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a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc.
a burdensome charge, obligation, duty, or demand.

to demand a tax from (a person, business, etc.).
to demand a tax in consideration of the possession or occurrence of (income, goods, sales, etc.), usually in proportion to the value of money involved.

to lay a burden on; make serious demands on:
to tax one’s resources.
to take to task; censure; reprove; accuse:
to tax one with laziness.
Informal. to charge:
What did he tax you for that?
Archaic. to estimate or determine the amount or value of.
to levy taxes.
variant of before a vowel:
taxeme.
Contemporary Examples

For the first time in US history, a system was established to fund presidential campaigns with tax dollars.
Federal Campaign Funds: Easier Money Stuart Stevens April 1, 2014

The bill does forbid the use by officials of personal information from medical records, tax returns and a list of other documents.
How CISPA Could Chip Away at Your Right to Privacy Ilana Glazer April 17, 2013

After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Blankfein returned to Harvard for law school, then practiced as a tax lawyer.
Lloyd Blankfein’s Bittersweet Journey Jacob Bernstein May 1, 2010

Even if the tax passes, though, what remains to be seen is whether it will have any effect on obesity.
Why Mike Bloomberg’s ‘Soda Ban’ Could Actually Work Gary Taubes, Cristin Kearns Couzens September 13, 2012

The American people said we want to extend the Bush tax cuts.
McCain Blames Times for WikiLeaks Howard Kurtz November 29, 2010

Historical Examples

The revenue, arising from the tax on Real Estate, was this year $261,-86 cents.
The History of Peru Henry S. Beebe

After the Reformation the tax was collected, but given to the bishop.
English Villages P. H. Ditchfield

The tax upon the vocal organs is necessarily much greater than that in ordinary speaking schools.
Lippincott’s Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, April, 1876. Various

Great was the outcry at this wastefulness, on the part of some of the tax payers.
Cleveland Past and Present Maurice Joblin

It is a tax which very few people could pay, without encroaching more or less upon their capitals.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith

noun
a compulsory financial contribution imposed by a government to raise revenue, levied on the income or property of persons or organizations, on the production costs or sales prices of goods and services, etc
a heavy demand on something; strain: a tax on our resources
verb (transitive)
to levy a tax on (persons, companies, etc, or their incomes, etc)
to make heavy demands on; strain: to tax one’s intellect
to accuse, charge, or blame: he was taxed with the crime
to determine (the amount legally chargeable or allowable to a party to a legal action), as by examining the solicitor’s bill of costs: to tax costs
(slang) to steal
v.

c.1300, “impose a tax on,” from Old French taxer “impose a tax” (13c.), from Latin taxare “evaluate, estimate, assess, handle,” also “censure, charge,” probably a frequentative form of tangere “to touch” (see tangent). Sense of “burden, put a strain on” first recorded 1670s; that of “censure, reprove” is from 1560s. Its use in Luke ii for Greek apographein “to enter on a list, enroll” is due to Tyndale. Related: Taxed; taxing.
n.

early 14c., “obligatory contribution levied by a sovereign or government,” from Anglo-French tax, Old French taxe, and directly from Medieval Latin taxa, from Latin taxare (see tax (v.)). Related: taxes. Tax shelter is attested from 1961.
In addition to the idiom beginning with tax also see: death and taxes