What is the Kanji for "Tax"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Tax", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Tax" is "税".

This kanji has 1 reading:

Its onyomi reading is "Zei".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The radical "禾" means "Cereal" . And The component "兑" .

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "税" mean in japanese?

"税" means "Tax".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Fifth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N2 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

税: "Tax". The Japanese noun '税 (ぜい)' refers to a compulsory monetary payment imposed by the government on income, property, sales, etc., levied to raise revenue for public expenditures. It is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state. Examples: I have to pay taxes every year - (私は毎年税金を払わなければならない). Tax rate is 10% - (税率は10%です)

税金: "Tax". The Japanese noun '税金 (ぜいきん)' refers to the money that citizens and residents are legally required to pay to the government. Taxes are used to fund public services and government programs. They are an important source of revenue for the government. For example: We have to pay our taxes every year - (私たちは毎年税金を払わなければなりません).

課税: "Taxation". The Japanese noun '課税 (かぜい)' means 'taxation'. This term refers to the imposition of taxes by the government on income, property, sales, or other forms of economic activity. It is an essential aspect of a country's fiscal policy and is used to generate revenue for public spending and achieve other economic and social objectives. For example: Tax evasion is illegal - (脱税は違法です). The government increased the consumption tax rate - (政府は消費税率を引き上げた).

税関: "Customs". The noun '税関 (ぜいかん)' refers to the customs department or customs office. It is the government agency responsible for collecting taxes and duties on imported and exported goods, as well as enforcing trade regulations. For example: I had to go through customs when I returned from my trip - (旅行から帰る時、税関を通らなければなりませんでした). The customs officers inspected my luggage - (税関の職員が私の荷物を検査しました).

免税: "Tax-free". The verbal noun '免税 (めんぜい)' means 'tax-free'. This term refers to the exemption from paying taxes, usually on certain goods or services. It is commonly used when discussing international travel policies, import/export regulations, and other situations where certain items are exempt from taxation. For example: The country offers tax-free shopping for tourists - (その国は観光客に対し免税ショッピングを提供している). The new law makes essential medical supplies tax-free - (新しい法律により必需品が免税になった).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "ぜ" is read as "ze". And The hiragana "い" is read as "i".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.