Add sales tax or VAT, or work backwards from the total.
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Uses of sales tax
- Working out the final price a customer pays
- Backing out tax from a receipt to find the pre-tax amount
- Quoting a VAT-inclusive price from a net figure
- Checking the tax line on an invoice
sales tax pitfalls
- Removing tax by subtracting the rate instead of dividing by 1 plus the rate
- Applying the rate to a tax-inclusive total when adding tax
sales tax questions (5)
How do I add sales tax to a price?
Multiply the price by the tax rate to get the tax, then add it on. For a $100 item at 8.25%, the tax is $8.25 and the total is $108.25. The calculator does both and shows the tax amount separately.
How do I find the price before tax from a total?
Switch to "Remove tax from a total" and enter the tax-inclusive amount and the rate. The tool divides by one plus the rate: $108.25 ÷ 1.0825 = $100.00. The difference, $8.25, is the tax that was included.
Why is removing tax not just subtracting the percentage?
Because the tax was charged on the smaller pre-tax price, not on the total. Subtracting 8.25% of $108.25 removes $8.93, which is too much. You must divide by 1.0825 instead, which correctly returns the original $100.
Does this work for VAT and GST too?
Yes. VAT, GST, and sales tax all work the same arithmetically: a percentage of the net price. Enter your local rate and the calculator adds or removes it the same way. It does not apply country-specific rules like exemptions or tiered rates.
Why might the total be a cent off from a receipt?
Rounding. Stores round each line or the tax total to the nearest cent, and rules differ by jurisdiction. This calculator rounds the displayed figures to two decimals, so a result can land a cent away from a specific till that rounds differently.