Word.ws English Dictionary

tartan tax

tartan tax noun: an addition to income tax payable only by those in Scotland as a result of the Scottish variable rate.

Noun

tartan tax (plural tartan taxes)

  1. (UK, derogatory) An addition to income tax payable only by those in Scotland as a result of the Scottish variable rate.

Forms of tartan tax

pluraltartan taxes

Origin of tartan tax

Coined by Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, in reference to the tartans traditionally worn by Scottish clans.

Questions about tartan tax

What does tartan tax mean?
Tartan tax means an addition to income tax payable only by those in Scotland as a result of the Scottish variable rate.
What part of speech is tartan tax?
Tartan tax is a noun.
What is the plural of tartan tax?
The plural of tartan tax is tartan taxes.

Words near tartan tax in the dictionary

  1. tart up
  2. Tartaglione
  3. tartan
  4. Tartan Army
  5. tartan noir
  6. tartan tax
  7. tartan taxes
  8. Tartan Tories
  9. Tartan Tory
  10. tartana
  11. tartanas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tartan tax (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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