US sales tax is set by states and topped up by cities, counties and special districts, so the same $50 purchase can carry a different tax a few miles apart. This calculator handles the three jobs people actually need: adding tax to a price, pulling the tax back out of a receipt total, and working out what rate was charged. It includes the state rate for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, plus the average local rate and the highest combined rate in each state, so you can see the realistic range.
State rates are as of July 1, 2026, from the Tax Foundation's midyear report, which is compiled from state revenue departments and the Sales Tax Clearinghouse. We checked them again in October 2026. The calculator runs in your browser.
How to use the sales tax calculator
- Choose what you need: Add tax to a price, Remove tax from a total, or Find the tax rate.
- Pick a state. The rate box fills with the state rate, and a line below shows the average local rate, the average combined rate and the highest combined rate.
- Click Use average combined or Use highest to switch the rate, or type the exact rate for your address if you know it.
- Enter the price before tax, or the total paid, depending on the mode.
- Read the tax, the total or the pre-tax price, with the formula and your numbers shown under the result.
Open Sales tax rates for all 50 states and DC to see the full table. You can filter it by name and click any row to use that state.
How sales tax is calculated
The math is the same everywhere. Only the rate changes.
- Tax on a price: tax = price x rate. Total = price + tax, or price x (1 + rate).
- Price from a total that includes tax: price = total / (1 + rate). Tax = total - price.
- Rate from a price and a total: rate = (total - price) / price.
Rates are written as percentages, so 7.25% becomes 0.0725 in the formula. Tax is rounded to the cent on the final amount.
Warning: To take tax out of a total, do not multiply the total by the rate. On a $109.03 receipt at 9.03%, that gives $9.85, but the real tax is $9.03. The rate applies to the pre-tax price, not to the total.
Worked examples
Adding tax in Texas
A $100 purchase at the Texas state rate of 6.25% has $6.25 of tax, for a total of $106.25. Texas cities and counties can add up to 2% more, and the average combined rate is 8.20%, so the same purchase in a typical Texas city costs about $108.20.
Adding tax at California's average combined rate
California's state rate is 7.25% (which already includes a mandatory 1.25% local add-on). With local district taxes, the average combined rate is 9.03%. A $59.99 item comes to $59.99 x 0.0903 = $5.42 of tax and $65.41 in total.
Removing tax from a receipt
You paid $109.03 and the rate was 9.03%. The pre-tax price is $109.03 / 1.0903 = $100.00, and the tax was $9.03. This is the number to use when you record an expense or check what a supplier charged.
Finding the rate
The price was $80 and you paid $86.60. The tax was $6.60, and $6.60 / $80 = 8.25%. Choose the state in the calculator to see whether that rate fits the range there.
Sales tax rates by state in 2026
The highest state rate is California's 7.25%. Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Tennessee follow at 7%. Once local taxes are added, the highest average combined rates are:
| State | State rate | Average local | Average combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 5.00% | 5.13% | 10.13% |
| Tennessee | 7.00% | 2.61% | 9.61% |
| Washington | 6.50% | 3.07% | 9.57% |
| Arkansas | 6.50% | 2.98% | 9.48% |
| Alabama | 4.00% | 5.46% | 9.46% |
| Oklahoma | 4.50% | 4.56% | 9.06% |
| California | 7.25% | 1.78% | 9.03% |
Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Alaska still lets cities and boroughs charge their own, with an average local rate of 1.82% and up to 7.85% in some places. The calculator's full table lists every state with its highest combined rate.
Why the average is not your rate
The average local rate is weighted by population, which makes it a good estimate for a typical purchase, not for a specific address. Colorado, for example, has a 2.9% state rate, an average combined rate of 7.89%, and local add-ons of up to 9.10% in some areas. Alabama is the opposite case: a low 4% state rate, but local taxes that average 5.46%, so a typical purchase there carries 9.46%. For an exact rate at an address, use your state revenue department's rate lookup.
Sales tax for online sellers
If you sell online, two rules decide where you collect:
- Marketplace facilitator laws. When you sell on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, TikTok Shop and similar marketplaces, the marketplace collects and remits sales tax for those orders in every state with a sales tax. You do not add it yourself. It still matters for your margins: on eBay, for example, the final value fee is charged on the tax too (see the eBay fee calculator).
