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偷税 (tōu shuì) — to evade taxes

Definition

A verb meaning to illegally avoid paying taxes. Refers to deliberately hiding income or falsifying records — a legal/offense term, not casual tax avoidance (避税).

verb
to evade taxes

Examples

  • 偷税。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī yīn wèi tōu shuì bèi fá kuǎn le.
    This company was fined for tax evasion.
  • 偷税。
    tōu shuì Shì yì zhǒng yán zhòng de wéi fǎ xíng wéi.
    Tax evasion is a serious illegal act.
  • ？
    Tā yǐ qián tōu guò shuì ma?
    Has he ever evaded taxes before?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

偷tōuevade
税shuìtax

偷 evade and 税 taxes combine to mean evade taxes.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
俞
俞yú偷tōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻, a standing person, points to the idea of someone doing the act, while the right part 俞 gives the character its sound.

Open 偷 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
兑
兑duì税shuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

税 pairs 禾, a grain plant, with 兑, which gives the character its sound.

Open 税 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceFinance & Banking

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