Answer: The required retail price before tax is $1495.79.
Step-by-step explanation: Given that the total cost of a laptop, after tax is $1578.06 and the local sales tax rate is 5.5%.
We are to find the retail price, price before tax.
The retail price will be equal to the total price after tax minus the sales tax price.
Let the retail price be $x
Then, according to the given information, we have
![x+5.5\%* x=1578.06\\\\\Rightarrow x+(5.5)/(100)* x=1578.06\\\\\\\Rightarrow (105.5)/(100)x=1578.06\\\\\Rightarrow 105.5x=157806\\\\\Rightarrow x=(157806)/(105.5)\\\\\Rightarrow x=1495.79.](https://img.qammunity.org/2020/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/dq3i3292tzgmtg0wrry6yq9j2ozik6px0u.png)
Thus, the required retail price before tax is $1495.79.