Virginia charges a statewide base sales tax rate of 5.3%, made up of a 4.3% state tax and a 1% local option tax that applies everywhere in the Commonwealth. This calculator lets you add that tax to a pre-tax price or remove it from a tax-inclusive total, and you can override the rate to match a higher regional rate or the reduced grocery rate.
How it works
Sales tax is a simple percentage of the price. The calculator works two ways:
- Add tax:
total = price × (1 + rate/100), andtax = price × rate/100. - Remove tax:
pre-tax = total ÷ (1 + rate/100), and the tax portion is the remainder.
The rate defaults to 5.3% but is editable, so you can enter 6% for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads or 2.5% for groceries.
Example
A $100 pre-tax purchase at the 5.3% base rate:
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | $100.00 |
| Sales tax (5.3%) | $5.30 |
| Total | $105.30 |
To work backwards from a $105.30 total: $105.30 ÷ 1.053 = $100.00 pre-tax, with $5.30 of tax. All calculations run entirely in your browser — no amounts or personal data are transmitted.
Important: Virginia’s combined base rate is 5.3% (4.3% state + 1% local). Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads add an extra 0.7%, for a 6% combined rate in those regions. Groceries are taxed at a reduced 2.5% rate.