'tax-liable' originates from the combination of 'tax' and 'liable', where 'tax' refers to a compulsory contribution to state revenue and 'liable' means legally responsible.

'tax-liable' evolved from the Old French word 'liable', which meant 'bound or obliged', and the Latin word 'taxare', meaning 'to assess'.

Initially, it meant 'bound to pay a levy', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.