Sales Tax Calculator — Free Online Tax & Total Price Calculator
Calculate sales tax with US state rates, custom rates, and support for multiple items. All calculations happen locally — nothing leaves your browser.
How do you calculate sales tax? Multiply the pre-tax price by the tax rate expressed as a decimal, then add the result to the price: a $25 item at 8.875% carries $2.22 of tax and costs $27.22. In one step, total = price × (1 + rate / 100). Sales tax in the United States is levied by states and by counties and cities on top, so the rate that applies is the one at the delivery address, not the seller's.
How to Use the Sales Tax Calculator
- Pick a state or type a rate — The dropdown fills in a statewide base rate. If your county or city adds a surtax, type the combined rate into the field below instead — it accepts three decimal places, so 8.875% works exactly.
- Enter your first item price — The name field is for your own reference and does not affect the maths. Only the price column is totalled.
- Add a row for every additional item — Use Add Item for each line. Tax is computed once on the combined subtotal rather than per line, which is how a register calculates it and avoids per-item rounding drift.
- Leave out anything exempt — Groceries, prescription drugs and some clothing are untaxed or taxed at a reduced rate in many states. Enter exempt items separately or omit them, because the calculator applies one rate to everything.
- Read the subtotal, tax and total — The stat cards separate the three figures so you can check a receipt line by line, and the item counter confirms nothing was missed.
- Copy the summary — Copy Summary puts the whole breakdown on your clipboard for an expense report or invoice. The rate is also stored in the page URL, so a bookmark reopens with it set.
How Sales Tax Is Calculated
The arithmetic is a single multiplication. Convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100, apply it to the taxable subtotal, and add it on:
tax = subtotal × (rate / 100) total = subtotal × (1 + rate / 100)This calculator sums every item first and then taxes the subtotal once, which matches how a point-of-sale system normally works and avoids the drift you get from rounding each line separately. On a long receipt the two approaches can differ by a cent or two, and the invoice total is the figure that counts.
Working backwards from a total
The most common mistake in sales tax maths is subtracting the rate from the tax-inclusive total. On a $110 receipt at 10%, taking 10% off gives $99 — but the true pre-tax price is $100, because the tax was charged on $100 and not on $110. Divide instead of subtracting:
pre-tax price = total / (1 + rate / 100)That is the calculation to use when a supplier quotes an all-in price and you need the net figure for bookkeeping. This tool works forward rather than backward, so run the division yourself or use the Percentage Calculator.
| Rate | Tax on $100 | Total | Pre-tax price inside a $100 total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0% | $4.00 | $104.00 | $96.15 |
| 6.0% | $6.00 | $106.00 | $94.34 |
| 7.0% | $7.00 | $107.00 | $93.46 |
| 8.875% | $8.88 | $108.88 | $91.85 |
| 10.0% | $10.00 | $110.00 | $90.91 |
The last column shows why subtracting the rate from a total is wrong: at 10%, the net of $110 is $100, not $99.
Which Rate Actually Applies
The United States has no national sales tax. Each state sets its own rate, and counties, cities and special districts frequently add their own on top, so a single state can contain hundreds of distinct combined rates. The dropdown here offers statewide base rates as a starting point; the number on your receipt is the combined rate, and it is often one to four percentage points higher. For anything that has to be exact — an invoice, a tax return, a filing — take the rate from your state's Department of Revenue or from a recent receipt for the same address.
Five states levy no statewide sales tax at all, remembered by the initials NOMAD: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska and Delaware. Alaska is the exception worth knowing about, because although the state charges nothing, many boroughs and municipalities do, which is why an Alaska figure can still be non-zero.
Destination sourcing and online orders
For goods shipped to a customer, most states apply the rate at the delivery address rather than the seller's location — a rule known as destination sourcing. Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., states may also require remote sellers with no physical presence to collect tax once they cross a threshold of sales into that state, which is why online orders now usually arrive with tax applied. If you are checking an e-commerce receipt, use the rate for the shipping address, not the one where the business is registered.
