This page, a companion page to

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

, lists different taxes by economic design. For different taxes by country, see

Tax rates around the world A comparison of tax rates by countries is difficult and somewhat subjective, as tax laws in most countries are extremely complex and the tax burden falls differently on different groups in each country and sub-national unit. The list focuses on ...

. Taxes generally fall into the following broad categories: *

Income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

Payroll tax Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the em ...

Property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...

Consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added tax. However, a consumpti ...

Tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...

(taxes on international trade) * Capitation, a fixed tax charged per person *

Fees A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead (business), overhead, wages, costs, and Profit (accounting), markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Repu ...

and tolls * Effective taxes, government policies that are not explicitly taxes, but result in income to the government through losses to the public

Income tax

Capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all countries impose a c ...

is a tax on the sale of an investment, usually stocks, bonds, precious metals and property. * Corporate tax is levied on the earnings or profits of a corporation. *

Dividend tax A dividend tax is a tax imposed by a jurisdiction on dividends paid by a corporation to its shareholders (stockholders). The primary tax liability is that of the shareholder, though a tax obligation may also be imposed on the corporation in the ...

is a tax on dividends paid to shareholders of a company. * Excess profits tax is a tax on unusually high profits levied on a corporation. This was largely levied in the United States in times of war to prevent

war profiteering A war profiteer is any person or organization that derives profit from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term typically carries strong negative connotations. General profiteering, making a profit criticized a ...

, but has been proposed at other times. * Flat tax, an income tax where everyone pays the same tax rate. *

Gift tax In economics, a gift tax is the tax on money or property that one living person or corporate entity gives to another. A gift tax is a type of transfer tax that is imposed when someone gives something of value to someone else. The transfer must ...

, a tax on gifts given (generally paid by the person making the gift, not by the recipient). *

Gross receipts tax A gross receipts tax or gross excise tax is a tax on the total gross revenues of a company, regardless of their source. A gross receipts tax is often compared to a sales tax; the difference is that a gross receipts tax is levied upon the seller of ...

, a tax on revenues received by a corporation, even if they don't profit. *

Hall–Rabushka flat tax The Hall–Rabushka flat tax is a flat tax proposal on consumption designed by American economists Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka at the Hoover Institution. The Hall–Rabushka flat tax involves taxing income but excluding investment. The Hall� ...

, a flat tax on income that excludes investments. * Inheritance tax, a tax paid on money gained through inheritance *

Negative income tax In economics, a negative income tax (NIT) is a system which reverses the direction in which tax is paid for incomes below a certain level; in other words, earners above that level pay money to the state while earners below it receive money, as ...

, an income tax where the poor receive payment from the government, instead of owing taxes. *

Windfall profits tax A windfall tax is a higher tax rate on profits that ensue from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry. There have been windfall taxes in various countries across the world, including Mongolia, Australia, and on wind power i ...

is a tax on profits gained by a company that has some kind of large unexpected profit.

Payroll tax

FICA tax The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA ) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for reti ...

is a tax levied in the United States to fund

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

and Medicare. *

Pay-as-you-earn tax A pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE), or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in Australia, is a withholding of taxes on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as ...

is a tax paid on each paycheck to pay towards income tax. It is commonly refunded when taxpayers file income tax returns. *

Withholding tax Tax withholding, also known as tax retention, Pay-as-You-Go, Pay-as-You-Earn, Tax deduction at source or a ''Prélèvement à la source'', is income tax paid to the government by the payer of the income rather than by the recipient of the income ...

is money withheld from a paycheck, often to contribute to income tax liability.

Property taxes

Most property taxes charge for both the value of the land and the value of any buildings or other improvements on the land. * Carucage was a tax on land levied in Medieval England. The tax was only collected when the government required extra revenue and was never levied regularly. *

Council Tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...

is a tax in the United Kingdom on houses. *

Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It ...

was a tax paid to the Vikings to ensure the Vikings would not raid a person's land. * Kharaj is an Islamic tax on agricultural land. *

Land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation ta ...

is a tax on the value of land that does not tax the value of the improvements on the land. *

Tallage Tallage or talliage (from the French ''tailler, i.e. '' a part cut out of the whole) may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the ...

