How to add or remove sales tax
- Choose Add tax to go from a shelf price to the total, or Remove tax to find the price before tax from a total.
- Enter the Price and your local Tax rate.
- Read the result with the tax amount shown separately.
Working out the rate from a receipt
If you know the price and the tax but not the rate, divide the tax by the pre-tax price and multiply by 100. A receipt showing 0.80 tax on a 10.00 item means an 8% rate. You can then use that rate here to check other purchases from the same place.
Things that change the total
- Exempt items. Many states don’t tax groceries or prescription medicine, or tax them at a lower rate. Check before applying one rate to a mixed basket.
- Discounts and coupons. A store discount usually comes off before tax is added, so tax is charged on the lower price. Manufacturer coupons can be treated differently depending on the state.
- Shipping. Some states tax delivery charges and some don’t.
- Rounding. Tax is often rounded once on the whole bill rather than on each item, so adding up per-item tax can be a cent or two off.
Prices in the US are normally shown before tax, which is why the add mode is the default. Where prices include tax, as with VAT in the UK and Europe, use Remove tax or the VAT calculator.