Meena Kumari goes to a shop and buys a saree, costing ₹ 5,225, including sales tax of 12%. The shopkeeper gives her a discount, so that the price is decreased by an amount equivalent to sales tax. The price is decreased by (nearest value).

### Concept & Logic The problem asks for the exact monetary value of the sales tax embedded in the total cost. If an item includes a $T\%$ tax, the base price represents $100\%$ and the final price represents $(100 + T)\%$. ### Step-by-Step Solution 1. Let the original Marked Price (without tax) of the saree be $x$. 2. The price includes a $12\%$ sales tax, so the final price represents $112\%$ of the Marked Price. $$1.12 \times x = 5225$$ 3. Solve for $x$ (the base price before tax): $$x = \frac{5225}{1.12} = 4665.178...$$ 4. Calculate the sales tax amount: $$\text{Sales Tax} = \text{Final Price} - \text{Base Price}$$ $$\text{Sales Tax} = 5225 - 4665.178 = 559.822...$$ 5. The shopkeeper decreases the price by an amount equivalent to this sales tax. We need to find the nearest integer value to $559.822$. 6. Rounding to the nearest value gives ₹ $560$. ### Exam Strategy & Shortcut The sales tax portion is simply the fraction $\frac{12}{112}$ of the total inclusive price. $$\text{Discount Amount} = \frac{12}{112} \times 5225$$ $$\text{Discount Amount} = \frac{3}{28} \times 5225 \approx 559.82$$ The nearest given option is 560. ### Common Pitfall A frequent error is calculating the $12\%$ discount directly on the final price of ₹ 5225 ($5225 \times 0.12 = 627$). Tax is calculated on the pre-tax amount, not the post-tax amount. ### Final Answer Therefore, the correct answer is **₹ 560**.