, a tax on land levied in Medieval Europe. *

Window tax Window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France, and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To avoid the tax, some houses from the p ...

was a tax levied in England based on the number of windows on a building.

Consumption taxes

A general tax refers to a tax that applies to all or most goods and services and where all are taxed at the same rate. An excise tax refers to a tax on a single item, which may be different from the tax levied on other items.

General taxes

* Sales tax is a tax on retail sales. * Value added tax is a tax on manufacturing that taxes the difference between the cost of raw materials and the cost of the final product. * FairTax is a proposal to replace every tax in a particular country with a single retail sales tax. To avoid having the tax being regressive, the tax system would also provide a rebate to every citizen subject to the tax. * Per unit tax, a tax charged proportionally to the amount sold, such as by cents per kilogram. *

Turnover tax A turnover tax is similar to VAT, with the difference that it taxes intermediate and possibly capital goods. It is an indirect tax, typically on an ad valorem basis, applicable to a production process or stage. For example, when manufacturing act ...

, a tax on intermediate and capital goods that is viewed as a precursor to a value-added tax. *

Use tax A use tax is a type of tax levied in the United States by numerous state governments. It is essentially the same as a sales tax but is applied not where a product or service was sold but where a merchant bought a product or service and then conv ...

, a tax charged on an item purchased in an area without a sales tax when brought to areas that has one.

Excise taxes

Current

* Alcoholic Tax is a tax that levies alcohol. *

Carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

is a tax levied on the carbon content of fuels, as a measure to income the impact of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. *

Fat tax A fat tax is a tax or surcharge that is placed upon fattening food, beverages or on overweight individuals. It is considered an example of Pigovian taxation. A fat tax aims to discourage unhealthy diets and offset the economic costs of obe ...

is a tax levied on unhealthy foods. *

Financial transaction tax A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than re ...

is a tax on certain financial transactions, such as the sale of stocks. *

Fuel excise A fuel tax (also known as a petrol, gasoline or gas tax, or as a fuel duty) is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuels used to power agricultural v ...

is a tax levied on fuels, especially for motor vehicles. *

Internet tax Internet tax is a tax on Internet-based services. A number of jurisdictions have introduced an Internet tax and others are considering doing so mainly as a result of successful tax avoidance by multinational corporations that operate within the digi ...

is a tax on internet services. *

Luxury tax A luxury tax is a tax on luxury goods: products not considered essential. A luxury tax may be modeled after a sales tax or VAT, charged as a percentage on all items of particular classes, except that it mainly directly affects the wealthy bec ...

is a tax on luxury goods. *

Soda tax A sugary drink tax, soda tax, or sweetened beverage tax (SBT) is a tax or surcharge (food-related fiscal policy) designed to reduce consumption of sweetened beverages. Drinks covered under a soda tax often include carbonated soft drinks, spo ...

is a tax on soda. *

Sin tax A sin tax is an excise tax specifically levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society and individuals, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, candies, soft drinks, fast foods, coffee, sugar, gambling, and pornography. In contrast to Pigovian ta ...

is a tax levied against any undesired activity. This includes taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. * Stamp Duty is a tax levied on official documents. *

Transfer tax A transfer tax is a tax on the passing of title to property from one person (or entity) to another. In a narrow legal sense, a transfer tax is essentially a transaction fee imposed on the transfer of title to property from one entity to another. ...

is a tax levied on the sale of property. *

Vehicle excise duty Vehicle Excise Duty (VED; also known as "vehicle tax", "car tax", and more controversially as " road tax", and formerly as a "tax disc") is an annual tax that is levied as an excise duty and which must be paid for most types of powered vehicles whi ...

is a tax on vehicles levied in the United Kingdom.

