View source for Surtax

{{Short description|Levy of tax on tax}}
{{Taxation}}

A '''surtax''', also known as a '''tax surcharge''', is a [[tax]] levied upon another tax.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/surtax.asp#:~:text=A%20surtax%20is%20a%20tax,known%20as%20a%20tax%20surcharge. |website=Investopedia |access-date=4 May 2021|title=What is a Surtax? }}</ref>

==Canada==
The [[provinces of Canada|provincial]] portion of the [[value-added tax]] on goods and services in two Canadian jurisdictions, [[Quebec]] and [[Prince Edward Island]], was formerly calculated as a surtax on the sticker price plus the federal [[Goods and services tax (Canada)|Goods and Services Tax]].  On Prince Edward Island, provincial sales tax was assessed at 10% on top of the federal tax (as of 2013) of 5%, resulting in a total effective rate of 15.5% at the time of its repeal.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ca/Documents/tax/ca-en-tax-2013-2014-prince-edward-island-budget-highlights.pdf | title=2013 Prince Edward Island budget highlights | website=www2.deloitte.com}}</ref>  The Quebec Sales Tax was 9.5%, also assessed on top of the federal tax of 5%, resulting in a total tax burden of 14.975; it, too, was changed in 2013 so as no longer to be a surtax.

==United Kingdom==
In 1929, the supertax (which had been introduced in the [[People's Budget|Finance Act 1909]] at the rate of 6 [[History of the British penny (1901-1970)|old pence]] in the [[pound sterling|pound]] (2.5%) on incomes over £5,000 per year) was renamed to surtax. By 1934, the rate was variable from 1 [[shilling]] to 7 shillings and sixpence in the pound (5% to 37.5%). It was replaced by [[Income tax in the United Kingdom|income tax]] in 1973.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Historical list of top rates<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/history/taxhis6.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130605212626/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/history/taxhis6.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-06-05 |title=[ARCHIVED CONTENT&#93; HM Revenue & Customs: Taxation: World War II and PAYE |publisher=The National Archives |date= |access-date=2014-01-25}}</ref>
|-
! Year
! Income tax
! Surtax
! Total
|-
| 1939–40
| 29%
| 41%
| 70%
|-
| 1944–45
| 50%
| 48%
| 98%
|}

==United States==
Previous examples of a broadly-levied surtax in the [[United States]] include one imposed to help finance the [[Vietnam War]] during the [[Lyndon Johnson administration]]. It essentially consisted of calculating one's [[ordinary income|ordinary federal income tax]] liability and then adding another 10% to it, the amount of the surtax.

As the US income tax system at the time was highly [[progressive taxation|progressive]], the surtax was much higher on those with higher incomes, as a 10% surtax imposed on a tax rate of 20% would result in an overall rate of 22%, and the same surtax imposed on a rate of 50% would result in an overall rate of 55%.

Some antiwar protesters refused to pay the tax and stated that while they were not [[anarchist]]s and understood the need for and the positive role played by [[government]] in many areas, they wanted none of their tax money going to a war that they felt was immoral.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} The surtax was repealed well before the Vietnam War ended.

Surtaxes can be imposed on other taxes. They are usually imposed on the grounds of moral justification, as they affect only  persons who are already paying taxes, rather than extending taxation to new areas or persons who are not previously being taxed.

A surtax of 4.3 percent was recently proposed by Congress on incomes over $500,000 to alleviate the alterations to the [[Alternative Minimum Tax]] code in the United States.{{when|date=February 2017}}

A surtax was proposed as part of the 2009–2010 [[health care reform in the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Donmoyer |first=Ryan J. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a3wUXb42NPX0 |title=U.S. House May Include Surtax on Wealthy in Health-Care Package |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2009-07-07 |accessdate=2014-01-25}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Battle for trade]]
* [[Double taxation]]
* [[Federal Unemployment Tax Act]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Taxation in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Taxation in the United States]]