Sales Tax Calculator
Add US state-and-local sales tax to a pre-tax subtotal or extract the tax element from a tax-inclusive total. Enter the combined rate for the destination of the sale — typical US combined rates range from 0% to about 9.55%.
Total (with sales tax)
£107.00
- Pre-tax subtotal
- £100.00
- Sales tax
- £7.00
- Total (with sales tax)
- £107.00
- Sales tax rate
- 7%
Tax = Subtotal × Rate. Total = Subtotal + Tax. Enter the combined state-plus-local rate for the destination of the sale. Rates vary widely — five states (NH, OR, MT, DE, AK) have no statewide sales tax, while combined rates in some Louisiana and Tennessee localities exceed 9.5%. Always verify the current rate with the state department of revenue before relying on it for invoicing.
How to use this calculator
Enter the amount, pick whether you are adding sales tax to a pre-tax subtotal or extracting it from a tax-inclusive total, and type in the combined state-plus-local rate. Sales tax in the US is a destination-based tax in most states — the rate is set by where the buyer takes delivery, not where the seller is located. Five states have no statewide sales tax at all: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and Alaska (Alaska allows local levies that can bring the effective rate up to ~7%). For everywhere else, look up the current combined rate on the destination state's department of revenue site or on a sales-tax-lookup tool before invoicing.
How the calculation works
Adding tax: Tax = Subtotal × Rate, then Total = Subtotal + Tax. A $100 subtotal at a 7% combined rate gives $7 of tax and a $107 total. Extracting tax (reverse direction) uses the same algebra: Subtotal = Total ÷ (1 + Rate). A $107 tax-inclusive total at 7% gives $100 subtotal and $7 tax. Equivalent shortcut: Tax = Total × Rate / (100 + Rate), so at 7% the tax element is roughly 6.54% of the gross total. Unlike VAT, US sales tax is single-stage — only charged at the final retail sale to an end consumer, with businesses providing resale certificates to avoid being charged tax on inventory purchases.
Worked example
A Seattle-area retailer rings up a $200 pre-tax sale at the King County combined rate of 10.35% (state 6.5% + local 3.85%, as of 2024). Tax = 200 × 10.35% = $20.70. Total at the register = $220.70. The retailer remits $20.70 to the Washington Department of Revenue along with the rest of that month's collected tax. Reversing it: if the customer had been quoted "$220.70 tax included", the underlying subtotal is 220.70 ÷ 1.1035 = $200.00 and the tax element is $20.70 — same numbers, derived from the gross total instead of the net subtotal.
Frequently asked questions
How is US sales tax different from VAT or GST?
US sales tax is a single-stage retail tax: it is only charged once, at the final sale to an end consumer, at a combined state-plus-local rate set by the destination jurisdiction. Businesses that buy goods for resale provide a resale certificate and are not charged sales tax on those purchases. VAT (Europe, most of the world) and GST (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India) are multi-stage invoice-credit systems — every business in the supply chain charges output tax on sales and reclaims input tax on purchases, with the net difference paid to the tax authority. The arithmetic for "add tax to a subtotal" is identical in both systems, so this calculator works for VAT or GST too — just enter the relevant rate (20% UK, 10% Australian GST, 5% Canadian GST, etc.). The compliance and remittance machinery is what differs.
Which US states have no sales tax?
Five states have no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and Alaska — the "NOMAD" states. Alaska is a partial exception because it allows local governments to levy their own sales taxes, so the effective rate in some Alaska boroughs and cities can still be 5%–7% even though the state rate is 0%. The other four have zero sales tax across the board. Several other states have no local add-ons but do have a flat statewide rate (e.g. Connecticut 6.35%, Michigan 6%, Maine 5.5%). The Tax Foundation publishes an annual State and Local Sales Tax Rates report that ranks combined rates across all 50 states.
Is sales tax based on where the buyer is or where the seller is?
In most states, sales tax is destination-based — the rate is determined by where the buyer takes delivery of the goods. A few states use origin-based sourcing for in-state sales (Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Arizona, Illinois, California for most local taxes, among others), where the rate is the seller's location for sales within the state. For interstate e-commerce sales after the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Supreme Court decision, almost all states use destination-based sourcing — the rate at the customer's shipping address — once the seller crosses the state's economic-nexus threshold (typically $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions per year). When in doubt, the destination state's department of revenue is the authoritative source.
Are services taxable, or only goods?
It depends on the state. Historically US sales tax applied mainly to tangible personal property — physical goods. Most states now tax some services as well, but the list of taxable services varies enormously: Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, and West Virginia tax almost all services; California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Virginia tax very few. Common service categories that are taxable in many states include amusement and recreation, repair and installation, telecommunications, and some professional services. Digital goods (downloaded software, streaming, e-books) are taxable in roughly half of states, with the remainder either exempting them or treating them differently from physical equivalents. The state department of revenue publishes a definitive taxable-services list for each jurisdiction.
How do I extract the sales tax from a receipt that only shows the total?
Divide the gross total by (1 + the combined rate as a decimal). At a 7% combined rate that's total ÷ 1.07. A $214 receipt with 7% included becomes a $200 subtotal and $14 of tax. Equivalently, multiply the total by the rate divided by (100 + rate) — at 7% that is 7/107 ≈ 0.0654, so 6.54% of the gross is tax. This is how bookkeeping systems back out the taxable subtotal when only the gross is on the receipt. The calculator does this automatically when you select "Extract sales tax from a tax-inclusive total".
Do I need to charge sales tax if I sell online to another state?
After the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Supreme Court ruling, online sellers must collect sales tax in any state where they exceed that state's economic-nexus threshold, even with no physical presence there. The most common threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions per year into that state, though the specifics vary (some states have raised the threshold, dropped the transaction count, or set different dollar amounts). Marketplace-facilitator laws shift the collection duty to platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay for sales made through them — the seller usually does not collect tax on those orders. Direct-to-consumer e-commerce sellers, however, do need to monitor their nexus footprint and register with each state where they cross the threshold. This calculator handles the arithmetic; the registration and remittance side warrants a sales-tax compliance tool or a CPA.