If the sales tax in Pennsylvania is 4% if the tax on an item is $80 find the cost of the item

To find the cost of an item before tax when you know the sales tax amount, you can use the following steps:

1. **Let $ x $ be the cost of the item before tax.**
2. The sales tax is 4% of the cost, so the tax amount is $ 0.04 \times x $.
3. According to the problem, this tax amount is $80.

So, the equation is:

\[
0.04x = 80
\]

4. Solve for $ x $ by dividing both sides of the equation by 0.04:

\[
x = \frac{80}{0.04} = 2000
\]

Thus, the cost of the item before tax is **$2,000**.

Would you like more details or have any questions? Here are some related questions:

1. If the tax rate increased to 6%, what would be the tax on the same item?
2. How much would the total cost be after tax in this scenario?
3. What would the tax be on a $5,000 item with the same 4% tax rate?
4. If the cost of the item was $1,500 before tax, what would the sales tax be?
5. How would the tax amount change if the item was discounted by 10% before applying the tax?

**Tip:** Understanding how to work backwards from a tax amount is useful for determining the original price, which is a common scenario in finance.

Learn how to calculate the cost of an item before sales tax using a step-by-step solution. Given a sales tax rate of 4% and a tax amount of $80, find the original cost of the item. Suitable for high school students learning about percentages and equations.

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