Tax in Different Languages
Discover 'Tax' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Taxes are a significant aspect of any modern society, playing a crucial role in funding public services and infrastructure. The concept of taxation has been around for thousands of years, with the earliest known taxation systems dating back to ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Throughout history, taxes have been used to finance wars, build empires, and promote social welfare.
The cultural importance of taxes cannot be overstated. They are a reflection of a society's values and priorities, and the way they are collected and administered can reveal much about a nation's political and economic systems. Moreover, the language we use to talk about taxes can reveal interesting cultural differences and historical contexts.
For global citizens and language enthusiasts, understanding the translation of the word 'tax' in different languages can be a fascinating way to explore the world's rich linguistic and cultural diversity. Here are some sample translations to get you started:
- French: impôt
- Spanish: impuesto
- German: Steuer
- Mandarin: 税费 (shuifei)
- Japanese: 税金 (zeikin)
- Russian: налог (nalog)
- Arabic: الضرائب (al-ḍirāʾib)
Tax
Tax in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | belasting | ||
| The word "belasting" is derived from the Dutch word "belasten" meaning "to burden" or "to charge". | |||
| Amharic | ግብር | ||
| The word ግብር originated from the Ge'ez word גבራ, meaning 'worker' or 'laborer'. It has also been used to refer to a person who is obligated to pay taxes. | |||
| Hausa | haraji | ||
| Hausa "haraji" derives from the Arabic "kharaj," meaning "land tax," reflecting its historical origins. | |||
| Igbo | tax | ||
| In Igbo, 'tax' can also refer to a financial contribution or assessment levied by a traditional authority or ruler. | |||
| Malagasy | hetra | ||
| "HETRA" is derived from Old Javanese "HETRI" denoting a tax collector but in Malagasy, it could also mean to hold something. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | msonkho | ||
| Shona | mutero | ||
| The word 'mutero' also means 'burden' or 'weight' in Shona. | |||
| Somali | cashuurta | ||
| The word "cashuurta" is a loanword from Arabic, where it means "tax" or "tribute". | |||
| Sesotho | lekhetho | ||
| Lekhetho is derived from the verb 'ho leka', meaning 'to collect' or 'to gather'. | |||
| Swahili | kodi | ||
| The word 'Kodi' is also used in Swahili to refer to the national tax authority, which is tasked with the collection of taxes. | |||
| Xhosa | irhafu | ||
| The word 'Irhafu' in Xhosa has a second meaning 'a bribe' and it derives from the verb 'ukukrafa,' meaning 'to grab or seize.' | |||
| Yoruba | owo-ori | ||
| The Yoruba word 'owo-ori' has multiple meanings, including 'crown tax', 'capitation' and 'inheritance tax'. | |||
| Zulu | intela | ||
| The word 'intela', meaning 'tax', is derived from the verb 'ukutela', which means 'to demand or to claim'. | |||
| Bambara | impositi (takisi) ta | ||
| Ewe | adzɔxexe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | umusoro | ||
| Lingala | mpako ya kofuta | ||
| Luganda | omusolo | ||
| Sepedi | motšhelo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | towtua ho ka | ||
Tax in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | ضريبة | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of tax, the Arabic word "ضريبة" also has the connotation of "hitting" or "striking". | |||
| Hebrew | מַס | ||
| “מס” appears in the Bible as a burden or tithe for the Tabernacle and Temple | |||
| Pashto | مالیات | ||
| This word can also refer to a form of bribery | |||
| Arabic | ضريبة | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of tax, the Arabic word "ضريبة" also has the connotation of "hitting" or "striking". | |||
Tax in Western European Languages
| Albanian | taksa | ||
| The word "taksa" in Albanian is derived from the Latin word "taksare", meaning "to assess" or "to value". | |||
| Basque | zerga | ||
