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$32.07

Step-by-step explanation:

I am not sure - are we seeing the full information about this problem ?

because the problem description is strangely vague and confusing, as it uses "total cost" two times for not the same thing ...

either total cost means including tax or not including tax. but it cannot mean both ...

I think the most likely understanding of this problem is that the first price is without tax, and now we need to calculate and add the extra 6% tax to get the really total price to be paid.

I will solve this now based on this assumption.

100% = $30.25

1% = 100%/100 = 30.25/100 = $0.3025

6% = 6×1% = 6×0.3025 = $1.815 ≈ $1.82

the total price is then calculated either by

100% + 6%

or by

106% = 100%×1.06 = 30.25×1.06 = $32.065 ≈ $32.07

in both cases we get the same result, of course.

the solution is 12x-6y