The bill for a meal at a restaurant is $54.00 before taxes are added. The sales tax rate is 8% and you want to leave an 18% tip based on the pre-tax amount. What is the final amount you will pay?

The final amount you will pay is $68.04.

The tip is determined by the pre-tax amount, so we calculate the tip based on the original bill, not after we've added sales tax.

To find the tip:

We can divide 54.00 by 100 to get 1% of 54. Then we multiply that by 18.

54 / 100 =.54

.54 x 18 = 9.72

Tip = 9.72$

To find the tax:

We can divide 54.00 by 100 to get 1% of 54. Then we can multiply that by 8 to get 8%.

54 / 100 =.54

.54 x 8 = 4.32

Tax = 4.32

Now we can add the tip and tax to the bill to get our total.

54 + 9.72 + 4.32 = 68.04

Total: $68.04