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tangible cost See COST (1).

tangible damages See actual damages.

tangible evidence See EVIDENCE.

tangible evidence Physical evidence that is either real or demonstrative. See demonstrative evidence; real evidence.

tangible medium of expression Copyright. Any material form in which a work can be expressed and communicated, either directly or through a machine. A requirement for copyright is that the work be fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

tangible personal property See PROPERTY.

tangible personal property Corporeal personal property of any kind; personal property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched, or is in any other way perceptible to the senses, such as furniture, cooking utensils, and books.

tangible property Property that has physical form and characteristics. Cf. intangible property.

tangible property See PROPERTY.

tangible thing See corporeal thing under THING.

tangible worth See WORTH.

tangible-personal-property memorandum A handwritten or signed document that lists items of tangible personal property (such as jewelry, artwork, or furniture) and the persons who should receive the property upon the owners death. This memorandum is a separate document from the property owners will, and if referred to by the will, it is a valid testamentary disposition. Unif. Probate Code § 2-513. Abbr. TPPM.

tanquam bonus vir (tan-kwam boh-nas veer). [Law Latin] Scots law. As an honest or honorable man. A tenant was required to run his farm tanquam bonus vir. Also spelled tamquam bonus vir.

tanquam dominus (tan-kwam dom-a-nels). [Law Latin]. As owner.

tanquam in libello (tan-kwam in la-bel-oh). [Law Latin]. As if alleged in the libel.

tanquam interim dominus (tan-kwam in-teir-im dom-al¬nas). [Law Latin]. As the temporary owner.

tanquam jure devoluto (tan-kwam joor-ee dee-vel-Ioo¬toh). [Law Latin]. As if the right had devolved. See JUS DEVOLUTUM.

tanquam optimum maximum (tan-kwam op-ta-mam mak-sa-mam). [Law Latin]. At its best and fullest. The phrase was often used in the conveyance of an estate.

tanquam quilibet (tan-kwam kwi-la-bet). [Law Latin]. Like any other person. The phrase usu. referred to certain transactions of the sovereign.

tantum et tale (tan-telm et tay-Iee). [Latin]. So much and of such a kind. "When a purchaser accepts a subject from the seller tantum et tale as it stands in the person of the latter, he accepts it with all its advantages and all its faults; he comes precisely into the right and place of the seller: if the subject or the right sold turns out to be more valuable than was thought, the purchaser has the advantage; if otherwise, he bears the loss." John Trayner, Trayners Latin Maxims 595 (4th ed. 1894).

tapper 1. A person who approaches another for money; a beggar. 2. By extension, a thief.

tapping See WIRETAPPING.

tarde venit A return of a writ that was delivered to the sheriff too late to be executed before the return day. See return day under DAY.

tare (tair), n. 1. A deficiency in the weight or quantity of merchandise resulting from including its containers weight in the total. 2. An allowance or abatement of a certain weight or quantity that a seller makes to the buyer because of the containers weight. Cf. TRET.

target benefit plan A money-purchase plan that sets a "target" benefit for each participant and mandates employer contributions determined by an actuarial cost method designed to fund the target benefit.

target benefit plan See EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN.

target corporation See CORPORATION.

target corporation A corporation over which control is being sought by another party. See TAKEOVER.

target defendant In a case with multiple defendants, the one whom the plaintiff considers the primary source for any recovery of damages. Among several defendants, one is usu. the most blameworthy or has the most insurance or greatest assets, or both.

target defendant See DEFENDANT.

target offense See object offense.

target offense See object offense under OFFENSE (1).

target price A price set by the federal government for particular agricultural commodities. - Ifthe market price falls below the target price, farmers receive a subsidy from the government for the difference.

target price See PRICE.

target witness See WITNESS.

tariff 1. A schedule or system of duties imposed by a government on imported or exported goods. In the United States, tariffs are imposed on imported goods only. 2. A duty imposed on imported or exported goods under such a system. See DUTY (4).

