stamp tax

American  

noun

1. a tax whose revenue is derived from the sale of stamps that are required to be affixed to certain retail merchandise and legal documents.

---

Etymology

Origin of stamp tax

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

And, in 1767, Anne Catharine Green “became the first female newspaper publisher in the country and the newspaper fought the dreaded stamp tax that started the American Revolution.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 6, 2018

In 1767, it became the first paper in America to be published by a woman, Anne Catherine Green, who led opposition to the stamp tax in the years leading up to the American Revolution.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2018

Colonists objected to the Sugar Act, but they were outraged when Grenville announced plans for a colonial stamp tax modeled after a similar levy in Britain.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

Indeed Britain’s so-called stamp tax of 0.5% on securities issued by U.K. firms has been in effect since 1694, according to the Tax Policy Center, and hasn’t hurt London’s emergence as a major trading center.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2015

It was called the stamp tax because every time colonists bought a newspaper, calendar, marriage license, deck of playing cards, or pair of dice they had to pay extra for a special stamp.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen