To write your steps, think on what you are doing when solving the problem and describe it with words.
First, write down a relation between the tax and the cost knowing that the cost corresponds to 100% and the tax corresponds to 5%:
[tex]\frac{\text{tax}}{5}=\frac{99.5}{100}[/tex]
Next, multiply both sides by 5 to find the tax:
[tex]\begin{gathered} \text{tax}=5\cdot\frac{99.5}{100} \\ \Rightarrow\text{ tax=4.975} \end{gathered}[/tex]
Since the question asks for the tax, then we have already found the final answer.
The total tax, is:
[tex]4.975[/tex]
