TAXES

7 definitions found across Law Mind sources

TAXESAuthored
The Law Mind • 1198 words
Definition
Compulsory financial charges or levies imposed by a governmental authority on persons, entities, property, transactions, or income, collected to fund public expenditures and government functions. Taxes are distinguished from voluntary payments and from other governmental charges (such as fees or fines) by their compulsory nature and their general public purpose rather than any specific benefit conferred on the individual payer. Taxes arise in several overlapping legal contexts: 1. Public revenue law: The body of statutory and constitutional rules governing how governments assess, levy, collect, and enforce mandatory contributions from persons and entities subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Parliamentary or legislative taxes: Taxes imposed directly by legislative act, as distinguished from charges authorized by the legislature but assessed and levied by subordinate bodies or officials. 3. Local and municipal taxes: Assessments authorized by general law but imposed, rated, and collected by local authorities — counties, municipalities, school districts, and similar bodies — often called rates, levies, or assessments in historical usage. 4. Costs (historical usage): In English practice, "taxation" and "taxes" also referred to the formal court process of reviewing and approving attorney fees and litigation costs — usage now mostly confined to the phrase "taxation of costs." This is a distinct legal meaning unrelated to public revenue.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Listed only as "plural of taxis," reflecting that in standard modern English "taxes" is overwhelmingly understood as the plural of "tax" — money paid to government. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A charge, especially a pecuniary burden imposed by authority; a rate or sum assessed on person or property for public use. The common meaning and the legal meaning are largely convergent at the broadest level — both point to compulsory governmental charges. The gap appears at the margin: legally, taxes carry specific constitutional, structural, and procedural significance that distinguishes them from fees, penalties, assessments, and special charges. The legal definition also historically encompassed "taxation of costs" in court proceedings, a usage invisible in common understanding.
Common Confusion
Taxes vs. Fees and Assessments: Taxes are compulsory levies for general public purposes, not tied to specific services rendered to the payer. Fees are charges for particular governmental services or privileges. Special assessments are charges allocated to property owners who receive a defined local benefit (such as a sewer or paving improvement). The distinction matters constitutionally and procedurally: taxes trigger different due process, legislative, and appropriations rules than fees or assessments. Taxes vs. Taxation of Costs: In historical English and American legal practice, "taxation" frequently referred to the court clerk's or master's review of a bill of costs in litigation — entirely separate from public revenue law. Researchers encountering "taxation" or "taxes" in pre-twentieth century procedural sources should confirm which meaning is operative.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES Parliamentary (Legislative) Taxes: Imposed directly by statute; amount and incidence fixed by the legislature itself. Local, Parochial, and Municipal Taxes: Authorized by general law but assessed and levied by local bodies — commissioners, councils, boards. Called "rates" in English usage. Income Taxes: Levied on individual or corporate earnings; in the United States, requires specific constitutional authorization (Sixteenth Amendment). Property Taxes (Ad Valorem): Levied on the assessed value of real or personal property; traditionally the primary revenue source for local governments. Excise Taxes: Levied on specific activities, transactions, goods, or privileges — as distinguished from direct taxes on persons or property. Direct vs. Indirect Taxes: A constitutional classification of particular importance in American federal tax law; direct taxes historically required apportionment among states by population.
