sales tax

eddy2017

eddy2017

Elite Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2017
Messages
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Dear friends and teachers:
This one looks easier, but for me, not quite so easy.:)
A company dropped the price of the laptop by 15%. The original price of the laptop was $845 and the price the customer paid after sales tax was $767.53.
Which of the following is closest to the sales tax paid by the customer?.
a. 6%
b. 6.5%
c.7%
d. 8%
e. 8.5%

Data given
Original price of the laptop $ 845
(Laptop price has a 15% discount).

Total price after sales tax %767.53.

Q: How much does the customer pay in sales taxes?.

So, if I knew the discount, I'd multiply it times the sales tax and would give us how much he paid.
I would set up something like this:
Tax * discount=amount paid.

How am I doing so far?.

Thanks for any hints.
eddy
 
Last edited:
Original price: $845
Price after 15% discount: ??? Can you figure it out?
Now we know the discounted price. Let's call it P.
The total price is $767.53. How is it related to P and the tax?
 
The discount is 15% of $845.
I have to pay 85% of the original price because I am getting a 15 % discount. (the original percent is always 100)
So,
.85*845
=718.25 amount discounted. (this is how much the 15% dropped the price to).
 
Last edited:
Now, knowing the amount discounted and what the customer paid after the sales tax I can solve for t. (sales tax)
Tax * discount= total amount paid.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
I will divide both sides by 718.25 to isolate the variable.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
718.25 718.25
t= 1.0686... This is the amount s/he paid in sales tax.
I am pretty sure this okay, but I see it is not remotely close to any of the choices given.
Here, I am at a loss about what to do.
 
Last edited:
eddy2017 said:
Now, knowing the amount discounted and what the customer paid after the sales tax I can solve for t. (sales tax)
Tax * discount=amount paid.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
I will divide both sides by 718.25 to isolate the variable.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
718.25 718.25
t= 1.0686... This is the amount s/he paid in sales tax.
I am pretty sure this okay, but I see it is not remotely close to any of the choices given.
Here, I am at a loss about what to do.
Click to expand...
Let's say you are buying something for $20. Tax is 5%. What's the total?
 
5% = 0.05
I convert tax percentage into a decimal by moving the decimal point two spaces to the left. 5%= 0.05
then,
I multiply the pre-tax value by the newly calculated decimal value in order to find the cost of the sales tax.
20* 0.05=1
Add the sales tax value to the pre-tax value to calculate the total cost. =21
I am paying $21.
 
eddy2017 said:
5% = 0.05
I convert tax percentage into a decimal by moving the decimal point two spaces to the left. 5%= 0.05
then,
I multiply the pre-tax value by the newly calculated decimal value in order to find the cost of the sales tax.
20* 0.05=1
Add the sales tax value to the pre-tax value to calculate the total cost. =21
I am paying $21.
Click to expand...
Correct. You followed all the steps to convert % into decimal, calculate % amount and add it to the price.
The question is, why didn't you follow these steps (in reverse order) to solve your problem?
 
eddy2017 said:
Now, knowing the amount discounted and what the customer paid after the sales tax I can solve for t. (sales tax)
Tax * discount= total amount paid.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
I will divide both sides by 718.25 to isolate the variable.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
718.25 718.25
t= 1.0686... This is the amount s/he paid in sales tax.
I am pretty sure this okay, but I see it is not remotely close to any of the choices given.
Here, I am at a loss about what to do.
Click to expand...
You say:

Tax * discounted price = total amount paid. ........................................Incorrect

Check your equation. It should be:

Tax * discounted price = total amount paid - discounted price.
 
Oh, okay. Let me answer this in order.
@#7 in reverse order?. I don't get it.
 
@#8
Tax * discounted price = total amount paid - discounted price.
I will do that.
t * 718.25 = 767.53 - 718.25
t * 718.25 = 49.28
Like this?. I want to confirm before solving for t.

If this is true, to be able to solve for t, I would have to 49.28/718.25?. How so?. Because whatever I do to one side of the equation i must do to the other side.
 
Last edited:
eddy2017 said:
@#8
Tax * discounted price = total amount paid - discounted price.
I will do that.
t * 718.25 = 767.53 - 718.25
t * 718.25 = 49.28
Like this?. I want to confirm before solving for t.

If this is true, to be able to solve for t, i would have to 49.28/718.25?. How so?. Because whatever i do to one side of the equation i must do to the other side.
Click to expand...
What do you get for 49.28/718.25?

How would you express the result of (49.28/718.25) as a percentage?
 
eddy2017 said:
Oh, okay. Let me answer this in order.
@#7 in reverse order?. I don't get it.
Click to expand...
In your problem you know the pre-tax price and total price. You need to calculate the tax.
In my problem you know the tax and the pre-tax price. You needed to calculate the total.
Do you see that the numbers here are connected by the same relationship? You know the relationship because you solved my problem correctly. Why not apply the same relationship/formula to your problem?
 
#13. Oh, I see the relationship now. Yes, totally true.
I will do that.
eddy2017 said:
0.0686
Wowowowowow!. I didn't get the 1!.
So, now, should I turn this decimal into percent and see if the result is the closest to one of the choices, right?.
Click to expand...
 
lev888 said:
In your problem you know the pre-tax price and total price. You need to calculate the tax.
In my problem you know the tax and the pre-tax price. You needed to calculate the total.
Do you see that the numbers here are connected by the same relationship? You know the relationship because you solved my problem correctly. Why not apply the same relationship/formula to your problem?

but in the problem you gave me it was easy because I had the percent of tax.
Let's say you are buying something for $20. Tax is 5%. What's the total? That was your problem.

Not here. Here i have to find how much the sales tax was. The percent I have is a percent of discount. Not of tax!.
Click to expand...
 
Now in percentage that would be sales tax = 6.86% .
Wow, I loved it!.
 
lev888 #13.
I would like to do it, but I am not understanding it. let me see.
In your problem you know the pre-tax price and total price. You need to calculate the tax. [lev888 wrote]
Let me see.
pre-tax price= $845
total price paid after taxes=$767.53.
So, I need to calculate the tax. (t)?.
Any hint to use the same procedure I used with your problem, but in reverse now?.
 
eddy2017 said:
lev888 #13.
I would like to do it, but I am not understanding it. let me see.
In your problem you know the pre-tax price and total price. You need to calculate the tax. [lev888 wrote]
Let me see.
pre-tax price= $845
total price paid after taxes=$767.53.
So, I need to calculate the tax. (t)?.
Any hint to use the same procedure I used with your problem, but in reverse now?.
Click to expand...
No, pre-tax price is not $845. Pre-tax price is what you get after applying the 15% discount.

Regarding reverse order of steps. The last step in my problem is calculating the total price by adding the pre-tax price and tax amount.
In your problem you know the total price and the pre-tax price. Can you calculate the tax amount?
 
Oh, great, it is after the discount is applied, then.
But I think that is the same computation I did at the beginning, or is it not?.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
I will divide both sides by 718.25 to isolate the variable.
t * 718.25 = 767.53
718.25 718.25
t= 1.0686...
But that was not right, according to the correction Subhotosh Khan made.
 
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