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as the general sales tax rate. However, sales taxes on food, clothing, medical supplies, and motor vehicles are deducti- ble as a general sales tax even if the tax rate was less than the general sales tax rate. If you paid sales tax on a motor ve- hicle at a rate higher than the general sales tax rate, you can deduct only the amount of tax that you would have paid at the general sales tax rate on that vehi- cle. Motor vehicles include cars, motor- cycles, motor homes, recreational vehi- cles, sport utility vehicles, trucks, vans, and off-road vehicles. Also include any state and local general sales taxes paid for a leased motor vehicle. Don't include sales taxes paid on items used in your trade or business. You must keep your actual re- ceipts showing general sales taxes paid to use this method. Refund of general sales taxes. If you received a refund of state or local gener- al sales taxes in 2015 for amounts paid in 2015, reduce your actual 2015 state and local general sales taxes by this amount. If you received a refund of state or local general sales taxes in 2015 for prior year purchases, don't reduce your 2015 state and local general sales taxes by this amount. But if you deducted your actual state and local general sales taxes in the earlier year and the deduc- tion reduced your tax, you may have to include the refund in income on Form 1040, line 21. See Recoveries in Pub. 525 for details. Optional Sales Tax Tables Instead of using your actual expenses, you can use the 2015 Optional State Sales Tax Table and the 2015 Optional Local Sales Tax Tables at the end of these instructions to figure your state and local general sales tax deduction. You may also be able to add the state and local general sales taxes paid on cer- tain specified items. To figure your state and local general sales tax deduction using the tables, complete the State and Local General Sales Tax Deduction Worksheet or use the Sales Tax Deduction Calculator on the IRS website at www.irs.gov/ Individuals/Sales-Tax-Deduction- Calculator. CAUTION ! If your filing status is married filing separately, both you and your spouse elect to deduct sales taxes, and your spouse elects to use the optional sales tax tables, you al- so must use the tables to figure your state and local general sales tax deduc- tion. Instructions for the State and Local General Sales Tax Deduction Worksheet Line 1. If you lived in the same state for all of 2015, enter the applicable amount, based on your 2015 income and exemptions, from the 2015 Optional State Sales Tax Table for your state. Read down the “At least–But less than” columns for your state and find the line that includes your 2015 income. If mar- ried filing separately, don't include your spouse's income. Your 2015 income is the amount shown on your Form 1040, line 38, plus any nontaxable items, such as the following. Tax-exempt interest. Veterans' benefits. Nontaxable combat pay. Workers' compensation. Nontaxable part of social security and railroad retirement benefits. Nontaxable part of IRA, pension, or annuity distributions. Don't include rollovers. Public assistance payments. The exemptions column refers to the number of exemptions claimed on Form 1040, line 6d. What if you lived in more than one state? If you lived in more than one state during 2015, look up the table amount for each state using the rules sta- ted earlier. If there is no table for your state, the table amount is considered to be zero. Multiply the table amount for each state you lived in by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is the number of days you lived in the state during 2015 and the denominator is the total number of days in the year (365). Enter the total of the prorated table amounts for each state on line 1. However, if you also lived in a locality during 2015 that imposed a local general sales tax, don't enter the total on line 1. Instead, com- plete a separate worksheet for each state you lived in and enter the prorated amount for that state on line 1. CAUTION ! Example. You lived in State A from January 1 through August 31, 2015 (243 days), and in State B from September 1 through December 31, 2015 (122 days). The table amount for State A is $500. The table amount for State B is $400. You would figure your state general sales tax as follows. State A: $500 x 243/365 = $333 State B: $400 x 122/365 = 134 Total = $467 If none of the localities in which you lived during 2015 imposed a local gen- eral sales tax, enter $467 on line 1 of your worksheet. Otherwise, complete a separate worksheet for State A and State B. Enter $333 on line 1 of the State A worksheet and $134 on line 1 of the State B worksheet. Line 2. If you checked the “No” box, enter -0- on line 2, and go to line 3. If you checked the “Yes” box and lived in the same locality for all of 2015, enter the applicable amount, based on your 2015 income and exemptions, from the 2015 Optional Local Sales Tax Tables for your locality. Read down the “At least–But less than” columns for your locality and find the line that includes your 2015 income. See the instructions for line 1 of the worksheet to figure your 2015 income. The exemptions column refers to the number of exemptions claimed on Form 1040, line 6d. What if you lived in more than one locality? If you lived in more than one locality during 2015, look up the table amount for each locality using the rules stated earlier. If there is no table for your locality, the table amount is consid- ered to be zero. Multiply the table amount for each locality you lived in by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is the number of days you lived in the locality during 2015 and the denomina- tor is the total number of days in the year (365). If you lived in more than one locality in the same state and the local general sales tax rate was the same for each locality, enter the total of the prora- ted table amounts for each locality in that state on line 2. Otherwise, complete a separate worksheet for lines 2 through 6 for each locality and enter each prora- ted table amount on line 2 of the appli- cable worksheet. A-4