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property tax

property tax

85 3.2
A tax local governments charge on houses and land based on how much they are worth
  • noun
  • /ˈprɒpərti tæks/
translation icon : impuesto sobre la propiedad
  • To finance local services, the property tax is assessed based on the value of real estate.
  • pay property taxes
  • local property tax
  • property tax rates

If you go to a poor neighborhood, they're getting way less funding simply by the way that property tax works.

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Examples

  • This is how much I spend on average per month for insurance, property tax, upkeep, all of that.

  • The community has acquired the land because the owner has not paid the property taxes.

    Academic text (1994)
  • But instead they increased the property tax on people who had to pay property taxes.

  • I pay the property taxes.

  • What would you do about property taxes?

  • Well, this county raised property taxes, a little bit of cash goes a long way out here.

  • The rest of us got a modest cut for our property taxes as well.

  • Several parents were very much opposed to raising property taxes to support the public schools. Why?

    Academic text (2000)
  • The message is that the property tax must be sharply curtailed and that government spending, wherever it is, must be held in check.

  • On the other hand, the very reliance on local property taxes magnifies the differences in the wealth of communities.

    Academic text (1994)

Synonyms

land tax
vsproperty tax
  • UK
1 3.2

A payment to the local government for owning land

taxes the full real estate value including buildings and land
rates
vsproperty tax
  • Archaic
1 6.9

A tax local councils charge on houses and land to pay for local services

is a levy based directly on assessed real estate value

How High

surtax
  • Formal
7 7.5
property tax
85 3.2

Surface Forms

property tax singular

Morphology

property + tax

The meaning 'a tax on property' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'property' (an asset or real estate) with 'tax' (a government charge). This noun+noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'impuesto sobre la propiedad') and a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Property tax is a literal compound: property means land or buildings and tax is money people must pay to the local government. Imagine a town checking houses and charging owners more if their property looks bigger or more valuable, so 'property tax' means 'the money owners pay on their land or home'.