capital levy
- noun
- Specialized
:
impuesto sobre el capital
- The government proposed a capital levy to address the growing national debt by taxing wealth over a million dollars.
Examples
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Historically, a capital levy has been used as an extraordinary means to raise public funds.
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After the war, the government imposed a capital levy to help rebuild the country's infrastructure.
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Economists debated whether a capital levy would discourage investment or promote fairness.
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The capital levy was introduced last year.
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Many investors dislike the capital levy.
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After the economic crisis, many experts suggested implementing a capital levy to tax the rich and stabilize the economy.
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To fund public services without increasing income tax, the city decided to introduce a one-time capital levy on high-value properties.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: a 'levy' is a tax and 'capital' refers to funds/assets, so 'capital levy' transparently denotes a tax on capital assets. While the phraseology is somewhat formal and the nuance of a one-time measure is extra information, an average B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand the core meaning.
Etymology
The noun capital levy may come from the clear image of a government taking a single, large 'levy' from people's capital, meaning their money and property, like cutting one big slice from a pile of coins or houses. That's why it means 'a one-time tax on assets' used to raise public money.
