Question

When calculating sales tax, you must_____

A. multiply the sales tax percentage against the original cost of the purchase and then subtract it from that total
B. divide the sales tax percentage against the original cost of the purchase and then subtract it from that total
c. divide the sales tax percentage against the onginal cost of the purchase and then add it to that total
d. mutiply the sales tax percentage against the original cost of the purchase and then add it to that total

Answer 1

To calculate sales tax, multiply the sales tax rate as a decimal by the item's original cost and add the result to the original cost to find the total amount payable. The correct answer is option d.

Step-by-step explanation:

When calculating sales tax, you must multiply the sales tax percentage against the original cost of the purchase and then add it to that total. This is the correct method for determining the total cost including sales tax. To illustrate, let's consider a $150.00 item with a 10% sales tax. You would first convert 10% to a decimal, which is 0.10, and then multiply by the item's cost:

$150.00 × 0.10 = $15.00

Next, you add the $15.00 of sales tax to the original $150.00 for a total of $165.00. Similarly, for a $65.00 item with a 5% sales tax, you do the following calculation:

$65.00 × 0.05 = $3.25

Then, add the $3.25 of sales tax to the $65.00, totaling $68.25.