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Receipt verification
Your receipt shows only the total. Reverse-calculate to see the actual item cost and the tax separately.
Paid $107 with 7% sales tax? Get the original $100 price and the $7 tax in seconds. Built for shoppers, freelancers, and businesses who need accurate, audit-ready numbers.
Tap any state to auto-fill the combined state + average local sales tax rate into the calculator above.
★ NOMAD states have no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Delaware. Local rates may still apply in some Alaska municipalities.
A reverse sales tax calculator finds the original price of an item before tax was added, using only the final total and the tax rate. Where a normal sales tax calculator answers "what's $100 plus 7%?", this tool answers the opposite question: "I paid $107 — what was the item, and what was the tax?"
Designed so a first-time user finishes in under half a minute.
Type the final amount you paid — the figure on the bottom line of your receipt, invoice, or statement.
Type the rate manually, tap a common percentage, or pick your state to auto-fill the combined rate.
The pre-tax price, exact tax amount, and effective rate appear instantly — with the formula shown for audit trails.
One equation, two answers. The same formula is taught in every accounting program and used in QuickBooks, Excel, and Google Sheets.
In Excel or Google Sheets, use =A1/(1+A2/100) where A1 is the total and A2 is the tax rate percentage.
From a single receipt to month-end reconciliation, the same backward calculation solves all of these.
Your receipt shows only the total. Reverse-calculate to see the actual item cost and the tax separately.
Returning an item? Confirm the refund includes the proportional sales tax, not just the pre-tax amount.
Submit business expenses with the correct pre-tax base, since many deductions exclude the tax portion.
Split lump-sum deposits into revenue and sales tax payable for clean QuickBooks or Xero records.
Marketplaces like Amazon and eBay collect tax for you. Reverse-calc your payouts to find net revenue.
Want to charge a clean "$25 all-in"? Work backwards from the target total to find the pre-tax price to enter into your POS.
Combined state + average local rates for all 50 states, weighted by population. Use the search to jump to a state, or tap "Use" to load that rate into the calculator above. Tap any state name for a detailed breakdown (coming soon).
| State | State Rate | Avg Local | Combined |
|---|
Beyond a one-off receipt, here's where the formula earns its keep day-to-day.
Quick answers to the questions people ask most about reverse tax calculations.
A reverse sales tax calculator is a free online tool that finds the original pre-tax price of an item when you only know the final total (including sales tax) and the tax rate. It works backwards from the tax-inclusive price to separate the base price from the tax.
Example: if you paid $107 with a 7% tax rate, the calculator shows the item cost $100 before tax, and $7 was the sales tax.
The formula is:
Original Price = Final Price ÷ (1 + Tax Rate ÷ 100)
Then: Tax Amount = Final Price − Original Price.
Worked example: $107.50 ÷ 1.075 = $100.00 (original). Tax = $107.50 − $100.00 = $7.50.
Divide the total price by 1 plus the tax rate expressed as a decimal. So a $215 receipt at an 8% rate becomes $215 ÷ 1.08 = $199.07. The tax portion is the difference: $15.93.
You can do this in Excel or Google Sheets with =A1/(1+A2/100).
Yes. The tool uses the standard mathematical formula and rounds results to two decimal places. The built-in state rates reflect verified 2026 figures from the Tax Foundation and state revenue departments.
For official tax filings, always confirm the exact local rate for your specific ZIP code, since cities and counties can add their own surcharges on top of state and average local rates.
Five states have no statewide general sales tax — the easy mnemonic is NOMAD: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Delaware.
Note that Alaska, and a small number of localities in Montana and elsewhere, can still impose local sales taxes. Always check your specific jurisdiction.
The most common reasons:
• Bookkeeping: separating revenue from sales tax liability in QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks.
• Expense reports: reporting pre-tax amounts for business reimbursements.
• Tax deductions: many deductions apply only to the pre-tax base.
• Refund verification: confirming returns include the correct tax portion.
• Price comparison: comparing prices fairly across states with different tax rates.
• Audit reconstruction: rebuilding breakdowns when only the totals survive.
No. All calculations run entirely in your browser. Your inputs never leave your device, and nothing is sent to any server.
The optional "Save calculation" feature stores recent entries only in your own browser's local storage, on your device, for your convenience. You can clear them anytime with the "Clear" button in the history panel.
Yes. The math is identical for any percentage-based consumption tax — VAT in Europe and the UK, GST in Canada, Australia, India, Singapore and New Zealand, IVA in Mexico, and consumption tax in Japan.
Just enter the local rate manually instead of selecting a US state. For example, UK VAT (20%) on a £120 total: £120 ÷ 1.20 = £100 net, £20 VAT.
The calculator reverses tax on any single total at one tax rate. If your receipt includes a mix of taxable items, shipping (which is taxable in some states and not others), and exempt items (groceries, prescription drugs in most states), the result is the overall pre-tax-versus-tax split for the receipt.
For mixed receipts, run separate calculations for each tax-rate group for the cleanest breakdown.
Yes. Reverse sales tax calculator, sales tax decalculator, pre-tax price calculator, before-tax calculator, and backing out sales tax all describe the same operation: working from a tax-inclusive total back to the pre-tax amount.
Rates in the table are refreshed at least quarterly, with the next update scheduled after the Tax Foundation publishes its mid-year report. The current dataset reflects rates effective January 2026 and verified through April 2026.
Cities and counties can change local rates more frequently, so for high-stakes filings always confirm the exact rate for your specific address with your state revenue department or a service like Avalara AvaTax.
We compile rates from authoritative public sources and refresh them on a regular cadence. Everything below is publicly verifiable.