income tax

American  

noun

1. a tax levied on incomes, especially an annual government tax on personal incomes.

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income tax British  

noun

1. a personal tax, usually progressive, levied on annual income subject to certain deductions

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Etymology

Origin of income tax

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Since 2019, Welsh ministers have had the ability to raise or lower the three rates of income tax in Wales but have never done so.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

The estimate is based on personal income tax withholding trends and includes cash bonuses paid for work performed in 2025 and bonuses deferred from prior years that have been cashed in.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

They say income tax revenue paid by Massachusetts’s highest earners has surged.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

By another amazing coincidence, the Washington company he built into a retail giant is now expanding its presence in Tennessee, another state that has no individual income tax.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

Some draw on government help in the form of food stamps, housing vouchers, the earned income tax credit, or—for those coming off welfare in relatively generous states—subsidized child care.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich