Question 683740
The sticking point ( for me anyway ) is the exact meaning
of " each pair of jeans cost $32 "
That sounds ( to me ) like the cost/jean is without tax.
Based on that,
I can divide $99.84 by 3 and that gives me 
( cost of 1 pair of jeans ) + ( tax on 1 pair of jeans )
it tells you that  ( cost of 1 pair of jeans ) = $32
So, now I have
{{{ 99.84 / 3 = 32 + t }}} where {{{t}}} is the tax on 1 pair of jeans
They applied the tax, {{{ t }}} to $32, so the tax RATE is
{{{ (t/32)*100 }}} ( to give you a percent )
Does this help?