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Discount calculator
Enter the original price and the percent off to see the sale price and how much you save. You can also add a second discount on top, add sales tax at the end, or work backwards from the price you paid.
| Step | Amount | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Original price | – | $80.00 |
| Discount 25% | −$20.00 | $60.00 |
What you enter stays only in this browser and is never sent to us.
This calculator gives an estimate. The price on the receipt depends on how the store rounds and applies coupons and tax, so check the receipt and the store's terms.
How to use it
- Pick what you want to find. Choose the sale price, the percent off or the original price. The fields change to match the question.
- Enter the prices and percentages. Type the original price and the discount. Use the extra discount field if the store takes a further percentage off the already reduced price.
- Add tax if it applies. In the United States sales tax is added at checkout, after the discount. Enter your local rate to see the final amount you will pay.
- Read the result. You see the price after each step, the amount saved and the overall percentage off. Choose your currency, or none if you only want numbers.
How to calculate a discount
A discount of 25% means you pay the other 75%. So the sale price is the original price multiplied by one minus the percentage written as a decimal. There are three questions people usually ask, and each has its own formula.
- Sale price = original price × (1 − percent off ÷ 100). The amount saved is the original price minus the sale price.
- Percent off = (original price − sale price) ÷ original price × 100.
- Original price = sale price ÷ (1 − percent off ÷ 100).
The third formula is the one people get wrong most often. If a jacket costs 60 after 40% off, the original price is not 60 plus 40% of 60. The 40% was taken from the original price, so you divide by 0.6, not multiply by 1.4.
Every step is rounded to the cent, the way a till does it. The amounts you see on screen therefore always add up.
Worked examples
Sale price with 25% off
A price of 80 with 25% off. The discount is 80 × 25 ÷ 100 = 20.00, so you pay 80 − 20.00 = 60.00. You save 20.00.
Percent off from two prices
You paid 41.93 for something listed at 59.90. The difference is 17.97, and 17.97 ÷ 59.90 gives a discount of 30%.
Finding the original price
An item costs 45 after 40% off. Divide by 0.6: 45 ÷ 0.6 = 75.00. Check: 40% of 75.00 is 30.00, and 75.00 − 30.00 = 45.
Discount, then sales tax
A price of 120 with 20% off becomes 96.00. With 8.25% sales tax added after the discount, the tax is 7.92 and you pay 103.92 in total.
Stacked discounts: why 30% + 10% is not 40%
When a store takes 30% off and then a further 10% off, the second percentage applies to the already reduced price, not to the original. The two discounts multiply, they do not add.
30% off, then an extra 10%
On a price of 100, the first discount leaves 70.00. The extra 10% is taken from that, not from 100, so it is 7.00 and the sale price is 63.00. You saved 37.00, which is 37% off and not 40%.
Order does not matter for the result: 10% first and then 30% lands on the same price. It only matters when the percentages are different from what the store advertises, for example when a coupon applies to the original price instead of the sale price. Check the terms.
Rounding at each step
With 19.99 and discounts of 15% and 5%, the price after the first step is 16.99 and after the second 16.14. Each step is rounded to the cent, so a receipt can differ by a cent from a calculation that rounds only at the end.
Sales tax and VAT: before or after the discount?
In the United States the price on the shelf usually has no sales tax. The tax is calculated at checkout on the discounted price, so a bigger discount also lowers the tax. This calculator applies the tax after the discount for that reason.
In most of Europe it is the other way round. Prices shown to consumers already include VAT (IVA in Italy, TVA in Romania), so the percent off applies to the VAT-inclusive price and nothing is added at the till. If you leave the tax field empty you get exactly this.
Rules about how a store must advertise a reduced price vary by country. In the EU, for example, the prior price shown next to a reduction is regulated. If a promotion looks misleading, check the store terms and your local consumer authority.
Mental math shortcuts
- Start with 10%. Move the decimal point one place: 10% of 85 is 8.50. Then multiply: 30% is three times that, 20% is twice.
- Half of 10% is 5%. 15% off is 10% plus 5%.
- Think in what you pay. 25% off means you pay 75%, which is three quarters. 50% off is half.
- Compare deals as a final price. "30% off plus 10% off" and "37% off" are the same thing, so convert everything to what you actually pay.
- Dates and budgets. For a sale that ends soon, count the days with the date calculator.
For quick checks use the table below: the price you pay for an item with an original price of 100. For other prices, scale proportionally.
| Percent off | Price after discount (on 100) |
|---|---|
| 10% | 90.00 |
| 15% | 85.00 |
| 20% | 80.00 |
| 25% | 75.00 |
| 30% | 70.00 |
| 40% | 60.00 |
| 50% | 50.00 |
| 70% | 30.00 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a discount?
How do I find the percent off?
How do I find the original price before the discount?
Is 30% off plus 10% off the same as 40% off?
Is sales tax calculated before or after the discount?
Why does my receipt differ by a cent?
Is my data sent anywhere?
Last updated Wednesday, October 14, 2026