Why It Matters in Research
The word "taxes" in historical legal sources is not a stable term. Researchers must track three overlapping usages: (1) public revenue levies in the modern sense, (2) local rates and assessments that were called taxes in English and early American practice but are now often distinguished as special assessments or charges, and (3) the taxation of costs in litigation, which appears extensively in procedural treatises and court rules through the nineteenth century. Jurisdictional variation is substantial. Federal constitutional constraints on congressional taxing power, state constitutional uniformity clauses, and local enabling legislation all produce different frameworks. A "tax" valid under one jurisdiction's constitutional rules may be characterized as an unconstitutional fee or assessment under another's. The English sources — particularly Rapalje & Lawrence and the Black's excerpt — reflect a parliamentary framework in which the distinction between direct legislative taxes and locally-imposed rates was a central organizing principle. American law absorbed this distinction but transformed it through federalism, state constitutional provisions, and the Sixteenth Amendment. Researchers using English historical dictionaries to interpret American tax law should move carefully. The Bouvier entry cross-references "State Taxes" without independent definition — a reminder that Bouvier often fragments tax doctrine across multiple entries. Researchers relying on Bouvier should check related headings (Assessment, Levy, Revenue, Duty, Excise, Rate) rather than expecting a consolidated treatment.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary distinguishes parliamentary taxes — imposed directly by act of Parliament — from those imposed by subordinate bodies under parliamentary authority. The income tax is offered as the paradigm case of a parliamentary tax; a sewers rate, levied by commissioners of sewers rather than Parliament directly, is not. This structural distinction translates imperfectly into American federalism, where the relevant dividing line is between the legislature and executive or administrative bodies, not between Parliament and local commissioners. Rapalje & Lawrence reflects the English dual framework (parliamentary vs. local/parochial/municipal) and notes the separate procedural usage of "taxation" for the review of costs between party and party or between solicitor and client. The entry gestures toward both meanings without fully separating them — a source of confusion for researchers who do not already know which usage is operative. Bouvier's entry for Taxes merely redirects to "State Taxes," offering no independent analysis. This is consistent with Bouvier's tendency to organize tax-related doctrine under multiple distributed headings rather than consolidating it. Bouvier is more useful for specific subtopics (assessment, levy, duty) than for the general term. None of the three historical dictionaries adequately addresses the federal constitutional dimensions of taxation — the direct/indirect tax distinction, the uniformity requirement, or the Sixteenth Amendment — which are essential to American tax law research after 1895 and 1913 respectively.
Jurisdictional Note
In the United States, taxing authority is distributed across federal, state, and local governments, each operating under distinct constitutional constraints. Federal taxes must satisfy Article I uniformity and apportionment rules (as modified by the Sixteenth Amendment for income taxes). State taxes are subject to federal constitutional limits (due process, equal protection, dormant Commerce Clause) as well as state constitutional uniformity and classification requirements that vary significantly by state. Researchers should not assume that a doctrinal rule from one tier of government applies to another.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Taxation Law Mind Encyclopedia — Public Finance Law Law Mind Encyclopedia — Constitutional Limits on Legislative Power
Related Terms
Assessment; Levy; Duty; Excise; Rate; Tax Base; Tax Incidence; Direct Tax; Indirect Tax; Ad Valorem Tax; Revenue; Appropriation; Taxation of Costs (procedural); Fee; Special Assessment; Uniformity Clause; Sixteenth Amendment
TAXESmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
Such taxes as are imposed directly by act of parlia- ment, i. e., by the legislature itself, as dis- tinguished from those which are imposed by private individuals or bodies under the au- thority of an act of parliament. Thus, a sewers rate, not being imposed directly by act of parliament, but by certain persons termed "commissioners of sewers," is hot a parliamentary tax: whereas the income tax, which is directly imposed, and the amount also fixed, by act of parliament, is a parlia- mentary tax. Brown.
TAXESmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
(1254) and between solicitor and client, see Costs, p. 302 п. 28. Under statute. -Taxation under the government; sometimes "parliamentary," D. 60.) As to taxation between party and party, because their amount is fixed by the legislature. Taxes of the second class are called "local,” “parochial,” “municipal," &c., to denote that they are assessed and levied by local authorities. More often, in England, they are called "rates," and the term "taxes" is confined to imperial taxes. (See RATES.) Tithes (q. v.) are in the nature of local taxes, but are not usually so classified. 23. Imperial or parliamentary taxes includecustoms; excise duties; stamp duties; land tax, and income tax. (See the various titles; see, also, CONSOLIDATED FUND.) As to "assessed taxes," see EXCISE. 4. Of costs.-In procedure, taxation is the process of going through, and, if necessary, reducing, the bill of costs of an, attorney or solicitor by the proper officer. Taxation is of two kinds, in England: taxation in an action, matter or other judicial proceeding, and taxation under the Attorneys and Solicitors' Act. 6 and 7 Vict. с. 73. English Attorneys and Solicitors' Act is the remedy for a person who is dissatisfied with a bill of costs rendered to him by his solicitor, whether for services in an action, &c., or in non-contentious business, such as conveyancing. The general rule is that a client can only tax an unpaid bill within a year after it has been delivered, unless there are special circumstances, and that he cannot tax it after it has been paid, unless it was paid under pressure or under protest, &c., and in no case after a year from the payment. On the other hand, a solicitor cannot commence an action for the recovery of costs until a month after he has delivered to the client a signed bill, i. e. a bill signed by him or inclosed in or accompanied by a letter signed by him, and if the client applies for taxation the solicitor is restrained from commencing an action for his costs pending the taxation. As to taxation generally, both in causes and under the statute, see Dan. Ch. Pr. 1238, 1726; Arch. Pr. 120, 430. As to taxation of parliamentary costs, see Stats. 10 and 11 Vict. c. 69; 42 and 43 Id. 17; May Parl. Pr. 842. See, also, HIGHER AND LOWER SCALE. TAXATION, (defined). 21 Minn. 526, 528; 3 Ohio St. 1. 664; 40 25. In a cause, &c. -Taxation in a cause, &c., takes place where costs are awarded to a party and made payable either-(1) by his opponent; or (2) out of a trust fund or the 31, 36. estate of a deceased person, &c. In the former case, the taxation is voluntary, i. e. the person 189, 193. who is ordered to pay the costs is entitled to have. them taxed, but he may pay them without taxation if he likes; in the latter case, the taxation is generally compulsory, i. e. the costs must be taxed for the protection of the persons interested in the fund or estate, unless they are all sui juris and dispense with taxation. Taxation of the latter kind appears to occur only in equitable and probate actions. 6. Review of. When a party has reason to complain of the manner in which the master (or other officer) has taxed the costs, he may carry in objections before the officer, showing the items objected to, and apply to the officer to review his taxation. If the objecting party is dissatisfied with the decision of the officer, he may apply to a judge at chambers for an order to review the taxation, and the judge then decides (subject to an appeal) whether the objection is well founded. (what is not). 20 Wall. (U. S.) 655, Cal. 497, 514. (equivalent to "assessment"). 32 Ark. (exemption from). 116 Mass. 181, (should be equal and uniform). 1 Cal. 232, 253; 8 Bush (Ky.) 508. nessee). 302. (power of, under constitution of Ten9 Heisk. (Tenn.) 349. (in constitution of Texas). 51 Тех. (in a statute). 23 Minn. 469. (private property may be taken for public use by). 4 N. Y. 419. TAXATION AND TAXED, (in State constitution). 28 Cal. 345. ΤΑΧΑΤΙON OF COSTS. - See TAXA TION, 124-8. TAXED CART, (in statute, technical meaning). Wilberf. Stat. L. 125. Q. B. 285. (in statute regulating tolls). L. R. 7 TAXERS.-Two officers yearly chosen in Cambridge, England, to see the true gauge of all the weights and measures. TAXES, (distinguished from "subsidies" and "assessments"). 3 Salk. 340. (power to sell land for, will not authorize a sale for assessments). 4 Hill (N. Y.) 92. 27. In the English Chancery Division, when an interlocutory order directs the payment of costs by one party to another, the latter is entitled to have them taxed and paid at once. In the Queen's Bench Division, there is generally only one taxation of costs in an action, however many interlocutory applications there may have been; & R. (Pa.) 417. but this rule does not apply to orders of the Court of Appeal. (Phillips v. Phillips, 5 Q. B. 10 Am. Rep. 35. (synonymous with "levies"). 5 Serg. (exemption of church property from).
TAXEScrossref
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
See STATE TAXES.
taxesnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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plural of taxis
taxesnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
plural of tax
taxesverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
third-person singular simple present indicative of tax

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