How to Calculate Sales Price Using Sales Tax

Sales tax is a portion of the sales price.

Sales taxes, according to Investopedia, are revenues assessed on goods by a government entity. The seller is responsible to collect these taxes and forward the funds to the proper revenue-collecting agency. Rates and regulations vary from state to state, and municipality to municipality, so be sure to research the rules for the place you are doing business. You may need a certificate to collect taxes; if you don't have the right paperwork, fines can be steep.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

Instructions

1. Research the total amount you need to collect on sales tax for your point of sale. Be sure you are taking into account both state and local (if any) sales taxes.

2. Add up the total prices of the sale items for a customer's purchase.

3. Multiply the total sale price by the sales tax rate. For a sale of $250 with a 6 percent sales tax rate, the sales tax comes to $15 ($250 multiplied by 0.06).

4. Add the sales tax to the amount of the total sales for the final sales price. In this example, a sale of $250 with $15 of sales tax yields a total sale price of $265.

References

• Investopedia: Sales Tax