Problem 9 · 1994 AJHSME
Hard
Fractions, Decimals & Percents
discounttax
A shopper buys a 100-dollar coat on sale for 20% off. An additional 5 dollars are taken off the sale price by using a discount coupon. A sales tax of 8% is paid on the final selling price. The total amount the shopper pays for the coat is
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Answer: A — 81.00 dollars.
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Hint 1 of 2
Read the order the problem hands you: the price keeps changing, and tax only lands on the FINAL selling price — so finish all the price-cutting before tax touches anything.
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Hint 2 of 2
Handle each cut in its own form: a percent-off means 'multiply' (or take a fraction away), but the coupon is a flat dollar amount you just subtract. Don't blend them.
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Approach: discounts first, then tax
- 20% off $100: 20% of 100 is 20, so the sale price is $80.
- Coupon: subtract a flat $5 → $75. This is the final selling price, so tax goes here.
- Add 8% tax: 8% of 75 = 6, so total = 75 + 6 = $81.00. (Tip: adding 8% in one shot is ×1.08, but '8% of 75 = 6' is the lighter mental step.)
- Trap to dodge: don't add the 8% tax onto the $80 before the coupon — tax is charged after every discount, and applying it early gives the wrong (bigger) total.
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