zero-rate

Verb

zero-rate (third-person singular simple present zero-rates, present participle zero-rating, simple past and past participle zero-rated)

1. (transitive) To subject (a good) to no value-added tax when sold (but in which the supplier can still recover VAT attributable to it).
   • For example, zero-rating machinery invites attempts to redesignate as such other machinery likely to be used by exempt traders.2001, Ebril Liam, Michael Keen, Jean-Paul Bodin, Victoria Summers, “Treatment of Agriculture”, in The Modern VAT, International Monetary Fund (IMF), →ISBN, page 103
   • We have to balance either zero-rating some of the goods or distributing them through spending. There are certain goods, however, that even if you zero-rated them, the poor still cannot afford them yet they are essential then we distribute them through spending.2018 February 28, Given Majola, “Stability at the Treasury crucial for better service”, in Independent Online (IOL), retrieved 08 Dec 2020
2. (transitive) To provide Internet access without financial cost under certain conditions, such as by permitting access to only certain websites, by subsidizing the service with advertising, or by exempting certain websites from data allowances.