How to Calculate Sales Tax in Excel

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The calculation tools of Excel spreadsheets make them well-suited to calculating financial transactions and reports. With an Excel spreadsheet, you can even work out sales tax on a transaction, as well as the total cost of the transaction after tax. To use these features, you'll need to enter the correct formulas in the appropriate spreadsheet cells.

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Step 1

Launch Excel and create a new document.

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Step 2

Click Cell A1 and enter a name to describe the purchase price before tax, like "Sales Price."

Step 3

Click Cell B1 and enter a name to describe the tax rate in decimal form, like "Sales Tax Rate."

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Step 4

Click Cell C1 and enter a name reflecting the actual tax cost, like "Sales Tax."

Step 5

Click Cell D1 and enter a name reflecting the total cost, like "Total."

Step 6

Click Cell A2 and enter the purchase price before tax. For example, 100.

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Step 7

Click Cell B2 and enter the tax rate as a decimal. For example, for 10-percent sales tax, enter 0.10.

Step 8

Click Cell C2 and enter the following formula:

=A2*B2

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Step 9

Click Cell D2 and enter the following formula:

=A2+C2

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