- Economic nexus. On your own store, you must register and collect in a state once your sales there pass that state's threshold. The common threshold is $100,000 in annual sales into the state, but some states use a different amount or also count transactions, so check each state where you sell.
Most online sellers charge the rate for the buyer's delivery address (destination-based), and platforms like Shopify and Stripe can calculate it automatically once you register. Use this calculator to check a single order, estimate tax on a quote, or pull tax out of an expense.
If you show prices that already include tax or want to round prices after a rate change, AM Jarvis Bulk Edit Pro updates prices across a Shopify or WooCommerce catalog with a preview and one-click undo. For the rest of your pricing math, the percentage calculator, the discount calculator and the profit margin calculator cover discounts and margins.
Sales tax on an invoice with several items
When an order mixes taxable and exempt items, tax only the taxable lines. Say an invoice has $120 of taxable goods, $30 of exempt items and $15 of shipping that your state treats as taxable, at a 7% rate. The taxable total is $135, tax is $9.45, and the invoice total is $174.45. Run the taxable subtotal through Add tax to a price, then add the exempt lines. Our invoice generator lays this out on a printable invoice.
Sales tax formulas for spreadsheets
If you work in Excel or Google Sheets, put the price in A2 and the rate as a percentage in B2:
- Tax:
=ROUND(A2*B2, 2) - Total with tax:
=ROUND(A2*(1+B2), 2) - Price from a tax-included total in A2:
=ROUND(A2/(1+B2), 2) - Rate from price in A2 and total in C2:
=(C2-A2)/A2, formatted as a percentage
Round at the end, not at each step, or a long list of items can drift by a few cents from what a checkout system shows.
Use tax: when nobody charged you sales tax
If you buy something for your business from a seller that did not charge sales tax, your state usually expects you to pay use tax at the same rate instead. This comes up with equipment bought from small out-of-state sellers. The math is the same as sales tax, so the calculator works for it: enter the purchase price and your state's rate. Check your state revenue department's guidance for how to report it.
Exempt items
Most states exempt groceries and prescription medicine, or tax them at a lower rate, and several treat clothing differently. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota exempt most clothing, while Massachusetts and New York exempt clothing below a price limit. Exemptions follow detailed definitions, so check the state's rules for your product before you set up checkout. The calculator applies one rate to whatever amount you enter, so leave exempt items out of the amount.
Whose rate applies: buyer or seller location
For online and remote sales, you charge the rate where the buyer receives the goods (destination-based). For sales within your own state, a few states use the seller's location instead (origin-based), so an in-state online order may carry your local rate rather than the buyer's. Marketplaces and checkout tax tools handle this automatically once your registrations are set up, but it explains why two orders to the same city can show different tax if one came from an in-state seller.
Sales tax on discounts, shipping and returns
A store discount applied at checkout lowers the taxable price: a $100 item with 20% off is taxed on $80. A manufacturer coupon, which a third party reimburses, is often still taxed on the full price in many states. Shipping charges are taxable in some states and not in others, often depending on whether shipping is listed separately and whether the goods themselves are taxable. When you refund an order, the tax is refunded with it. These rules vary by state, so treat them as a starting point and check the state's guidance for your case.
Troubleshooting
My receipt shows a different tax
Your address probably has a local rate different from the state average. Type your exact rate into the rate box, or check whether some items on the receipt are exempt (groceries and clothing are exempt or taxed at a lower rate in several states).
Why does New Jersey's average look lower than its state rate?
Salem County collects 3.3125% instead of the statewide 6.625%, which pulls the population-weighted average to 6.60%.
My line items and the invoice total are a cent apart
That is rounding. Taxing each line and rounding it, then adding the lines, can differ by a cent or two from taxing the subtotal once. Both methods are used by real checkout systems. Pick one, use it consistently, and when you check a receipt, calculate it the same way the seller did.
The price already includes tax and I need the tax amount for my records
Use Remove tax from a total. It gives you the pre-tax price and the tax separately, which is what bookkeeping software asks for when you record an expense.
Can I use this for VAT or GST?
Yes, the math is identical. Choose Custom rate and enter the VAT or GST rate, for example 20% for standard UK VAT. Removing VAT from a gross price works the same way: divide by (1 + rate).
Does the calculator know my city's rate?
No. It knows state rates, population-weighted average local rates and the highest local rate per state. For a specific address, look up the exact rate and type it in.