The Internal Revenue Service has introduced a new online tool – The Sales Tax Calculator – to help individual taxpayers determine the amount of optional general sales tax that they are eligible to claim on their tax return. The tool replaces the traditional use of the general sales tax tables in Publication 600, State and Local General Sales Tax, for 2006 returns or can also be replaced for the 2005 Instructions for Schedules A&B. The calculator is completely anonymous and the information collected is exclusively used to determine the taxpayer’s total allowable deduction to be reflected on Schedule A. All entries made are automatically erased when the user exits the calculator or starts over. The taxpayer inputs a few entries from Form 1040 and their ZIP Code, and the calculator will figure the amount of state and local sales tax the taxpayer can claim. Moreover, the Sales Tax Calculator may still be used even if state and local sales tax rates changed during the year. The tool is available at http://www.IRS.gov. Enter Sales Tax Calculator into the search box. (Internal Revenue Services Website; Sales Tax Calculator)