Final answer:
The original price of the board game before tax is $28.00 (option a).
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the original price of the board game before tax, we can use the formula:
Original Price = Total Price / (1 + Tax Rate)
Given that Neal paid $1.54 in sales tax and the sales tax rate is 5.5%, we can calculate:
Original Price = Total Price / 1.055
Let's substitute the values and solve for the original price:
Original Price = $1.54 / 0.055
Original Price = $28.00
Therefore, the original price of the board game before tax is $28.00 (option a).