Tariff Act of 1930 See SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF ACT.

tariff exterior commun [French] See common external tariff. Abbr. TEC. 3. A fee that a public utility or telecommunications company may assess for its services. The tariffs that a provider may charge are limited by statute. 4. A schedule listing the rates charged for services provided by a public utility, the U.S. Postal Service, or a business (esp. one that must by law file its rates with a public agency). .5. A scale of sentences and damages for crimes and injuries, arranged by severity. - tariff, vb.

tarnishment A form of dilution that occurs when a trademarks unauthorized use degrades the mark and diminishes its distinctive quality. Cf. BLljRRING.

task order See task-order contract under CONTRACT.

task-order contract A contract under which a vendor agrees to render services or deliver products as ordered from time to time Governments use this type of contract when the quantities that will be needed or the times for performance are uncertain. The contract may describe the services or products generally, but it must specify the period of performance, the number of option periods, and the total minimum and maximum quantity of products or services that the government will acquire under the contract. When exercising its contractual rights, the government issues task orders to specify the product or service requirements, which may vary with each order. Sometimes shortened to task order.

task-order contract See CONTRACT.

tax A charge, usu. monetary, imposed by the government on persons, entities, transactions, or property to yield public revenue. Most broadly, the term embraces all governmental impositions on the person, property, privileges, occupations, and enjoyment of the people, and includes duties, imposts, and excises. Although a tax is often thought of as being pecuniary in nature, it is not necessarily payable in money. - tax, vb. Taxes are the enforced proportional contributions from persons and property, levied by the state by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of government and for all public needs. This definition of taxes, often referred to as Cooleys definition, has been quoted and indorsed, or approved, xpressly or otherwise, by many different courts. While this definition of taxes characterizes them as contributions: other definitions refer to them as imposts, duty or impost, charges, burdens, or exactions; but these variations in phraseology are of no practical importance: 1 Thomas M. Cooley, The Law of Taxation § 1, at 61-63 (Clark A. Nichols ed., 4th ed. 1924).

tax accounting The accounting rules and methods used in determining a taxpayers liability.

tax assessment See ASSESSMENT (3).

tax assessor See ASSESSOR (1).

tax audit The review of a taxpayer's return by the IRS, including an examination of the taxpayer's books, vouchers, and records supporting the return. - Also termed audit ofreturn.

tax audit See AUDIT.

tax avoidance The act of taking advantage of legally available tax-planning opportunities in order to minimize ones tax liability. Cf. TAX EVASION.

tax base The total property, income, or wealth subject to taxation in a given jurisdiction; the aggregate value of the property being taxed by a particular tax. Cf. BASIS (2).

tax basis See BASIS (2).

tax bracket A categorized level ofincome subject to a particular tax rate under federal or state law <28% tax bracket>.

tax certificate An instrument issued to the buyer of property at a tax sale, certifying the sale and entitling the buyer to a tax deed and possession of the property upon the expiration of the redemption period. If the property is redeemed, the tax certificate is voided. See REDEMPTION PERIOD; tax sale under SALE. Cf. tax deed under DEED.

tax court 1. TAX COURT, U.S. 2. In some states, a court that hears appeals in non federal tax cases and can modify or change any valuation, assessment, classification, tax, or final order that is appealed.

tax court See TAX COURT.

Tax Court, U.S A federal court that hears appeals by taxpayers from adverse IRS decisions about tax deficiencies. The Tax Court was created in 1942, replacing the Board of Tax Appeals. - Abbr. TC.

tax credit An amount subtracted directly from ones total tax liability, dollar for dollar, as opposed to a deduction from gross income. - Often shortened to credit. ct DEDUCTION (2).

tax deduction See DEDUCTION (2).

tax deed See DEED.

tax deed A deed showing the transfer of title to real property sold for the nonpayment of taxes. See office grant under GRANT; tax sale under SALE. Cf. TAX CERTIFICATE.

tax deficiency See DEFICIENCY (2).

