deadweight lossnoun [ C or U ]
ukusECONOMICS, TAX a loss that occurs when a government raises taxes in order to get more money, but then loses money as a result. For example, a company that goes bankrupt because of increased taxes will stop paying taxes completely:
Government spending is justified only if the benefits that it produces exceeds the total cost of paying for those benefits, including the deadweight loss of raising the revenue.