Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
degressive tax

degressive tax

9.6
A tax whose rate gets lower as the amount taxed gets larger
  • noun
  • /dɪˈɡrɛsɪv tæks/
  • Specialized
translation icon : impuesto degresivo
  • The government proposed a degressive tax system to lessen the burden on high-volume producers.

Examples

  • Some economists criticize the degressive tax for favoring those with higher incomes.

  • The government introduced a degressive tax to encourage investment.

  • A degressive tax can be used to encourage investment in certain industries.

  • Many economists support a degressive tax system for its fairness.

  • The government proposed a degressive tax system to lessen the burden on high-volume producers.

  • Some economists criticize the degressive tax for favoring those with higher incomes.

  • A degressive tax can be an effective way to stimulate growth in emerging sectors.

Antonyms

progressive tax
4 3.9

A tax system where people with higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income

Surface Forms

degressive tax singular
degressive taxes plural

Morphology

degressive + tax

The meaning is directly compositional: 'degressive' (decreasing rate) simply modifies 'tax', so a learner who knows both words can infer a tax whose rate falls as the taxable amount rises. This is a regular adjective + noun pattern and has clear parallels in other languages, making the MWE transparent to learners who know the constituent words.

Etymology

Degressive tax uses the idea of getting smaller: think of degressive as 'going down' and tax as the money you pay, so the rate falls when the taxed amount gets larger, and that's why a degressive tax means a system where the 'rate goes down as the amount taxed goes up'.