Duty
Duty noun - A charge usually of money collected by the government from people or businesses for public use.
Usage example: the shop at the airport charges no duty on tourist memorabilia
Tax
Tax noun - A charge usually of money collected by the government from people or businesses for public use.
Usage example: the state sales tax boosted the final cost of my new computer
Duty is a synonym for tax in cost topic. You can use "Duty" instead a noun "Tax", if it concerns topics such as responsibility, charge, burden, levy. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
Both words in one sentence
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Whilst duty free stores at UK airports do not require tax on their items, the prices are frequently inflated far beyond what they cost on the high street or online.
Source: And Ninety Nine Cents -
In Hägar the Horrible, the headsmen in their black hoods do double duty as the tax collectors, and always bring their axes with them on the job in case anybody doesn't pay.
Source: Intimidating Revenue Service -
They don't find the marijuana, which he threw away earlier, so they let him go, having just smuggled a very nice car into Mexico, sold it for several times what he paid for it and not paid a cent of import duty or capital gains tax.note Don't try this at home, kids.
Source: Kansas City Shuffle
Cite this Source
Tax and Duty. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/tax
Duty & Tax. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/tax>.
Tax or Duty. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/tax.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "duty" and "tax" have occurred on timeline