To calculate the total cost of the shoes, we need to consider the discount and the sales tax.
First, we apply the discount of $20 to the original price of $40:
Discounted Price:
$40 – $20 = $20
Next, we need to calculate the sales tax on the discounted price. The sales tax is 8% of the discounted price ($20):
Sales Tax:
8% of $20 = 0.08 * $20 = $1.60
Now we can find the total cost by adding the discounted price and the sales tax:
Total Cost:
$20 + $1.60 = $21.60
Therefore, the total cost of the shoes after the discount and including sales tax is $21.60.