Adding sales tax to a price
Sales tax = Price × Rate
Total = Price × (1 + Rate)
For example, $250.00 at 6% is $250.00 × 0.06 = $15.00 in tax, for a total of $265.00.
Removing sales tax from a total
Subtracting the rate from a total does not give the right answer, because the tax was calculated on the smaller, pre-tax price. Divide instead.
Price before tax = Total ÷ (1 + Rate)
Tax included = Total − Price before tax
For example, a $265.00 total at 6% is $265.00 ÷ 1.06 = $250.00 before tax, with $15.00 of tax included. Taking 6% off $265.00 would give $249.10, which is wrong.
Don’t know the rate?
Use the sales tax calculator to look up the combined rate for a ZIP code or city.