How do i calculate tax on a purchase

Enter your U.S. address below and get the sales tax rate for your exact location.

Why can't I just use the ZIP code?

There are often multiple tax rates per ZIP code, county, and city. Therefore, more accurate rates are determined based on street address.

Your sales tax rate

Combined Tax Rate

%

Location

What do these rates mean?

• The combined tax rate is the total sales tax of the jurisdiction for the address you submitted.
• The jurisdiction breakdown shows the different tax rates that make up the combined rate.
• While most taxable products are subject to the combined tax rate, some items are taxed differently at the state and local levels, so be sure to apply the correct taxes to your sale.

These are the current rates for the date and time you submitted the address, but may change at any time with new tax legislation.

Calculate your total amount

See your sales tax rate applied to any item price

$

+ Sales tax rate

Tax Breakdown

Subtotal

Tax

Tax amount

Total

How to use this sales tax rate

• First, determine who's responsible to collect and remit the sales tax amount. 

• Then, determine if your product or service is taxable in the responsible party’s jurisdictions.

• Finally, implement the rate shown above to your product or service’s value.

Take advantage of these compliance resources

Get information about sales tax and how it impacts your existing business processes

The Avalara Tax Changes 2022 Midyear Update is now available. 
Read about 2022 nexus laws, industry news, compliance changes, and more.

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How do I know if my business is required to collect sales tax?

There are many ways to establish sales tax nexus — the connection between a business and state that creates a sales tax collection requirement — and no two state sales tax laws are exactly alike.

Determining which laws apply to your business is hard, but it’s a crucial step toward compliance. For more information, please refer to our seller's guide to nexus laws and sales tax collection requirements.

How does this sales tax calculator work?

When you enter the street address, the calculator uses geolocation to pinpoint the exact tax jurisdiction. From there, it can determine the corresponding sales tax rate by accessing AvaTax, our innovative, cloud-based sales tax calculation product.

This level of accuracy is important when determining sales tax rates. In some locations, rates for two adjacent addresses can be different. Relying on a city or ZIP code is not a reliable way to calculate sales tax rates.

How is sales tax calculated?

At a glance, calculating sales tax seems simple: Take the price of a taxable product or service and multiply it by the sales tax rate. With sales tax, though, it’s almost never that easy. The real trick is figuring out what needs to be taxed and then calculating the correct tax rate — which, depending on how your business operates, could mean learning the rules in any number of the more than 12,000 tax jurisdictions across the United States.

Want to learn more? Check out this article for more information on how to correctly determine sales tax.

What is my sales tax rate?

Though sales tax rates are typically set at the state level, some states authorize county, city, or local taxing districts to set their own rates and rules. With so many jurisdictions generating rates, rules, and boundaries, figuring out your sales tax rate is best accomplished with a street address rather than a city name, a street name, or a ZIP code.

Use our free sales tax calculator above to return a sales tax rate specific to any US street address.

I usually use ZIP codes to determine sales tax rates. Why doesn’t this tool use them too?

ZIP codes were created to help the U.S. Postal Service with the delivery of mail and are independent of any state revenue systems. The boundaries can change and often don’t line up with tax rate jurisdictions. This makes them the wrong tool to use for determining sales tax rates in the United States.

By basing sales tax on ZIP codes, you risk applying the wrong rates and remitting tax to the incorrect jurisdiction. Both of these errors increase your company’s risk of audit penalties, fines, and fees.

I don’t have time to look up the tax rate for every sale. Is there a faster way?

Avalara AvaTax is an automated sales tax solution that works with your ecommerce, POS, or ERP system to calculate rates in real time. If you're working with a developer, they can take advantage of the Avatax API to build sales tax rate determination into your application.

U.S. state sales tax rate details

How do I calculate sales tax from a total?

What is the formula to calculate tax?