sales tax
- noun
- /seɪlz tæks/
- The cashier informed me that the sales tax on my purchase would be added to the final bill.
- pay the sales tax
- X percent sales tax
- state sales tax
And then you get down to things like sales taxes or consumption taxes are less harmful.
- And then you get down to things like sales taxes or consumption taxes are less harmful.
- You know, in Europe, they're bewildered when they come over here with sales tax, right?
- They randomly in some cases, increase the price on the shelf by the sales tax.
- And then sales tax and fees and bullshit tax and fuck you tax and stop sign tax and whatever.
Examples
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You're not buying as many products, you're not paying as much sales tax.
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Well, that wrap is $2.99 a yard plus sales tax.
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Now you have to pay sales tax on art that you sell.
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To get around all that nasty sales tax?
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Does sales tax apply to cakes and cookies, or only to one of those?
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So that is to make the sales tax as visible as the pre tax price.
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Yeah, but you still pay sales tax, gasoline tax, real estate taxes and all this.
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In some cases, the tax assessed was in excess of the county sales tax.
Academic text (2017) -
Equipment purchased from local manufacturers is given a sales tax exemption.
Academic text (2010) -
In addition, appropriate New York City and state sales taxes will be added to your bill unless you're exempt by law.
Synonyms
A charge people must pay to the government on income or property
A tax added to the price of goods and services
A tax added to the price of goods and services that businesses charge customers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tax imposed on the sale of goods and services' is directly and compositionally derived from 'sales' (the act/revenue from selling) plus 'tax' (a government charge), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a tax on sales. This noun+noun construction for taxation is cross-linguistically common and follows regular English compound patterns, making it immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
The term sales tax comes from the simple idea of a tax on sales: when you buy something the seller adds a small extra amount and gives it to the government. So, it means a tax you pay 'when you buy' an item.