Connie paid a sales tax of 8 percent on her purchase. If the sales tax

Question

Connie paid a sales tax of 8 percent on her purchase. If the sales tax had been only 5 percent, she would have paid $12 less in sales tax on her purchase. What was the total amount that Connie paid for her purchase including sales tax?

A) $368

B) $380

C) $400

D) $420

E) $432

A. $368
B. $380
C. $400
D. $420
E. $432

gmatnub · Accepted Answer

E

3% = $12
1% = $4

100% = $400

8% = $32

400 + 32 = 432

MHIKER · Answer

Let, The Price of the  = x

so,
 1.08x - 1.05x = 12

0.03x = 12

x = 400

The Price  = $400

Sales tax  400*8 %  = 32

The Connie actually Paid  = 400+32= $432

The answer is  E

Maple · Answer

P*1.08=T1
P*1.05=T2=T1-12

combine eqns
p(.03)=12
12/.03=400

400*1.08=432
 E

sdas · Answer

Hi Baten, I did your way. But I only subtracted and not added. the shortcut shown is great. But I am not sure if % can be worked that ways always.

law258 · Answer

0.08P=C
0.05P=C-12

0.05P=0.08P-12
12=0.03P
P=400

0.05x400=32

400+32=432

E.

Seryozha · Answer

First we need to make a valid equation. Let's assign the constant sale price with a variable  x . We should bring two cases -- case 1st with the 8% and case 2nd with the 5% into equilibrium. So we have x+x(0.08) =x+x(0.05)+12. We need to add 12 to the 2nd case to maintain the equation. After solving the equation, we get that x equals to 400. But be  CAREFUL   and do not jump into the answer choices. I will advise everyone to reread the problem after relatively completing it. In the last step, we need to add 32 (which is the 8% of the 400) to 400 to get the satisfying answer.

SchruteDwight · Answer

x+\frac{(2x)}{25}=A

x+(\frac{x}{20})=A-12

x+\frac{(2x)}{25}=432

EDIT (13/11/2019): Even easier way

\frac{3}{100}x=12 \implies x+\frac{8}{100}x=432

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Let’s let n = the selling price of the item before tax. Thus, the total sales tax with a tax rate of 8 percent would be 0.08n, and the sales tax with a tax rate of 5 percent would be 0.05n. We are given that the difference in the two sales tax amounts is $12. Thus, we can create the equation:

0.08n - 0.05n = 12

0.03n = 12

n = 400

So the total amount paid was 1.08 x 400 = 432 dollars.

Answer: E

Quynguyen · Answer

Sales-------------Tax------------------Sales and Tax
x---------------- 0.08x------------------1.08x
x---------------- 0.05x------------------1.05x
1.08x - 1.05x = 12 
=> x = 400 
=> Total = 1.08x 400 = 400+400x 0.08= 432

BrentGMATPrepNow · Answer

Let's start with the following word equation:  (total cost including 8% tax) - (total cost including 5% tax) = $12

Let x = the cost of the purchase (without tax)

So we can write:  (x + 8% of x) - (x + 5% of x) = $12 
In other words:  (x + 0.08x) - (x + 0.05x) = $12 
Simplify:  0.03x = 12 
Solve:  x = 12/0.03 = 1200/3 = 400

So, the cost of the purchase (without tax) is  $400

So, the total amount Connie paid =  $400  + (8% of  $400 ) =  $432

Answer: E

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Let the Selling price of the product = S.P

Amount paid including the sales tax of 8 % = 108% of SP

It's given that if the sales tax had been only 5 percent, she would have paid $12 less in sales tax on her purchase.

i.e 108 % of SP - 105% of SP = 12

3% of SP = 12

We need to find amount paid including the sales tax i.e 108 % of SP =  \frac{12}{3} * 108  = 432 $

Option D is the answer.

Thanks,
  Clifin J Francis.

RastogiSarthak99 · Answer

My 2 cents on this:

I equated as follows:

Total purchase = x

0.05x = 0.08x - 12

x = 400.

Question asks for total purchase cost + sales tax, so 400 + 8% of 400 = 432

totaltestprepNick · Answer

One way to think about this question is to recognize that if the sales tax is 5% instead of 8%, Connie saves 3% of the price. However, since we are told that she saved $12, that means $12 is equal to 3% of the price. If we say that the sales price is x, the equation we can therefore make is:

12 = .03(x) --> x = 400

However, be careful not to pick C, since that is the trap answer. The question is not what is the sales price but what is the total amount that Connie paid, including sales tax. Since the sales tax is 8% of $400, or $32, the correct answer is $432, or E.

chloreton · Answer

We can also directly solve by :

108% = x
105% = x-12

Therefore cross multiply,

(x-12)*108 = 105x
Solve for x, we get x =432.

Therefore E

Connie paid a sales tax of 8 percent on her purchase. If the sales tax

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Connie paid a sales tax of 8 percent on her purchase. If the sales tax

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