smc

Taking the discount of $40$% means you're only paying $60$% of the bill. That results in $10,000\cdot 0.6=\text{textdollar}6,000$. Likewise, taking two discounts of $36$% and $4$% means taking $64$% of the original amount and then $96$% of the result. That results in $10,000\cdot 0.64\cdot 0.96=\text{textdollar}6,144$. Taking the difference results in $6,144-6,000=\text{textdollar}144$, or answer choice $\boxed{144}$.