| The word "zerga" is derived from the proto-Basque word "*zerga-", meaning "payment of a part". It is also thought to be related to the Latin word "dimidium", meaning "half". | |||
| Catalan | impostos | ||
| The word "impostos" in Catalan comes from the Latin word "impositum", which means "placed upon" or "burden". | |||
| Croatian | porez | ||
| Croatian 'porez' is derived from the Proto-Slavic root 'porozda', meaning something 'cut off', also referring to a tribute paid in kind. | |||
| Danish | skat | ||
| The word "skat" in Danish can also refer to a card game similar to skat in German. | |||
| Dutch | belasting | ||
| The word "belasting" is derived from the Old Dutch word "last", meaning "burden"} | |||
| English | tax | ||
| The word 'tax' derives from Latin 'taxo', meaning 'to estimate' or 'to value' | |||
| French | impôt | ||
| The French word "impôt" originally meant "a payment in kind" in Latin. | |||
| Frisian | belesting | ||
| From the Old Frisian word 'beleste', meaning 'burden' or 'obligation'. | |||
| Galician | imposto | ||
| The Galician word "Imposto" can also refer to the act of preventing water from entering a building or a boat. | |||
| German | mwst | ||
| "MwSt" is short for "Mehrwertsteuer", which means "value-added tax". | |||
| Icelandic | skattur | ||
| The Icelandic word "skattur" (tax) is derived from the Old Norse word "skattr", which also meant "treasure" or "wealth". | |||
| Irish | cáin | ||
| The Irish word 'cáin' has historical roots in the concept of 'protection', similar to 'kanun' in Arabic. | |||
| Italian | imposta | ||
| The word "imposta" derives from the Latin "impositus," meaning "laid on" or "placed upon." | |||
| Luxembourgish | steier | ||
| The word "Steier" is a cognate of the German word "Steuer" and has a similar meaning in both languages. | |||
| Maltese | taxxa | ||
| The word "taxxa" in Maltese derives from the Latin "taxa", meaning "assessment" or "valuation". | |||
| Norwegian | avgift | ||
| The noun "avgift" is cognate with the English word "fee" and is derived from the Old Norse word "afgift" meaning "payment." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | imposto | ||
| The word 'imposto' derives from the Latin 'impositum', meaning 'placed upon' or 'imposed', and is related to the English word 'imposed'. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cìs | ||
| In Gaelic, "cìs" can also refer to rent or payment for a service. | |||
| Spanish | impuesto | ||
| The word "impuesto" derives from Latin "impositus", meaning "placed upon" or "imposed". | |||
| Swedish | beskatta | ||
| The word 'beskatta' is derived from the Proto-Germanic root *skatta, meaning 'due' or 'debt'. In Old Norse, the cognate word skatt meant 'tax', but also 'treasure' or 'wealth'. | |||
| Welsh | treth | ||
| The Welsh word "treth" originates from the Latin word "tributum", meaning a payment made to a superior authority. | |||
Tax in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | падатак | ||
| The word "падатак" (tax) in Belarusian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *podъatъkъ, which originally meant "subordination, obedience." | |||
| Bosnian | porez | ||
| The word "porez" also denotes "cut", referring to the "cutting into" one's wealth caused by taxation. | |||
| Bulgarian | данък | ||
| The word 'данък' is derived from the Persian word 'dânâk', meaning 'grain' or 'weight'. | |||
| Czech | daň | ||
| The word "daň" is also cognate with the English word "doom", which originally meant "judgment", and the Czech word "zatracení", which means "damnation". | |||
| Estonian | maks | ||
| The word "maks" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *maksi, which originally meant "fee" or "price". | |||
| Finnish | verottaa | ||
| The word verottaa is derived from the verb "veroittaa", which means to impose a tax or levy. | |||
| Hungarian | adó | ||
| The origin of Hungarian word for tax "adó" lies in Proto-Turkic "ada-", meaning property. | |||
| Latvian | nodoklis | ||
| The Latvian word "nodoklis" derives from the Lithuanian "duoklis", which can also mean "payment". | |||
| Lithuanian | mokestis | ||
