Sales Tax Calculator
Verified 2026-04-29 Report an error
A sales tax calculator adds your local tax rate to a purchase price and returns both the tax amount and the after-tax total. Enter what you're buying and your local rate — the answer updates instantly.
Sales tax in the US is set at the state, county, and city level. Combined rates range from 0% (Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware) at the low end to over 10% in some California, Tennessee, and Washington jurisdictions. Online purchases are typically taxed at the destination rate — your delivery address, not the seller's — under the post-Wayfair rules.
Key takeaway
Sales tax is a flat percentage added on top of the listed price. The price you see on the shelf is not the price you pay — every transaction includes a state/local surcharge that funds public services. Knowing your effective combined rate (state + county + city + transit district, if any) is the only way to accurately budget for purchases.
Quick tricks
- Drop the decimal: 8% tax on $100 is $8. Quick mental estimates. Move the decimal in the rate one place left, then multiply by the price.
- 10% tax: just shift the decimal. $87.50 × 10% = $8.75. States/cities with combined ~10% rates (Tennessee, parts of California). Easiest mental math.
- For 8.25%, take 10% then subtract a fifth: ~17% off the 10% figure. Estimating tax in states near 8% (Texas, Arizona, Nevada). Faster than long multiplication.
- On a final total: divide by (1 + rate). $108 ÷ 1.08 gives the pre-tax amount. Reverse-calculating: you know what you paid, want to know the original price.
Examples
$100 purchase at 8.25% tax
On a $100 item at 8.25% sales tax, the tax is $8.25 and the total comes to $108.25. This is roughly the combined rate in many large Texas cities and a useful baseline for mental math.
$1,499 laptop at 9.5% tax
A $1,499 laptop in a 9.5% jurisdiction (such as Los Angeles County) carries $142.41 in tax for a $1,641.41 total. On larger purchases, even a 1% rate difference between adjacent counties translates into real dollars worth considering for big-ticket items.
Frequently asked questions
Which states don't charge sales tax?
Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Alaska does allow local jurisdictions to impose their own sales taxes, so some Alaskan cities do collect tax even though the state itself doesn't. The other four are tax-free at every level.
Is sales tax included in the price I see online?
Almost never in the US. Online retailers display the pre-tax price and add the tax at checkout based on your shipping address. Since the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Supreme Court ruling, even out-of-state sellers must collect sales tax for most states, so don't expect to dodge it just because the seller is elsewhere.
How is online sales tax calculated?
Online sales tax is calculated on the destination address — where the order ships, not where the seller is located. The retailer applies the combined state + county + city rate for that delivery address. This is why you'll see different tax amounts for the same item shipped to different ZIP codes.
How do I figure out the price before tax if I only know the total?
Divide the total by (1 + the tax rate as a decimal). For example, $108 at an 8% rate: $108 ÷ 1.08 = $100 pre-tax. Useful for reverse-engineering receipts or checking that you've been charged correctly.