a tax levied on nonessential consumer goods and added to selling prices by retailers
purchase tax in American English
noun
Brit
a sales tax on nonessential and luxury goods
Word origin
[1935–40]This word is first recorded in the period 1935–40. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: fluorocarbon, gangbuster, hard core, roadblock, unit trust
Examples of 'purchase tax' in a sentence
purchase tax
I can even think of a name for it - purchase tax.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
And as it was a commercial vehicle, buyers didn't pay purchase tax.
The Sun (2012)
A purchase tax of 10% is levied on top of these prices.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It's hard enough telling a cake from a biscuit, which is a distinction left over from the purchase tax days.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
These may include a purchase tax and extra incentives to encourage companies, which buy 55 per cent of new cars, to invest in greener fleets.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He also sold everything from cassette players to transistor radios but omitted to pay the purchase tax.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
To put that another way, the parking fee was equivalent to a 100% purchase tax or surcharge.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Drivers who choose high-emission vehicles, including family saloons, will face much higher excise duties and a purchase tax.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Purchase tax of between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent of the price is also payable.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It involves underdeclaring the purchase price of a property to artificially mitigate purchase tax and capital-gains tax.