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Sales Tax Calculator

Add US sales tax to a price and see the tax amount and final total. Combine state and local rates, list multiple items, and exclude tax-exempt subtotals.

About this tool

The Sales Tax Calculator adds sales tax to a pre-tax price and shows both the tax amount and the final amount you pay. Enter a single taxable price, or paste a whole list of item prices (one per line) and the tool sums them into the taxable subtotal automatically. You can also enter a separate tax-exempt subtotal for items that are not taxed, which is added to the total but never has tax applied.

The math follows the standard US model. The combined rate is simply the state rate plus the local (county/city) rate: combined = state% + local%. The tax is tax = taxable_subtotal × (combined ÷ 100), rounded to the nearest cent, and the total = taxable_subtotal + exempt_subtotal + tax. The effective rate shown is tax ÷ taxable × 100, which equals the combined rate whenever there is a taxable amount — a quick sanity check that the rate was entered correctly.

Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded. Amounts are formatted with your locale's thousands separators and two decimal places. Because US jurisdictions stack a state rate with county, city, and district rates, keeping state and local as separate fields lets you reproduce a receipt exactly — enter 6 and 2 for an 8% combined rate, or put the whole rate in one box and leave the other at 0.

Frequently asked questions

How is the sales tax calculated?
Tax equals the taxable subtotal times the combined rate divided by 100, rounded to the nearest cent. The combined rate is the state rate plus the local rate, so entering 6% state and 2% local applies 8% overall. The total is the taxable subtotal plus any exempt subtotal plus the tax.
Can I add up several items at once?
Yes. Type one price per line (or separate them with commas) in the items box and they are summed into the taxable subtotal. When the items box is empty, the single taxable-amount field is used instead.
What is the exempt subtotal for?
Some purchases mix taxable goods with tax-exempt items (like certain groceries or resale items). Enter the untaxed portion in the exempt field: it is added to your final total but no tax is charged on it.
Why show an effective rate?
The effective rate is the tax as a percentage of the taxable amount. It should match your combined state-plus-local rate, giving you a fast way to confirm you entered the rates correctly before trusting the total.

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