CESS- DEFINED & EXPLAINED

The term cess (a shortened form of assess; the spelling is due to a mistaken connection with census) generally means a tax. It is a term formerly more particularly applied to local taxation, in which sense it is still the official term used in Ireland; otherwise, it has been superseded by "rate." In India it is applied, with the qualifying word prefix, to any taxation, such as irrigation-cess, educational-cess, and the like. In Scotland, it refers to the property tax which was enacted in Scotland in 1665 and continued to be levied through the 1700s.