Sales Tax Calculator

Sales tax is a consumption tax levied by state and local governments on the retail sale of goods and, increasingly, services. Unlike income tax — which is paid annually and withheld throughout the year — sales tax is collected at the point of sale by the seller and remitted to the government on a regular basis. As a buyer, you pay it in real time every time you make a qualifying purchase.

The United States does not have a federal sales tax. Instead, each of the 45 states that impose a general sales tax (plus the District of Columbia) sets its own base rate. On top of that, counties, cities, and special taxing districts layer additional local rates. The result is that the combined rate you pay depends on the exact jurisdiction where the sale takes place — not just the state, but the specific city block. In Illinois, for example, the base state rate is 6.25%, but purchases in Chicago carry a total combined rate of over 10.25%.

This calculator uses 2024 average combined rates (state + weighted average local) for each state. Your actual rate may differ based on your specific city or county. For precise rates, consult your state's department of revenue or the Tax Foundation State Sales Tax database.

Sales tax calculations follow one of two directions depending on what you know:

Tax Amount  = Pre-Tax Price × (Tax Rate ÷ 100)
Total Price = Pre-Tax Price + Tax Amount

Example: $85.00 purchase at 8.25% tax rate
Tax Amount  = $85.00 × 0.0825 = $7.01
Total Price = $85.00 + $7.01  = $92.01

Pre-Tax Price = Total Price ÷ (1 + Tax Rate ÷ 100)
Tax Amount    = Total Price − Pre-Tax Price

Example: $92.01 receipt total at 8.25% tax rate
Pre-Tax Price = $92.01 ÷ 1.0825 = $85.00
Tax Amount    = $92.01 − $85.00 = $7.01

Combined Rate = State Rate + County Rate + City Rate + Special District Rate

Example: California purchase in Los Angeles
State Rate:        6.25%
County (LA):       1.00%
City (LA):         0.75%
Metro Transit:     0.50%
Combined Rate:     8.50%  ← rate applied to purchase

The table below lists the 2024 state base rate and average combined rate (state + weighted average local) for all 50 states and D.C. Combined rates reflect average local rates as compiled by the Tax Foundation and may differ from your specific city or county rate.

A representative selection. For a complete list of all 50 states, use the state selector in the calculator above. Rates are 2024 averages — actual rates vary by city and county. Source: Tax Foundation, state revenue departments.

Sales tax exemptions vary significantly by state. What is tax-exempt in one state may be fully taxable in another. The categories below represent the most widely recognized exemptions across U.S. states — always verify your specific state's rules before assuming an item is exempt.

A sales tax holiday is a temporary period — typically a weekend — when a state suspends its sales tax on specific categories of goods. As of 2024, 17 states hold at least one annual sales tax holiday. These are most popular in the South and Southeast, where state sales tax rates tend to be highest. Planning major purchases around these dates can save 6–10% off the purchase price.

Dates and covered items change annually. Verify current-year details with your state's department of revenue before planning a purchase around a holiday.

Before 2018, a business was only required to collect sales tax in states where it had a physical presence — stores, warehouses, employees. In South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can require out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax based on economic nexus: a threshold of sales volume or transaction count in that state, regardless of physical presence.