Meaning of tax In English

• 0 (an amount of) money paid to the government that is based on your income or the cost of goods or services you have bought:

  • They're increasing the tax on cigarettes.

  • Tax cuts (= reductions in taxes) are always popular.

  • What do you earn before/after tax (= before/after you have paid tax on the money you earn)?

• 1 to make someone pay a tax:

  • Husbands and wives may be taxed jointly/separately.

• 2 to need someone to make a lot of effort, either physical or mental:

  • He only has to read a short report - it shouldn't tax him too much.

• 3 (an amount of) money paid to the government, usually a percentage of personal income or of the cost of goods or services bought:

  • [ C ] income/sales/Social Security tax

  • [ C ] a property/gasoline tax

  • [ U ] The senator proposed a tax increase/cut.

• 4 to be difficult for someone or use too much of something:

  • All he has to do is wash a few dishes – that shouldn’t tax him too much.

  • Round-the-clock nursing care severely taxed her resources.

• 5 to require a person or organization to pay a tax:

  • He maintained that corporations were not being taxed enough.

• 6 an amount paid to the government based on a person's income, a company’s profits, the value of goods and services, etc, or this money considered together:

  • Offshore trading companies are liable to pay tax at a rate of 5%.

  • avoid/evade/escape tax Huge companies have the money to pay lawyers who advise them on ways to avoid tax.

  • a tax on sth The law states that foreign businesses must pay taxes on business conducted in the US.

  • increase/put up/raise taxes Many of the opposition's proposals will be very difficult to achieve without raising taxes.

  • introduce/impose/levy a tax (on sth) The city has levied a tax of €1,000 on any SUVs registered to city-center addresses.

  • abolish/cut/reduce a tax

  • lift/remove a tax

  • tax cuts/increases/rises The government must tighten its budget next year to offset poorly timed tax cuts.

  • If you do not make the tax payment by February 28, an additional 5% surcharge is imposed.

  • after/before tax The bank's bad debt provision forced profits before tax down to €152.7m.

  • exclusive/inclusive of tax(es) The hotel failed to provide room rates inclusive of taxes.

  • high/low tax(es) The area has very low property taxes.

  • basic-rate/higher-rate tax

  • a tax accountant/adviser/consultant

  • a tax authority/agency/office

• 7 to make people or businesses pay an amount of money to the government from the money they earn, or when they buy goods or services:

  • The state does not tax food or clothing.

  • tax sth as sth The profits from these investments are taxed as ordinary income.

  • tax sth at (a rate of) sth Earnings above the current threshold are taxed at 50%.

  • tax sb on sth Homeowners who sell land for development are taxed on the profit.

  • tax sb/sth heavily/lightly The government may tax housing more heavily.

  • Non-electrical machines are lightly taxed.