How to use Sales Tax Calculator
This sales tax calculator adds tax to a price or extracts the tax from a tax-inclusive total. Enter the amount and the tax rate to get the tax owed and the final price, or work backwards from a gross total to find the pre-tax amount and the tax component. It is handy for shoppers, freelancers issuing invoices, and anyone reconciling receipts.
- Enter the price or total amount.
- Enter the sales tax / VAT / GST rate as a percentage.
- Choose whether the amount is before tax or tax-inclusive.
- Review the tax amount and the final (or pre-tax) price.
- Copy or share the result for invoices and records.
Your data never leaves your device — 100% private processing.
Adding tax versus extracting tax
To add tax, multiply the net price by (1 + rate). To extract tax from a gross, tax-inclusive total, divide by (1 + rate) to recover the net amount and subtract to find the tax. Mixing these up is a common invoicing error — always be clear whether a quoted price already includes tax.
Sales tax, VAT and GST
Different regions use different consumption taxes: US sales tax is added at the point of sale and varies by state and locality; VAT (Europe) and GST (Australia, Canada, India and others) are typically built into displayed prices. Rates and rules differ widely, so use the correct rate for the jurisdiction and check whether your prices should be shown inclusive or exclusive of tax.
| State | State rate | Max with local | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon / Montana / NH | 0% | 0% | No state sales tax |
| California | 7.25% | ~10.75% | Highest base state rate |
| Texas | 6.25% | 8.25% | Groceries exempt |
| New York | 4% | ~8.875% | NYC adds city tax |
| Florida | 6% | ~7.5% | No income tax state |
| Washington | 6.5% | ~10.5% | Among highest total rates |
Worked examples
Add tax
Inputs: $120 · 8.5%
Result: $10.20 tax · $130.20 total
Extract tax
Inputs: $130.20 inclusive · 8.5%
Result: $120 net · $10.20 tax
Glossary
- Net price
- The price before tax is added.
- Gross price
- The final price including tax.
- VAT
- Value-added tax, a consumption tax usually included in the displayed price.
- GST
- Goods and services tax used in several countries, similar to VAT.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Why use Sales Tax Calculator?
- Two-way mode extracts tax from a gross price as accurately as it adds it to a net price
- Accepts any rate — state, county, VAT or GST — with a single percentage entry
- Tax-inclusive toggle prevents the common invoicing error of adding tax twice
- US state rate reference table saves you looking up the jurisdiction-specific figure
Common use cases
- Add the correct local sales tax to a quote before sending an invoice to a customer
- Recover the pre-tax amount from a receipt where the price was already tax-inclusive
- Split a large purchase into net goods cost and tax component for an expense report
- Estimate the checkout total on a large appliance purchase in an unfamiliar state
- Check whether a supplier's invoice correctly isolated the net amount and GST
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