Historical

* Adet-i ağnam was an annual tax on sheep and goats levied by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Unlike most Ottoman taxes, this tax went to the national treasury, rather than regional treasuries. It was largely collected through tax farming. * Resm-i arusane, known as the bride tax, was a tax on marriage levied by the Ottoman Empire. * Rav akçesi, a tax levied on

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s by the Ottoman Empire *

Salt tax A salt tax refers to the direct taxation of salt, usually levied proportionately to the volume of salt purchased. The taxation of salt dates as far back as 300BC, as salt has been a valuable good used for gifts and religious offerings since 6050B ...

is a tax on salt. Salt taxes have been the least popular taxes in history. Salt taxes in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

were significant contributors to revolutions or uprisings in those countries.

Proposed

* Automated Payment Transaction tax is a proposed single tax system where all tax revenue would be collected by a small percentage of all transactions. *

Bank tax A bank tax, or a bank levy, is a tax on banks which was discussed in the context of the financial crisis of 2007–08. The bank tax is levied on the capital at risk of financial institutions, excluding federally insured deposits, with the aim of ...

es, propose to improve financial stability. *

Currency transaction tax A currency transaction tax is a tax placed on the use of currency for various types of transactions. The tax is associated with the financial sector and is a type of financial transaction tax, as opposed to a consumption tax paid by consumers ...

is a tax on currency conversions. **

Spahn tax A Spahn tax is a type of currency transaction tax that is meant to be used for the purpose of controlling exchange-rate volatility. This idea was proposed by Paul Bernd Spahn in 1995. Early history The initial idea for a currency transaction ta ...

is a proposed currency transaction tax that attempts to tax speculators while not taxing more necessary currency conversions. **

Tobin tax A Tobin tax was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another. It was suggested by James Tobin, an economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Tobin's tax was originally intended to pen ...

is a proposed tax on spot conversions between currencies. *

Robin Hood tax The Robin Hood tax is a package of financial transaction taxes (FTT) proposed by a campaigning group of civil society non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Campaigners have suggested the tax could be implemented globally, regionally, or uni ...

is a campaign to enact a package of financial transaction taxes. *

Natural resources consumption tax The natural resource consumption tax is a kind of tax which is aimed to help ensure long run sustainability by increasing awareness of natural resource consumption. International water The popular conception of international waters is that the ...

is a proposed tax on natural resources, including in ungoverned areas such as oceans.

Tariffs

* A

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...

is a tax levied on items crossing an international border. *

Tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

is a payment made from a less powerful country to a more powerful country as a sign of allegiance.

Capitation

* Poll tax, also called a head tax, is a fixed tax that must be paid by each person. *

Fiscus Judaicus The or (Latin for "Jewish tax") was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome. The tax measure improved Ro ...

, was a tax that Jews were required to pay in the Roman Empire * Jizya is a tax paid by non-Muslims in a Muslim state. Compare to

Zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ...

. *

Leibzoll The Leibzoll (German: "body tax") was a special toll that Jews had to pay in most European states from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Rate of the toll The origin of the Leibzoll may be traced to the political position of the Jews in Ger ...

was tax that Jews were required to pay in Medieval Europe. *

Temple tax The Temple tax (lit. מחצית השקל the half shekel) was a tax paid by Israelites and Levites which went towards the upkeep of the Jewish Temple, as reported in the New Testament. Traditionally, Kohanim (Jewish priests) were exempt from the t ...

was a Roman tax used to pay for temples. *

Tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

is a payment to a church or similar authority. While voluntary in modern times, historically these payments have been mandatory. *

Tolerance tax Tolerance tax or toleration tax (; german: Toleranzgebührer; ) was a tax that was levied against Jews of the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austrian Empire, between 1747 and 1797.JewishGen. Hungary: Assorted Census Records, 1781-1850 atab ...

was a tax levied in Austria-Hungary against Jews. *

is a tax paid by Muslims in a Muslim state. Compare to Jizya.

