sales tax

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sales tax

sales tax levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. It may be levied each time a commodity changes hands—as from manufacturer to wholesaler, from wholesaler to retailer—and is then called a transactions, or turnover, tax. Many oppose the tax as being regressive, i.e., as placing a disproportionately heavy burden on the poor; but it yields a large revenue, and governments find it easy to collect. As of 1999, 45 states, the District of Columbia, a number of cities and counties, and many foreign countries levied sales taxes. A modern variant of the sales tax is the value-added tax .

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sales tax

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

sales tax • n. a tax on sales or on the receipts from sales.

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"sales tax." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 29 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"sales tax." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-salestax.html

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