You go shopping and see the belt you need to match your new pants. The price of the belt is $17. But, the clerk says you owe $18.02 for your purchase. Why is the price higher? Some states charge sales tax.
Sales tax is a percent of the cost of an item. You add sales tax to the price of an item to find the total cost.
Example: The price of a book is $9.50. The sales tax rate is 6%. What is the total cost of the book?
Step 1: Change the percent to a decimal.
6% = 0.06
Step 2: Multiply the cost of the book by the decimal. This gives you the amount of sales tax.
$9.50 x 0.06 = $0.57
Step 3: Add the sales tax to the cost of the book.
$9.50 + $0.57 = $10.07
An item costs $130. The sales tax rate is 8%. What is the amount of sales tax?
I came up with $140.4?