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Volunteers a kiss as payment! (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tax

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'payment' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to property as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'volunteers a kiss' is the wordplay.
'volunteers' becomes 'ta' (abbreviation for Territorial Army).
'a kiss' becomes 'x'.
'ta'+'x'='TAX'

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tax that I've seen before include "E.g. VAT" , "Government imposition" , "Levy for public purposes" , "Overburden with levy?" , "Compulsory contribution towards a country's expenses" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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