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Printed August 25, 2026 · https://trycleartally.com/sales-tax-calculator
Estimates for educational purposes only — not financial advice. See https://trycleartally.com/disclaimer.
Sales Tax Calculator
State base rates as of January 1, 2025.
Added on top of the 7.25% state rate. Leave 0 if unknown.
California: Highest state base rate; local rates add more.
Sales tax
7.25% applied
Total to pay
$59.99 + tax
Curious what California takes from your paycheck too? See the California income tax estimate.
Uses each state's statewide general sales tax rate; city, county, and district taxes are added on top and vary within a state, so enter your local rate or a combined rate for an exact figure. A few states (Hawaii, New Mexico) levy a gross receipts tax that's passed on similarly. Estimate only, not tax advice.
Sales Tax Calculation
Sales tax
$4.35
State base rate plus any local rate entered. Local rates vary within a state. Not tax advice.
Calculated using the standard formulas described at https://trycleartally.com/methodology — for educational estimates only, not a quote or financial advice. Verify with your lender or financial institution before making decisions.
Add sales tax to any price. Pick your state for its base rate, drop in a local rate, and see the tax and the total you'll actually pay.
Reviewed by the ClearTally editorial team · Last updated July 23, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Sales tax is only one way a state reaches your wallet. To see what it takes from your earnings, try the income tax calculator, which estimates federal and state income tax together.
How it works
Sales tax is a straight percentage of the price: tax is the amount times the rate, and the total is the amount plus that tax. The only real work is getting the rate right, and that's where it gets fiddly. Every state sets a statewide base rate, but cities, counties, and special districts stack their own rates on top — so two stores a few miles apart can charge different totals on the same item.
This calculator starts you with the correct state base rate (data through January 1, 2025) and lets you add your local rate to reach the combined rate you actually pay. If you already know the full rate — say from a receipt — switch to the manual option and enter it directly. Five states charge no statewide sales tax at all: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware, though Alaska and Montana allow some local taxes.
Example: a $59.99 item in California, whose base rate is 7.25%, carries about $4.35 in state sales tax for a $64.34 total. Add a 2% local rate — bringing the combined rate to 9.25%, common in many California cities — and the tax rises to roughly $5.55. That 2 percentage points is small on one item but adds up fast across a full cart.
Sources & further reading
FAQ
The combined rate on a receipt is the fastest source — it already includes state, county, city, and any district taxes for that exact location. Failing that, most state revenue departments publish a rate lookup by address or ZIP code, because rates can change at city and even district boundaries. This calculator gives you the state base rate automatically; add your local portion on top, or switch to manual entry if you already know the full combined rate.
Five states levy no statewide general sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware — a handy way to remember them is the acronym NOMAD. Two come with an asterisk: Alaska has no state tax but lets local governments charge their own, so some Alaskan towns still add a few percent, and Montana allows limited local resort-area taxes. In Oregon, New Hampshire, and Delaware, you genuinely pay the sticker price.
No — what's taxable varies a lot by state. Many states exempt or reduce the rate on necessities like groceries and prescription drugs, while some tax prepared food and clothing and others don't. Services are often treated differently from physical goods. This calculator applies one flat rate to whatever amount you enter, so for a mixed cart with taxable and exempt items, enter only the taxable portion to get an accurate figure.
A retail sales tax is charged to the buyer at checkout. A gross receipts tax — used in states like Hawaii (its General Excise Tax) and New Mexico — is technically levied on the seller's total revenue, but businesses almost always pass it on to customers as a line item, so it looks and feels like sales tax at the register. We show the statewide rate for those states so the result is comparable, but the legal mechanics differ.
Divide the total by one plus the rate as a decimal. A $64.34 total at a 7.25% rate means the pre-tax price was 64.34 ÷ 1.0725 ≈ $59.99, and the tax was the difference, about $4.35. That's useful for expense reports or backing tax out of an all-in price. This tool calculates forward — price to total — so to reverse it, enter your best estimate of the pre-tax amount and adjust until the total matches.