Final answer:
When the sales tax is 8.25%, you pay 108.25% of the original price, which includes the original amount plus an additional 8.25% sales tax. To calculate the total cost, convert the tax rate to a decimal and multiply by the original price, then add the result to the original amount.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the sales tax in Mansfield is 8.25%, you will essentially be paying the original price of the item plus an additional 8.25% of that price as the sales tax. To find the total percent of the original price you will pay including sales tax, you add 100% (which is the original price) and the sales tax rate (which is 8.25%). This results in 108.25%. So you pay 108.25% of the original price after including the sales tax.
For instance, to calculate the total cost of an item or a service, you first need to find the amount of sales tax that will be added to the original price. To do this, you convert the sales tax rate from a percent to a decimal by dividing by 100. Thus, 8.25% becomes 0.0825 as a decimal.
Next, you multiply this decimal by the original price of the item. For example, if you buy something that costs 22.00, you calculate the sales tax by multiplying 22.00 by 0.0825, which equals 1.82 in taxes. Therefore, the total cost you pay is the original price plus the sales tax: 22.00 + 1.82 = 23.82.