Calculators
Reverse Sales Tax Calculator
Work backwards from a tax-inclusive total to the price before tax and the sales tax amount.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
The tool
Enter your numbers below. Results update as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
Everything you enter stays on your own machine. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, which you can confirm in your browser network tab.
What people use it for
- Splitting tax out of receipts for bookkeeping
- Expense claims
- Checking a tax-inclusive price
- Pricing to a round total
About this tool
What the Reverse Sales Tax Calculator does
When a receipt shows only the total, you can recover the pre-tax price by dividing by one plus the tax rate. A common mistake is to subtract the rate as a percentage of the total, which takes off too much. This calculator does it correctly.
It also works as a sales tax reverse calculator.
Formula
- Pre-tax price = total ÷ (1 + tax rate)
- Tax = total − pre-tax price
Worked example
Using the starting values in the calculator above:
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Total including tax | $108 |
| Sales tax rate | 8.25% |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price before tax | $100.00 |
| Sales tax included | $8.25 |
| Common wrong answer (subtracting the rate) | $99.32 |
How to read the result
Subtracting 8.25% from a total gives the wrong answer because the tax was calculated on the smaller pre-tax amount.
Combined rates often include state, county and city taxes; use the combined rate for the location of sale.
Estimates only, not tax advice. Rates and thresholds change; confirm current figures with your tax authority or adviser.
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Questions
Questions about this tool
The things clients actually want to know — costs, timelines, ownership and what happens after launch.
Divide the total by one plus the tax rate. For 8.25%, divide by 1.0825.
Because the tax was applied to the pre-tax price, not to the total, so subtracting overstates the tax.
Yes, the same method works for any tax-inclusive price.
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