tax denier See TAX PROTESTER.

tax evasion The willful attempt to defeat or circumvent the tax law in order to illegally reduce ones tax liability. Tax evasion is punishable by both civil and criminal penalties. Also termed tax fraud. Cf. TAX AVOIDANCE.

tax ferret A private person engaged in the business of searching for taxable property that has somehow not been taxed.

tax foreclosure See FORECLOSURE.

tax foreclosure A public authority's seizure and sale of property for nonpayment of taxes.

tax fraud See TAX EVASION.

tax fraud See TAX EVASION.

tax haven A jurisdiction, esp. a country, that imposes little or no tax on the profits from transactions carried on there or on persons resident there. "Among the reasons for this complexity [in international taxation] is the elusive nature of tax havens. A tax haven is not always immediately obvious. What makes a particular environment a tax haven is not invariably a low rate of tax, but relations with other tax regimes that permit the ultimate deflection of income to a low-tax environment with which the income may have little indigenous connection." Joseph Isenbergh, International Taxation 16 (2000).

tax home See TAX HOME.

tax home A taxpayers principal business location, post, or station. Travel expenses are tax-deductible only if the taxpayer is traveling away from home.

tax incentive A governmental enticement, through a tax benefit, to engage in a particular activity, such as the contribution of money or property to a qualified charity.

tax injunction act A federal law prohibiting a federal court from interfering with the assessment or collection of any state tax where the state affords a plain, speedy, and efficient remedy in its own courts. 28 USCA § 1341.

tax law 1. INTERNAL REVENUE CODE. 2. The statutory, regulatory, constitutional, and common -law rules that constitute the law applicable to taxation. 3. The area oflegal study dealing with taxation.

tax lease See LEASE.

tax levy See LEVY (1).

tax liability The amount that a taxpayer legally owes after calculating the applicable tax; the amount of unpaid taxes.

tax lien See LIEN.

tax list An official schedule listing the taxable items within a jurisdiction; ROLL (2).

tax loophole See LOOPHOLE.

tax negligence See NEGLIGENCE.

tax protest A taxpayers formal, usu. written, statement that he or she does not acknowledge a legal or just basis for the tax or a duty to pay it. The purpose of the protest is to make clear that any payment is made "under protest" and to avoid waiving the right to recover the money paid if the tax is later invalidated.

tax protester 1. One who files a tax protest. 2. A person who opposes tax laws and seeks or employs ways, often illegal, to avoid the laws effects; esp., a person who refuses to pay a tax on grounds that the government has no authority to levy the tax. - Sometimes spelled tax protestor. Also termed tax denier. Cf. TAXPAYER.

tax rate A mathematical figure for calculating a tax, usu. expressed as a percentage.

tax rebate See TAX REFUND.

tax redemption A taxpayer recovery of property taken for nonpayment oftaxes, accomplished by paying the delinquent taxes and any interest, costs, and penalties.

tax redemption See REDEMPTION.

tax refund Money that a taxpayer overpaid and is thus returned by the taxing authority. - Also termed tax rebate.

tax return An income-tax form on which a person or entity reports income, deductions, and exemptions, and on which tax liability is calculated. Often shortened to return. - Also termed income-tax return.

tax roll See ROLL (2).

tax sale A sale of property because of nonpayment of taxes. See tax deed under DEED.

tax sale See SALE.

tax shelter A financial operation or investment strategy (such as a partnership or real-estate investment trust) that is created primarily for the purpose of reducing or deferring income-tax payments. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 - by restricting the deductibility of passive losses - sharply limited the effectiveness of tax shelters. Often shortened to shelter. tax-sheltered, adj.

tax situs (si-tas). A state or other jurisdiction that has a substantial connection with assets that are subject to taxation.

tax situs See TAX SITUS.

tax table See TAX-RATE SCHEDULE.

tax title See TITLE (2).

tax warrant See WARRANT (1).

tax write-off A deduction of depreciation, loss, or expense from taxable income.

tax year See YEAR.