Question

If an items costs $41.04, including an 8% sales tax, what was the cost of the item before taxes?

Answer 1

Answer:

$38

Step-by-step explanation:

I solved this by doing a proportion, 41.04/108 = x/100 to find the original price before the 8% tax. To solve this proportion you have to isolate the variable, so you would do the cross product and multiply (41.04 x 100) and have that equal to 108x. So then because you have 108x = 4104, isolate x by dividing by 108 and you get 38, thus $38.

You can also check your work by multiplying 38 by 0.08 to find the amount of sales tax added, and if you do this you will get the value $41.04.