Taxes are mandatory financial charges or levies imposed by a government on individuals, businesses, and other entities to fund public expenditures and services. They are collected to pay for things like public infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
Related terms
Revenue: The income received by the government from taxes and other sources used to fund public services.
A taxation system where the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases, meaning higher earners pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes.
Goods that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous, which means no one can be excluded from using them, and one person's use does not reduce availability to others