Sales Tax Calculator (US)

A sales tax calculator works out how much tax to add to a price, or how much of a receipt total is tax. Ours covers all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with the 2026 statewide base rates checked on each state revenue department website, plus an optional local rate for the county, city or special district taxes that sit on top. Choose add tax to go from a price to a total, or remove tax to split a total that already includes it. Bulk mode handles a whole column of prices at once and exports a CSV, and a full table lists every state rate alongside the average local rate from the Tax Foundation. Everything runs in your browser.

How to use the US sales tax calculator

1. 1 Choose add or removePick add tax if you have a price before tax, or remove tax from total if you have a receipt or quote that already includes sales tax.
2. 2 Select the stateChoose the state where the sale takes place. The statewide base rate fills in automatically, along with any notes such as reduced grocery rates.
3. 3 Add the local rateType the extra county, city or district rate for the exact location, or click the button to use the state's average local rate as a rough guide.
4. 4 Enter your amountType a single price, or switch on bulk mode and paste one amount per line from a spreadsheet. Dollar signs and commas are fine.
5. 5 Copy or download the resultRead the price, tax and total, copy them to your clipboard, or download the bulk results as a CSV file for your records or invoices.

How US sales tax works

There is no national sales tax in the United States. Instead, 45 states and Washington, D.C., charge a statewide sales tax, and in many of them counties, cities and special districts add their own local sales taxes on top. The rate you pay at the register is the combined rate for the place where the sale happens, which is why the same item can cost a different amount in two neighboring towns.

Sales tax is added on top of the shelf price, unlike VAT in Europe, where prices usually include tax. A $100 item in a place with a 7.25% combined rate costs $107.25 at the checkout. The seller collects the tax from the customer and sends it to the state, which then passes the local share back to counties and cities. Most states also have a matching use tax, which applies when you buy something taxable without paying sales tax, for example from an out-of-state seller that did not collect it.

Since the Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018, states can require online and remote sellers to collect sales tax once they pass an economic threshold in that state, commonly $100,000 of sales. For most online orders the tax is now based on the delivery address rather than the seller's location, so businesses selling across state lines often need to track many rates.

Adding tax versus removing tax from a total

To add sales tax, multiply the pre-tax price by one plus the rate. At 8.25%, multiply by 1.0825, so $40.00 becomes $43.30, of which $3.30 is tax. To remove sales tax from a total that already includes it, divide by the same figure. A $43.30 receipt divided by 1.0825 gives $40.00 before tax.

The most common mistake is taking the rate off the total. Knocking 8.25% off $43.30 gives $39.73, which removes too much, because the tax was charged on the lower pre-tax price, not on the total. The calculator always divides, and in bulk mode rounds the tax to the cent on each line, which matches how most receipts and invoices are worked out. If your point-of-sale system rounds on the whole invoice instead, totals can differ by a cent or two.

States with no statewide sales tax

Five states do not have a general statewide sales tax, though that does not always mean you pay nothing:

• Alaska: no state sales tax, but many cities and boroughs charge their own local sales tax, so check the local rate for the place of sale.
• Delaware: no state or local sales tax. Businesses pay a gross receipts tax instead, which is not added to your receipt.
• Montana: no general sales tax, although some resort communities charge a local resort tax on certain goods and services.
• New Hampshire: no general sales tax, but a meals and rooms tax applies to restaurant meals, hotel stays and car rentals.
• Oregon: no general sales tax at state or local level.

Local sales taxes and why they vary

In most states the statewide rate is only part of the story. Counties, cities, transit authorities and special districts can add their own rates, so the combined rate depends on the exact address, not just the ZIP code, because ZIP codes often cross city and county lines. Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Washington and Alabama have some of the highest combined rates in the country once local taxes are included, while Colorado has the lowest state rate at 2.9% but often substantial local taxes.

Some states do not allow local sales taxes at all, including Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Rhode Island, so the state rate is the rate everywhere. A few build a mandatory local portion into the statewide figure: California's 7.25% includes 1.25% of local tax, Utah's 6.1% includes 1.25%, and Virginia's 5.3% includes 1%. The calculator follows the Tax Foundation in showing those combined statewide figures as the state rate.

For the exact local rate, use your state revenue department's rate lookup tool, which usually finds the rate for a street address. The calculator offers each state's population-weighted average local rate from the Tax Foundation as a quick estimate, but treat it as a guide only.

Groceries, exemptions and special taxes

What is taxable varies as much as the rate. Most states exempt groceries or tax them at a reduced rate. In 2025 and 2026 several states cut grocery taxes further: Arkansas dropped its state rate on groceries to zero from January 1, 2026, Illinois repealed its 1% state grocery tax on the same date (many localities now charge their own), Mississippi cut its grocery rate from 7% to 5% in July 2025, and Alabama lowered its state grocery rate to 2% in September 2025. Clothing is exempt in a few states, such as Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and many states hold sales tax holidays for back-to-school shopping.

Some states tax services broadly while others tax mainly physical goods. Hawaii's general excise tax and New Mexico's gross receipts tax are technically taxes on the business rather than the buyer, but they are usually passed on to customers and cover many services. Arizona's transaction privilege tax works in a similar way. Prepared food, hotel rooms, vehicles and alcohol often carry their own rates. This calculator uses the general rate, so check your state's rules if you sell exempt or specially taxed items.

Sources and how up to date the rates are

The statewide base rates were checked in October 2026 on each state revenue department website and cross-checked against the Tax Foundation's State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 report, which lists rates as of July 1, 2026. The only statewide general rate change in 2025 and 2026 was Louisiana, which rose from 4.45% to 5% on January 1, 2025. Washington, D.C., has postponed a planned rise to 7% and keeps 6% through September 30, 2027, and South Dakota's 4.2% rate is due to return to 4.5% after June 30, 2027 unless lawmakers extend it. Montana's figure could not be confirmed on an official page when we checked, so it is marked as an estimate even though the state is widely known to have no general sales tax. Key sources:

• Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026: https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2026-sales-tax-rates-midyear/
• California CDTFA sales and use tax rates: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/sut-rates-description.htm
• Texas Comptroller local sales tax: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/faq/local.php
• New York State sales tax rates: https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/st/rates.htm
• Louisiana Department of Revenue state sales tax rate: https://revenue.louisiana.gov/tax-education-and-faqs/faqs/sales-tax-reform/what-is-the-state-sales-tax-rate/

Examples you can copy

Illinois state rate     6.25%
Local rate              4.00%
Combined rate          10.25%

$250.00 x 1.1025  = $275.63
Sales tax          =  $25.63

Receipt total $54.13 at 8.25%

Right:  $54.13 / 1.0825 = $50.00 before tax, $4.13 tax
Wrong:  $54.13 - 8.25%  = $49.66 (removes too much)

Common mistakes to avoid

Frequently asked questions