To tax (from the Latin taxo; "I estimate") is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law.

Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities. Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax, and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid labour). A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government […] a payment exacted by legislative authority." A tax "is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority" and is "any contribution imposed by government […] whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."

The legal definition and the economic definition of taxes differ in that economists do not consider many transfers to governments to be taxes. For example, some transfers to the public sector are comparable to prices. Examples include tuition at public universities and fees for utilities provided by local governments. Governments also obtain resources by creating money (e.g., printing bills and minting coins), through voluntary gifts (e.g., contributions to public universities and museums),by imposing penalties (e.g., traffic fines), by borrowing, and by confiscating wealth. From the view of economists, a tax is a non-penal, yet compulsory transfer of resources from the private to the public sector levied on a basis of predetermined criteria and without reference to specific benefit received.

In modern taxation systems, taxes are levied in money, but in-kind and corvée taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states and their functional equivalents. The method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as Canada Revenue Agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States, or Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK. When taxes are not fully paid, civil penalties (such as fines or forfeiture) or criminal penalties (such as incarceration) may be imposed on the non-paying entity or individual.

Noun

tax (countable and uncountable; plural taxes)

1. (government) Money paid to the government other than for transaction-specific goods and services.

• corporation tax
• duty
• estate tax
• excise
• excise tax
• gift tax
• goods and services tax
• gross receipts tax
• head tax
• income tax
• inheritance tax

• land tax
• poll tax
• property tax
• personal property tax
• real property tax
• sales tax
• sin tax
• sumptuary tax
• transfer tax
• use tax
• utilities tax
• value added tax

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• Colonial Tax Consultants, Inc.
  ctctax.com
  Representing businesses and individuals who owe back taxes.
• Utility Audit Company
  utilityauditco.com
  Reviews accounts to determine eligibility for utility tax refunds.
• William Squibb & Associates
  canadian-sales-tax-consultants.com
  Canadian commodity and GST tax recoveries.