Sounds like we are just talking semantics.<p>When you buy liquor, you pay the market price (call it $10) plus an excise tax that the government adds on (let&#x27;s say $2).<p>Imagine the government nationalizes the liquor business. The buy up every liquor company, and continue operating them the same way as before ($10 price + $2 tax). I think anyone would agree that this $2 would still be considered a tax.<p>Now let&#x27;s say the government gets rid of the $2 tax, but bumps the price of liquor up to $12. The tax is still there, it&#x27;s just implicit now.