tax free versus exempt from tax

[Ardec]

When would you use 'tax free' and when 'exempt from tax'?
Thanks for your thoughts...

[Milanya]

Disclaimer: I am not a tax expert.
In the US food is sold tax free. If you buy your groceries in a store (not a restaurant) you do not pay taxes.
The institution I work for is exempt from tax because it is a non-profit organization. Wnen I buy things for the school I do not pay taxes.
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con·text - The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.

[Ardec]

Thanks for your repy, Milanya. I need it for a text on 'green' driving solutions (hydrogen engines, hybrids, etc.), so perhaps - looking at your institution's situation - they are 'exempt from tax', rather than 'tax free'...

[Milanya]

It is possible, but I do not have enough context to answer.
If something is "tax free" nobody pays taxes for this, if somebody (or some organization) is tax exempt they have a special permission not to pay taxes.
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con·text - The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.

[Prezbucky]

I'd hyphenate "tax-free" because it is a compound adjective:

I got this hot dog tax-free!

vs.

I got this hot dog tax free.
-- There's a hot dog tax and you got it for free?

That's why I prefer hyphenated compound adjectives -- the hyphen leaves no doubt that the two words form one adjective... leading to the avoidance of the confusion which might come if the hyphen is left out.
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