sales tax n 1: a tax based on the cost of the item purchased and collected directly from the buyer [syn: {sales tax}, {nuisance tax}]
Sales tax \Sales" tax\ (s[=a]lz"t[a^]ks), n. [Sales + tax.] a tax imposed upon the retail sale of goods or the sale of services, usually collected by the seller at the time of purchase; -- it is typically calculated as a percentage of the price of the object sold, being commonly from 3% to 7% of the {base price}. [PJC]