Find the sales tax on a purchase of $56.35 if the sales tax rate is 5%.

Explanation

We will identify the sales tax rate and the purchase price.  Then we can use the sales tax formula to find the unknown sales tax.  The sales tax rate is 5% and the purchase price is $56.35.

• This is the sales tax formula
  • Sales tax = sales tax rate x purchase price
• Substitute 5% for the sales tax rate and $56.35 for the purchase price
  • = 5%   x  $56.35
• Write 5% as a decimal 5% = 0.05
  • = 0.05 x $56.35
• Prepare to round the sales tax to the nearest cent (hundredth) by identifying the rounding digit and test digit
  • =$2.8175
• Since the test digit is 5 or greater, round up
  • ≈ $2.82

The sales tax on the $56.35 purchase is $2.82.