税金

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 税金 combines 税, “tax,” with 金, “money,” and is read ぜいきん.
• Basic usage: It denotes money paid or collected under a tax system, including tax within a price and the use of collected revenue.
  • In 買い物の代金には税金が含まれています。, tax is included in the price; 集めた税金の使い道について説明を聞きました。 concerns how collected taxes are used.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• に marking the containing amount
  • In 代金には税金が含まれる, に marks the amount containing the tax, while が marks tax as what is included.
• Tax and taxes in translation
  • English “tax” can suit the charge included in one price, while “taxes” may suit multiple taxes or collected tax revenue. Choose from context.
• 税金 and 代金
  • 代金(だいきん) is the price paid for goods or services, while 税金 is money paid as tax. The tax may be included in the price, but the terms are not identical.