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Glite Dictionary
😣 To strain 💸 To tax too much
to overtax

to overtax

1 7.2
Make people or businesses pay too much money to the government
  • verb
  • /oʊvərˈtæks/
translation icon : sobretasar
  • The people have faith in the aristocracy, even though the nobles oppress them by overtaxing and stealing their lands.

Examples

  • For example, if we want to increase taxes on the upper class, we often argue this in terms of not overtaxing the middle class.

    Blog text (26)

  • I think you will find that overtaxing the "rich" will just make them hide more of their assets and income.

    Blog text (12)

  • Wasn't Joe the guy who made a name for himself talking about how Obama was going to overtax him on the six-figure income that he was planning on making from the business he was talking about buying?

    Blog text (20)

  • The ERP has been positively received in the main cocoa-growing regions such as Ashanti and Brong Ahafo, which suffered from previous government policies to overtax and underpay cocoa producers.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The government decided not to overtax the citizens to encourage more spending in the economy.

  • Many believe that overtaxing the wealthy could lead to capital flight and reduced investments.

  • Numerous experts warn that if we overtax small businesses, it may result in job losses and stagnation.

Antonyms

to undertax
  • Specialized
7.4

Make people or companies pay less money to the government than they should

How Burdensome

to overtax
1 7.2
to tax
150 1.9
exempt
71 4.4

Surface Forms

overtax infinitive
overtaxed past
overtaxed past participle
overtaxing present participle
overtaxes third person singular

Morphology

overtax = tax (transparent) = over + tax

A direct, productive combination of the prefix 'over-' (too much) with the verb 'tax' meaning to impose a charge, yielding 'to tax too heavily', which is readily inferable.

Etymology

Overtax uses over- meaning 'too much', like in overwork, and tax meaning 'a payment to the government'. So, to overtax people is to make them pay more than is fair, which is why the word means charging too much in taxes.