cheese tax

plural cheese taxes

1. InternetidiomaticA portion of cheese given to a domestic animal such as a dog or cat, usually when the cheese is being brought out or prepared for human consumption.

   The cheeeese tax! The cheese tax! You gotta pay the Cheese Tax every time you're cookin' When the cheese comes out this puppy comes lookin'

   2023 March 1, puppysongs, TikTok, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2023

   2 more examples

   [kristakoma:] When you open cheese, he immediately recognizes he^([sic]) sound and climbs onto the table and meows at you until you pay the "cheese tax."

   2012 November 1, “My cat recognizes Taco Bell bags and will pester the hell out of me until I give him a bite of tortilla. What weird idiosyncrasies do your pets have?”, in Reddit

   I gently tugged the bag of cheese away from Bear. “I already paid the cheese tax, and I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to eat more than that.”

   2024, L. A. Witt, Interference

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cheese, tax.