Taxes promoting marriage and reproduction

A number of taxes have targeted the promotion of marriage and childbearing. They include: * Aes uxorium, an ancient Roman tax on unmarried people *

Bachelor tax A bachelor tax is a punitive tax imposed on unmarried men. In the modern era, many countries do vary tax rates by marital status, so current references to bachelor taxes are typically implicit rather than explicit; and given the state of tax la ...

, a general term for punitive taxes on unmarried men * Ehestandshilfe, a Nazi-era tax on unmarried people *

Tax on childlessness The tax on childlessness (russian: налог на бездетность, translit=nalog na bezdetnost) was imposed in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, starting in the 1940s, as part of their natalist policies. Joseph Stalin's regim ...

, Eastern Bloc taxes on childless people * Resm-i mücerred, a bachelor tax in the Ottoman Empire

Fees and tolls

* Development Impact Tax is a fee charged to a developer to pay for the amount of infrastructure that will need to be built to accommodate the new residents or customers of the development. Such fees fund municipal government services such as

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

domestic water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

services and

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

. *

Fares A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various pa ...

are payments required to use

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

. * Toll, a fee required to use government infrastructure, usually a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, including

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

and

tunnels A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A Pipeline transport, pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used ...

. *

Tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

is a charge collected for attending schools and colleges. Many countries charge tuition for attending government run schools, making this a form of tax.

Effective taxes

Inflation tax Seigniorage , also spelled seignorage or seigneurage (from the Old French ''seigneuriage'', "right of the lord (''seigneur'') to mint money"), is the difference between the value of money and the cost to produce and distribute it. The term can be ...

is the value lost by

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

, by holders of cash and those on fixed incomes. Inflation causes those holding cash to lose money by reducing its real value, but at the same time, reduces the amount owed by debtors because the real value of the debt has decreased. *

Seigniorage Seigniorage , also spelled seignorage or seigneurage (from the Old French ''seigneuriage'', "right of the lord (''seigneur'') to mint money"), is the difference between the value of money and the cost to produce and distribute it. The term can be ...

is the difference between the value of money and the actual cost required to produce it.

Mints A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach given their association with natural byproducts ...

make a profit from this difference in value, so it is frequently viewed as a tax.

Other taxes

Corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid, forced labour, that is intermittent in nature lasting for limited periods of time: typically for only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of ...

refers to a person being forced to work instead of paying taxes. Such systems require certain classes of people to labor for a certain length of time, and the person would be free once the corvee obligations were met. While a form of

unfree labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

, it is also considered a tax, since a person's labor has value. Corvee was often implemented in areas where the poor had no money to pay as taxes. *

Church tax A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some religious denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church. The constitution of a number o ...

is any tax that goes to a church. *

Ecotax An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. ...

, a tax of any kind intended to improve the environment. *

Franchise tax A franchise tax is a government levy (tax) charged by some US states to certain business organizations such as corporations and partnerships with a nexus in the state. A franchise tax is not based on income. Rather, the typical franchise tax ca ...

is a tax levied on the net worth of a corporation. *

Khums In Islam, khums ( ar, خُمْس , literally 'one fifth') refers to the required religious obligation of any Muslims to pay 20% of their acquired wealth from certain sources toward specified causes. It is treated differently in Shia and Su ...

was a tax on items looted during war levied in Islamic States. *

Scutage Scutage is a medieval English tax levied on holders of a knight's fee under the feudal land tenure of knight-service. Under feudalism the king, through his vassals, provided land to knights for their support. The knights owed the king military s ...

was a tax levied in England. A person could pay scutage instead of serving in the military. *

Surtax A surtax is a tax levied upon another tax, also known as tax surcharge. Canada The provincial portion of the value-added tax on goods and services in two Canadian jurisdictions, Québec and Prince Edward Island, was formerly calculated as a surt ...

is an additional tax levied on some other tax. *

Wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...

is a tax on the value of everything owned by a person.