| "Mokesti" derives from the verb "mokėti," meaning 'to pay,' indicating that taxes were traditionally viewed as payments or contributions. | |||
| Macedonian | данок | ||
| The word "данок" in Macedonian is related to "дать" in Russian and other Slavic languages, meaning "to give". | |||
| Polish | podatek | ||
| The term "podatek" derives from the Old Polish word "podać", meaning "to give, grant, or donate". | |||
| Romanian | impozit | ||
| In Medieval times, the word 'impozit' referred to a type of tax paid by the population to exempt them from military service. | |||
| Russian | налог | ||
| The word "налог" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "налогъ", meaning "imposition". | |||
| Serbian | порез | ||
| The word "порез" comes from the verb "резати" ("to cut"), as the collection of taxes was seen as a "cut" from the taxpayers' income. | |||
| Slovak | daň | ||
| "Daň" is a word derived from the Middle Low German word "dage", which translates to "day". | |||
| Slovenian | davek | ||
| The word "davek" can also refer to compulsory services, goods, and fees, such as military service or road maintenance. | |||
| Ukrainian | податковий | ||
| The Ukrainian word "податковий" is derived from the Common Slavic word "podati," meaning "to give" or "to pay tribute." | |||
Tax in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কর | ||
| The word "কর" also means "hand" in Bengali, indicating that taxes were once collected by hand from individuals. | |||
| Gujarati | કર | ||
| The word "કર" is also used in Gujarati to refer to the act of doing or performing something. | |||
| Hindi | कर | ||
| The word "कर'' ('kar') in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word "करम्'' ('karam'), meaning 'deed' or 'action'. | |||
| Kannada | ತೆರಿಗೆ | ||
| "ತೆರಿಗೆ" is also used to refer to 'payment' or 'expense' in Kannada and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'traya' meaning 'three', as taxes were historically divided into three parts. | |||
| Malayalam | നികുതി | ||
| "Nikuithi" comes from the root “nikuta” meaning “taken from.” | |||
| Marathi | कर | ||
| The word कर "kar" in Marathi also means a "hand". | |||
| Nepali | कर | ||
| The word "कर" (kar) is derived from the Sanskrit term "कर" (kara), which originally meant "hand" or "action". | |||
| Punjabi | ਟੈਕਸ | ||
| The word 'ਟੈਕਸ' is derived from the Latin word 'taxare', which means 'to assess' or 'to value'. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | බද්ද | ||
| The Sinhala word "බද්ද" ("tax") comes from the Sanskrit word "baddha," which also means "bound" or "attached." | |||
| Tamil | வரி | ||
| The Tamil word "வரி" (vari) can also refer to a line or stripe, or to an alphabetical symbol used as a numeral. | |||
| Telugu | పన్ను | ||
| Telugu word "పన్ను" is derived from Sanskrit "पाणः" (pāṇaḥ), meaning "protection" or "reward for protecting". | |||
| Urdu | ٹیکس | ||
| ٹیکس can also mean "imposition" or "burden" in Urdu. | |||
Tax in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 税 | ||
| The character "税" can also mean "to wash" or "to cleanse" in Chinese. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 稅 | ||
| "稅" also means "to teach" in some Chinese dialects. | |||
| Japanese | 税金 | ||
| "税" is written with the kanji for "water" and "command," and this is thought to be because taxation was originally collected in the form of water. | |||
| Korean | 세 | ||
| The word "세" can also mean "world" or "generation" in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | татвар | ||
| The word татвар derives from the Mongolian verb татах 'to pull' which is also a root for татлага 'a levy' and the title татварт тохилцогч, or tax commissioner. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အခွန် | ||
| In Burmese, the word "အခွန်" can also refer to a religious obligation, typically a donation to a monastery or temple. | |||
Tax in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | pajak | ||
| The Indonesian word "pajak" is derived from the Sanskrit word "bhaga," meaning "a share or portion". | |||
| Javanese | pajeg | ||
| In ancient Javanese, 'pajeg' also means 'boundary' or 'fence'. | |||
