surtax, n.
(ˈsɜːtæks)
[ad. F. surtaxe: see sur- and tax n.]
An additional or extra tax on something already taxed. spec., an additional income tax at higher rates charged on personal incomes above a certain value; = super-tax n. s.v. super- 13. Also attrib.
A surtax on personal income was introduced in the U.S. in 1913. In the U.K. the designation surtax officially replaced super-tax in 1929; this tax was abolished in 1973 when a new graduated system of income tax was established.
| 1881 Leeds Mercury 6 Apr., The reduction of the surtax on foreign spirits. 1888 Pall Mall G. 24 Apr. 12/1 Champagne wine in the ordinary magnums, bottles, pints, and half pints will pay with duty and surtax 3s. 6d. per gallon. 1902 Spectator 2 Aug. 137/1 The local Treasuries are to receive a surtax upon the Customs. 1916 Yale Law Jrnl. Apr. 427 The Tariff Act of 1913..provides for levying, assessing and collecting an additional income tax. This additional tax is commonly known as a ‘surtax’. 1927 Rep. Comm. Nat. Debt & Taxation 416 in Parl. Papers (Cmd. 2800) XI. 371 In view..of the already complicated character of the present Income Tax and Super-tax,..we think it might be found convenient to raise the additional revenue..by the introduction of a special graduated Sur-tax applicable to investment income alone. 1940 Economist 20 Apr. 718/2 The average surtax-payer will have about {pstlg}2,650 left. 1954 U.S. News & World Rep. 19 Mar. 102/3 Other changes..are provided in the massive tax bill. The normal tax and the surtax on personal income are combined. 1970 Money Which? Mar. 4/1 The Surtax Office will work out how much surtax you have to pay, on the basis of the information you give your Tax Inspector for income tax. 1978 Daily Tel. 12 May 2/4 The amendment..raised the point at which ‘surtax’ starts from {pstlg}7,000 to {pstlg}8,000 of taxable income. |
So ˈsurtax v. trans., to tax additionally, charge with a surtax.
| 1906 C. Bigg Wayside Sk. Eccl. Hist. v. 126 note, What we call Socialism now appears to be merely the right of the poor to surtax the rich. 1934 G. B. Shaw On Rocks ii. 237, I shall get three and a half per cent..and on that..I shall be income-taxed and surtaxed. 1950 ― Farfetched Fables 96 To substitute cost-of-production prices..for prices loaded with enormous rents for the proprietors of London land and Seaham mines, not equivalently surtaxed. |