Describe how sales tax can be a rate. Determine the sales tax for your state or a nearby state and calculate

the costs of different items after applying the sales tax.

States rely on sales taxes more than local governments do. States collected $441 billion from sales taxes in 2016, or 35 percent of own-source state general revenue (table 1). "Own-source" revenue excludes intergovernmental transfers. Nearly two-thirds ($291 billion) of that total came from general sales taxes, while the other one-third ($150 billion) came from selective sales taxes (or excise taxes) on tobacco, alcohol, and the like. Local governments collected $118 billion from sales taxes in 2016, or 11 percent of local government own-source general revenue. Of that total, $85 billion came from general sales taxes and $32 billion came from selective sales taxes. (Census includes the District of Columbia's revenue in the local total.)