# Percent Off Calculator

Calculate the sale price after a percentage discount. Enter the original price and percent off to see your savings and final price instantly.

## What this calculates

Find out exactly what you will pay after a percent-off discount. Enter the original price and the discount percentage to see the sale price, how much you save, and the total with optional sales tax.

## Inputs

- **Original Price** ($) — min 0 — The original price before the discount.
- **Percent Off** (%) — min 0, max 100 — The percentage discount being applied.
- **Sales Tax Rate** (%) — min 0, max 25 — Optional sales tax rate applied after the discount.

## Outputs

- **Sale Price** — formatted as currency — The price after the percent-off discount.
- **You Save** — formatted as currency — The dollar amount you save with this discount.
- **Price After Tax** — formatted as currency — Final price including sales tax on the discounted amount.
- **Tax Amount** — formatted as currency — Sales tax charged on the discounted price.

## Details

The percent-off formula is simple: Sale Price = Original Price x (1 - Percent Off / 100). For example, 20% off a $79.99 item means you pay $79.99 x 0.80 = $63.99, saving $16.00.

A few quick mental math shortcuts can help when you are shopping. 10% off is just moving the decimal point one place left ($50 becomes $5 saved). 25% off is dividing by 4. 50% off is simply half the price. For other percentages, find 10% first and multiply from there.

Sales tax is always calculated on the discounted price, not the original. So that 20% discount also reduces the tax you owe. On a $79.99 item at 20% off with 8% tax, you pay $63.99 + $5.12 tax = $69.11 total. Without the discount, you would pay $86.39 including tax. That is $17.28 in total savings including the tax difference.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: How do I calculate 20% off a price?**

A: Multiply the price by 0.80 (which is 1 minus 0.20). For example, 20% off $50: $50 x 0.80 = $40. Another way: find 20% of the price ($50 x 0.20 = $10) and subtract it ($50 - $10 = $40). Both methods give the same result.

**Q: Is 30% off plus 20% off the same as 50% off?**

A: No. Stacked discounts are applied sequentially, not added together. 30% off then 20% off a $100 item: first discount gives $70, second discount gives $70 x 0.80 = $56. The effective discount is 44%, not 50%. The formula for stacked discounts is: Effective Discount = 1 - (1 - d1/100) x (1 - d2/100).

**Q: How do I figure out the original price from the sale price?**

A: Divide the sale price by (1 - discount / 100). For example, if the sale price is $63.99 after 20% off: $63.99 / 0.80 = $79.99 original price. This reverse calculation is handy when a tag only shows the discounted price and the discount percentage.

**Q: Is sales tax calculated before or after the discount?**

A: Sales tax is calculated on the discounted (sale) price, not the original price. So discounts reduce both the price and the tax amount. A $100 item at 25% off with 8% tax: discounted price is $75, tax is $6.00, total is $81.00. Without the discount, total would be $108.00.

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Source: https://vastcalc.com/calculators/finance/percent-off
Category: Finance
Last updated: 2026-04-08