Question

Sally wants to purchase a new snowblower for $349.99. The local sales tax is 7.5%. How much sales tax will she have to pay? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

a) $25.87
b) $26.25
c) $23.24
d) $24.25

Answer 1

To calculate the sales tax Sally must pay, the sales tax rate of 7.5% is converted to a decimal (0.075) and multiplied by the item's price. This calculation results in $26.24925, which is then rounded to the nearest hundredth, making the sales tax $26.25.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sally wants to purchase a new snowblower for $349.99, and the local sales tax is 7.5%. To calculate the amount of sales tax she will have to pay, we initially convert the percent to a decimal. The sales tax rate of 7.5% is equivalent to 0.075 in decimal form.

To find the sales tax amount, we multiply the price of the snowblower by this decimal:

1. Multiply the cost of the item by the sales tax rate: $349.99 × 0.075 = $26.24925.
2. Round the result to the nearest hundredth to get the sales tax: $26.24925 rounds to $26.25.
3. Therefore, the sales tax Sally will pay is $26.25, which matches option b.