Examples of Discount & Tax

Example 1

Megan bought a bracelet for \$120. She received a 15\% discount, and she paid a sales tax of 6\%. How much did she pay for the bracelet?

The rule in solving discount and tax is “Always do discount first then do tax of the discounted price”

First, let’s solve for the discount

120 \times 0.15=18

Then, subtract to get the discounted price

120-18= 102

The \$102 is the sale price/discounted price.

Now, let’s get the tax

102 \times 0.06= 6.12

The tax is \$6.12

To get the final price, we have to add the discounted price to the tax.

102 + 6.12 = 108.12

Our total cost now is \$108.12

Example 2

Eric bought a laptop for \$350. He was given 5\% discount. The sales tax rate is 8\%. What is the sale price including tax?

The rule in solving discount and tax is “Always do discount first then do tax of the discounted price”

First, let’s solve for the discount

350 \times 0.05=17.5

Then, subtract to get the discounted price

350-17.5= 332.5

The \$332.5 is the sale price/discounted price.

Now, let’s get the tax

332.5 \times 0.08= 26.6

The tax is \$26.6

To get the final price, we have to add the discounted price to the tax.

332.5 + 26.6 = 359.1

Our total cost now is \$359.1

Video-Lesson Transcript

In this lesson, we will discuss percent discount and tax.

Percent Discount

First, let’s discuss percent discount.

Percent discount is how much you’re going to receive off of a price.

For example, a TV had an original price of \$1,000 which was put on sale at 20\%.

Some are confused with 20\%. This is not a value, it’s a ratio or a fraction.

So here we should find out what is 20\% of \$1,000 then subtract that.

Let’s compute it

1,000 \times 0.20

Just a side note: 20\% = 0.20

So, 1,000 \times 0.20 = 200.00

200 is the discount. This is what we should take off of the price.

In the example, since the TV was originally priced at \$1,000, we should subtract the discount of \$200.

1,000 - 200 = 800

The discounted price of the TV is \$800.

Discount & Tax

Again, the 20\% is not the actual price. We should find out what is 20\% of \$1,000 then subtract it from the original price of \$1,000 to get the discounted price.

Tax

Now, let’s move on to tax.

Tax is added to a price.

For example, a different TV is priced at \$1,000 with a tax of 6\%.

So we have to find out what is 6\% of \$1,000. Then add it to get the final price.

Side note: 6\% = 0.06

Let’s compute:

1,000 \times 0.06 = 60.00

So now the final price is computed as the original price of the TV plus the tax.

1,000 + 60 = 1,060

The total cost is \$1,060.

Discount & Tax 2

So for tax, find the amount then add it on the original price.

Discount and Tax

Let’s have more complicated problems involving discount and tax.

A very important rule in discount and tax is to:
Always do discount first then do tax of the discounted price.

For example, we have a TV priced at \$1,000, discounted for 20\% and should be taxed at 6\%.

To compute, let’s get the discount first.

1,000 \times 0.20 = 200.00

Then subtract to get the discounted price

1,000 - 200 = 800

The \$800 is the sale price/discounted price.

Then let’s get the tax

800 \times 0.06 = 48

The tax is \$48

So to get the final price we have to add the discounted price to the tax.

800 + 48 = 848

Our total cost now is \$848

Discount & Tax 3

Let’s have a quick recap.

We have a TV priced at \$1,000, discounted for 20\% and should be taxed at 6\%.

We got the discount of \$200 which was subtracted to the original price of \$1,000, the answer is \$800.
\$800 is the price we’re paying for the TV. The same price we’re going to use to get the tax.

The tax was computed by \$800 multiplied by the tax 6\% where we got the tax of \$48.

So the total cost is computed by \$800 for the TV plus the tax of \$48.

So the total cost of the TV is \$848.

After you finish this lesson, view all of our Pre-Algebra lessons and practice problems.