Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

368 results found

sales tax

(Encyclopedia)sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge...

single tax

(Encyclopedia)single tax, any levy that serves as the government's only source of revenue. Generally, however, it is understood to mean a tax derived from economic rent and used as the sole source of public receipt...

stamp tax

(Encyclopedia)stamp tax, method of collecting duties on certain transactions by means of a validating stamp attached to the taxable instrument, which may be a judicial act, a commercial document, a transfer of prop...

public opinion poll

(Encyclopedia)public opinion poll: see poll.

Red Poll cattle

(Encyclopedia)Red Poll cattle pōl [key], breed of polled (hornless) cattle, originated in England c.1846. They are a medium-sized, hardy breed of cattle, light red to very dark red in color, and are raised for bot...

excess profits tax

(Encyclopedia)excess profits tax, levy on any profit above a standard level. Chiefly a wartime phenomenon, it is intended to increase revenue during periods of distress and to prevent businessmen from taking unfair...

value-added tax

(Encyclopedia)value-added tax (VAT), levy imposed on business at all levels of the manufacture and production of a good or service and based on the increase in price, or value, provided by each level. Because the c...

Heseltine, Michael Ray Dibdin

(Encyclopedia)Heseltine, Michael Ray Dibdin hĕsˈəltīnˌ, hĕzˈ– [key], 1933–, British politician. After studying law at Oxford, he built a successful career in publishing before entering the House of Commo...

Gallup, George Horace

(Encyclopedia)Gallup, George Horace, 1901–84, American public opinion statistician, originator of the Gallup poll, b. Jefferson, Iowa. After teaching journalism at Drake Univ. (1929–31) and at Northwestern Univ...

Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness

(Encyclopedia)Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness, 1925–2013, British political leader. Great Britain's first woman prime minister, nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her uncompromising political s...