| Khmer | ពន្ធ | ||
| "ពន្ធ" can also mean "to levy" or "to impose" in Khmer. | |||
| Lao | ພາສີ | ||
| The Lao word "ພາສີ" (tax) is derived from Sanskrit, where it originally meant "share" or "portion." | |||
| Malay | cukai | ||
| "Cukai" is a loanword from Old Malay (kaki), ultimately derived from Sanskrit shulka. | |||
| Thai | ภาษี | ||
| ภาษี' is derived from Pali and Sanskrit and also refers to language, speech or dialect | |||
| Vietnamese | thuế | ||
| The word "Thuế" can also mean "the act of taxation" or "the amount of tax to be paid." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | buwis | ||
Tax in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | vergi | ||
| Azerbaijani word "vergi" comes from Persian word "barg", meaning "burden" or "obligation." | |||
| Kazakh | салық | ||
| The word "салық" in Kazakh is derived from the Arabic word "صدقة" (sadaqa), meaning "charity" or "alms". | |||
| Kyrgyz | салык | ||
| In some archaic dialects of Kyrgyz, the word "салык" also means "rent" or "tribute". | |||
| Tajik | андоз | ||
| The Tajik word "андоз" is derived from the Persian word "انداز" which means "measure, assessment". | |||
| Turkmen | salgyt | ||
| Uzbek | soliq | ||
| The word "soliq" in Uzbek originates from the Persian word "saaliq", meaning "tribute or tax". | |||
| Uyghur | باج | ||
Tax in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻauhau | ||
| 'Auhau' is cognate to the Tahitian word 'aufau,' meaning 'to offer, as in an offering to a deity' or 'a tribute to a chief.' | |||
| Maori | taake | ||
| The Maori word "taake" derives from the Proto-Polynesian root *take, meaning "to take, receive, or gather." | |||
| Samoan | lafoga | ||
| Lafoga means tax in Samoan and can also be translated to 'the portion of money or property given by the people' | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | buwis | ||
| The Tagalog word "buwis" can also refer to a fine or a penalty, with the root word "buwis" meaning "to burden" or "to oppress". | |||
Tax in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | impuesto payllañataki | ||
| Guarani | impuesto rehegua | ||
Tax in International Languages
| Esperanto | imposto | ||
| The word 'imposto' comes from the Latin 'impositum', which means 'something placed upon'. This is reflected in Esperanto, where 'imposto' can also refer to a 'layer' or 'burden'. | |||
| Latin | tributum | ||
| The Latin word "tributum" originally referred to a payment made to the state by a client king or community in a subordinate political relationship. | |||
Tax in Others Languages
| Greek | φόρος | ||
| The word "φόρος" (tax) also means "tribute" and "burden" in Greek. | |||
| Hmong | se | ||
| The word "se" in Hmong also means "to collect" or "to gather". | |||
| Kurdish | bac | ||
| The word 'bac' in Kurdish also means 'burden' or 'load'. | |||
| Turkish | vergi | ||
| Vergi originates from Persian and it can also mean 'contribution, aid'. | |||
| Xhosa | irhafu | ||
| The word 'Irhafu' in Xhosa has a second meaning 'a bribe' and it derives from the verb 'ukukrafa,' meaning 'to grab or seize.' | |||
| Yiddish | שטייַער | ||
| The Yiddish word "שטייַער" (shteyer) derives from the Middle High German word "stûre," meaning "support" or "assistance." | |||
| Zulu | intela | ||
| The word 'intela', meaning 'tax', is derived from the verb 'ukutela', which means 'to demand or to claim'. | |||
| Assamese | কৰ | ||
| Aymara | impuesto payllañataki | ||
| Bhojpuri | कर के शुल्क दिहल जाला | ||
| Dhivehi | ޓެކްސް | ||
| Dogri | कर दे | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | buwis | ||
| Guarani | impuesto rehegua | ||
| Ilocano | buis | ||
| Krio | taks we dɛn kin pe | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | باج | ||
| Maithili | कर | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯦꯛꯁ ꯂꯧꯕꯥ꯫ | ||
| Mizo | chhiah lak a ni | ||
| Oromo | gibira | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କର | ||
| Quechua | impuesto nisqamanta | ||
| Sanskrit | कर | ||
| Tatar | салым | ||
| Tigrinya | ግብሪ | ||
| Tsonga | xibalo xa xibalo | ||