Taxation practices

* Ad valorem tax is any tax that is based on the actual value of the item being taxed. Nearly any type of tax can be an ad valorem tax. *

Direct tax Although the actual definitions vary between jurisdictions, in general, a direct tax or income tax is a tax imposed upon a person or property as distinct from a tax imposed upon a transaction, which is described as an indirect tax. There is a di ...

is a tax paid by a person, as opposed to a tax levied on a business that the person indirectly pays. *

Double taxation Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes). Double liability may be mitigated in ...

is when a tax is paid twice on the same income or item. * Indirect tax is a tax collected by an intermediary (such as a store) on behalf of the person who actually is required to pay (such as a customer) *

Lump-sum tax A lump-sum tax is a special way of taxation, based on a fixed amount, rather than on the real circumstance of the taxed entity.

is a tax that is a set amount, regardless of a person's wealth or an item's value. *

Pigovian tax A Pigouvian tax (also spelled Pigovian tax) is a tax on any market activity that generates negative externalities (i.e., external costs incurred by the producer that are not included in the market price). The tax is normally set by the government ...

is a tax on a good or service that causes a harm to society that is not paid by the users of that good or service. It is designed to pay for the

negative externalities In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...

of the good. *

Payment in lieu of taxes A payment in lieu of taxes (usually abbreviated as PILOT, or sometimes as PILT) is a payment made to compensate a government for some or all of the property tax revenue lost due to tax exempt ownership or use of real property. Canada The federal g ...

is a system where an entity that is exempt from taxation makes a payment to the government instead. This payment may be mandatory or voluntary. Usually it applies to property. *

Proportional tax A proportional tax is a tax imposed so that the tax rate is fixed, with no change as the taxable base amount increases or decreases. The amount of the tax is in proportion to the amount subject to taxation. "Proportional" describes a distribution ...

is any tax where the tax rate is the same for all payers. *

Progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...

is a tax that charges the rich a greater percentage of their income than the poor. *

Regressive tax A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high ...

is a tax that charges the poor a greater percentage of their income than the rich. *

Single tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...

is a tax system that has only one tax levied. *

Steering tax {{Taxation A steering tax or ecological incentive tax is a tax which aims to change the behaviour of the tax payer, as defined by lawmakers, and not particularly to increase tax revenue. The term is not sharply definable because many tax related la ...

is a tax that aims to change the behavior of the public. *

Tax break Tax break also known as tax preferences, tax concession, and tax relief, are a method of reduction to the tax liability of taxpayers. Government usually applies them to stimulate the economy and increase the solvency of the population. By this fi ...

is a policy where certain groups are exempt from taxes or can be lower taxes. *

Tax Farming Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contrac ...

is where a government grants persons the right to collect taxes and turn them over to the government. *

Tax holiday A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in th ...

is a policy where certain taxes are not collected for a period of time. *

Tax-free shopping Tax-free shopping (TFS) is the buying of goods in another country or state and obtaining a refund of the sales tax which has been collected by the retailer on those goods. The sales tax may be variously described as a sales tax, goods and servi ...

is a policy where visitors to a country can get their sales taxes or other taxes refunded.

Non-compliance

{{main article, Tax noncompliance *

Tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...

, legal techniques to avoid paying taxes *

Tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

, illegal techniques designed to avoid paying taxes *

Tax protester A tax protester is someone who refuses to pay a tax claiming that the tax laws are unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. Tax protesters are different from tax resisters, who refuse to pay taxes as a protest against a government or its policie ...

, a person who refuses to pay a tax they believe to be wrong or illegal *

Tax resistance Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax ...

, refusal to pay taxes as a protest measure *

Tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

, a country whose banking or tax laws allows companies to avoid paying taxes in other countries