €20 VAT, €120 total (VAT-inclusive price).
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