Discounts, coupons and exemptions
A store discount reduces the amount the retailer actually receives, so tax is generally charged on the discounted price. A manufacturer's coupon is different in many states: the retailer is reimbursed for it, so the taxable amount stays at the full price. Work out the sale price first with the Discount Calculator and enter that figure here. Exemptions are the other common adjustment — groceries, prescription medicines and, in some states, clothing below a threshold are untaxed or taxed at a reduced rate. This calculator applies one rate to every line, so keep exempt goods out of the item list.
How US sales tax differs from VAT and GST
Sales tax is charged once, at the final retail sale, and is added at the register — which is why American shelf prices are quoted before tax. Value-added tax and goods and services tax are collected at every stage of production, with businesses reclaiming the tax they paid on inputs, and prices in most VAT countries are displayed inclusive of it. The practical consequence for a shopper is that a European price tag is what you pay, while an American one is not. If you are converting a VAT-inclusive figure to a net amount, the division formula above is exactly the right tool.
Rates and exemption rules change through legislation and local ballot measures. These figures are informational estimates for everyday budgeting and shopping, not tax advice or a filing tool — verify against your state's Department of Revenue, and consult a tax professional for business filings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Multiply the pre-tax price by the rate as a decimal, then add it. A $25 item at 8.875% carries $2.22 of tax and costs $27.22. To get to the total in one step, multiply by (1 + rate / 100) — so $25 × 1.08875 = $27.22. On a multi-item cart, add all the prices together first and apply the rate once to the subtotal.
Divide, do not subtract. The pre-tax price is total / (1 + rate / 100). On a $110 total at 10% that gives $100, whereas subtracting 10% would wrongly give $99, because the tax was calculated on the smaller number. The same formula extracts a net amount from any VAT-inclusive price.
They are statewide base rates offered for convenience, not combined rates, and legislation changes them. Counties, cities and special districts add their own tax in most states, so your actual receipt rate is usually higher. For anything that matters, take the rate from your state's Department of Revenue or copy it from a recent receipt for the same address and type it into the rate field.
Almost always the delivery address, under a rule called destination sourcing. Since the Supreme Court decided South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. in 2018, states can also require sellers with no physical presence there to collect tax once they exceed a sales threshold, which is why most online orders now arrive taxed. Use the rate where the package arrives, not where the seller is based.
On the discounted price when the retailer offers the discount, because that is the amount they actually receive. Manufacturer coupons work differently in many states: the retailer is reimbursed by the manufacturer, so tax may still be calculated on the full price. Calculate the sale price first with the Discount Calculator, then enter that figure here.
Many states exempt groceries and prescription drugs entirely or tax them at a reduced rate, and some exempt clothing below a price threshold. This calculator applies a single rate to every line, so run exempt goods separately or leave them out of the item list and add them to the total yourself.
No. Everything is computed in JavaScript on your device and nothing is sent to a server. The chosen rate and state are written into the page URL so a bookmark reopens with them set; item names and prices are not stored anywhere and disappear when you close the tab.
Almost always rounding order. This tool sums every item and then applies the rate once, rounding a single time; some registers compute and round tax line by line, which can shift the result by a cent or two on a long receipt. Rate precision is the other cause — enter the full combined rate, including the third decimal where one exists, rather than a rounded version.
Use Cases
Checking a Receipt Line by Line
Re-enter a disputed grocery or hardware receipt to confirm whether the register charged the right combined rate on the taxable items.
Buying Across a State Line
A shopper twenty minutes from a no-tax state prices the same $1,200 appliance at both combined rates before deciding where the drive pays off.
Budgeting a Big-Ticket Purchase
On a $3,000 furniture order, an 8.875% rate adds $266 — enough to change which delivery option or warranty still fits the budget.
Quoting a Client an All-In Price
A contractor builds a materials list as separate line items and quotes the tax-inclusive figure, so the final invoice holds no surprises.
Reconciling an Expense Report
Splitting a tax-inclusive travel receipt into net and tax so the two figures land in the right columns of an expense claim.
Setting Up an Online Store
Testing what a cart will cost customers in several destination states before configuring tax rules in a checkout system.