How to Figure Out Sales Tax
If you don't figure out sales tax before buying stuff, you may have been unpleasantly surprised by how much more an item costs when the sales tax is added to it - the total cost is always more than the sticker price. Learning how to easily calculate sales tax will help avoid such situations. It really isn't hard, you just need a calculator. Follow these instructions to learn how to figure out sales taxes quickly and easily.
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Instructions
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If you don't already know, find out what the sales tax is in the state you are doing your shopping. Beware that some cities have higher sales taxes than the rest of the state. You could ask any sales person or check a receipt from an item you already bought.
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To calculate what the sales tax would be on an item you want to buy, use your calculator to multiply the price of the item by the state sales tax and then divide that by a hundred.
For example, if an item costs $50, and the state sales tax is 6.5%, then the sales tax on this item will be $3.25
(50 * 6.5 / 100 = 3.25). -
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To figure out the total cost of an item, add the sales tax on the item to the listed price. The item from the above example would cost $53.25
(50 + 3.25 = 53.25).
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Tips & Warnings
A lot of cellphones now include a calculator function, make use of it to calculate sales taxes on items you are considering buying.
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