diff --git a/kitsune/questions/api.py b/kitsune/questions/api.py
index 5a30136c9b1..dd382e3db73 100644
--- a/kitsune/questions/api.py
+++ b/kitsune/questions/api.py
@@ -387,12 +387,9 @@ def add_tags(self, request, pk=None):
             try:
                 add_existing_tag(tag, question.tags)
             except Tag.DoesNotExist:
-                if request.user.has_perm("taggit.add_tag"):
-                    question.tags.add(tag)
-                else:
-                    raise GenericAPIException(
-                        status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, "You are not authorized to create new tags."
-                    )
+                raise GenericAPIException(
+                    status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, "You are not authorized to create new tags."
+                )
 
         data = [{"name": tag.name, "slug": tag.slug} for tag in question.tags.all()]
         return Response(data)
diff --git a/kitsune/questions/jinja2/questions/question_details.html b/kitsune/questions/jinja2/questions/question_details.html
index 24f99d5c81b..47296947f01 100644
--- a/kitsune/questions/jinja2/questions/question_details.html
+++ b/kitsune/questions/jinja2/questions/question_details.html
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ <h3 class="sumo-card-heading">{{ _('Post a Reply') }}</h3>
           {% set tags = question.my_tags %}
           {% if tags or can_tag %}
             <div class="sidebox tight cf" id="tags">
-              <div class="tags"{% if can_tag %} data-tag-vocab-json="{{ tag_vocab() }}"{% endif %}{% if can_create_tags %} data-can-create-tags="1"{% endif %}>
+              <div class="tags"{% if can_tag %} data-tag-vocab-json="{{ tag_vocab() }}"{% endif %}>
                 {% if can_tag %}
                   <form action="{{ url('questions.remove_tag', question.id) }}"
                         data-action-async="{{ url('questions.remove_tag_async', question.id) }}"
@@ -422,12 +422,12 @@ <h3 class="sumo-card-heading">{{ _('Post a Reply') }}</h3>
                         class="tag-adder">
                     {% csrf_token %}
                     <div class="field is-condensed">
-                      <label for="id_tag_input">{{ _('Add a tag') }}:</label>
+                      <label for="id_tag_input">{{ _('Apply a tag') }}:</label>
                       <input id="id_tag_input" type="text" name="tag-name" size="12" maxlength="100"
                         class="searchbox autocomplete-tags {% if tag_adding_error %} invalid{% endif %}"
                         value="{{ tag_adding_value }}" />
                     </div>
-                    <input class="sumo-button button-sm primary-button" type="submit" value="{{ _('Add') }}" />
+                    <input class="sumo-button button-sm primary-button" type="submit" value="{{ _('Apply') }}" />
                   </form>
                 {% endif %}
               </div>
diff --git a/kitsune/questions/tests/test_api.py b/kitsune/questions/tests/test_api.py
index 23e3ee74d54..3ebe07c08d6 100644
--- a/kitsune/questions/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/kitsune/questions/tests/test_api.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 from actstream.models import Follow
 from rest_framework.exceptions import APIException
 from rest_framework.test import APIClient
-from taggit.models import Tag
 
 from kitsune.products.tests import ProductFactory, TopicFactory
 from kitsune.questions import api
@@ -472,23 +471,6 @@ def test_unfollow(self):
         self.assertEqual(res.status_code, 204)
         self.assertEqual(Follow.objects.filter(user=u).count(), 0)
 
-    def test_add_tags(self):
-        q = QuestionFactory()
-        self.assertEqual(0, q.tags.count())
-
-        u = UserFactory()
-        add_permission(u, Tag, "add_tag")
-        add_permission(u, Question, "tag_question")
-        self.client.force_authenticate(user=u)
-
-        res = self.client.post(
-            reverse("question-add-tags", args=[q.id]),
-            content_type="application/json",
-            data=json.dumps({"tags": ["test", "more", "tags"]}),
-        )
-        self.assertEqual(res.status_code, 200)
-        self.assertEqual(3, q.tags.count())
-
     def test_remove_tags_without_perms(self):
         q = QuestionFactory()
         q.tags.add("test")
diff --git a/kitsune/questions/tests/test_templates.py b/kitsune/questions/tests/test_templates.py
index f568092dc0d..03c1c1f957a 100644
--- a/kitsune/questions/tests/test_templates.py
+++ b/kitsune/questions/tests/test_templates.py
@@ -971,20 +971,14 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.question = QuestionFactory()
         TagFactory(name="red", slug="red")
 
-    def test_add_new_tag(self):
-        """Assert adding a nonexistent tag sychronously creates & adds it."""
-        self.client.post(_add_tag_url(self.question.id), data={"tag-name": "nonexistent tag"})
-        tags_eq(Question.objects.get(id=self.question.id), ["nonexistent tag"])
-
-    def test_add_async_new_tag(self):
-        """Assert adding an nonexistent tag creates & adds it."""
+    def test_add_async_new_tag_permission_error(self):
+        """Assert adding an nonexistent tag returns a permission error."""
         response = self.client.post(
             _add_async_tag_url(self.question.id),
             data={"tag-name": "nonexistent tag"},
             HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH="XMLHttpRequest",
         )
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
-        tags_eq(Question.objects.get(id=self.question.id), ["nonexistent tag"])
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
 
     def test_add_new_case_insensitive(self):
         """Adding a tag differing only in case from existing ones shouldn't
diff --git a/kitsune/questions/views.py b/kitsune/questions/views.py
index 091c36e8c45..edd0309cf8d 100644
--- a/kitsune/questions/views.py
+++ b/kitsune/questions/views.py
@@ -1429,22 +1429,14 @@ def _add_tag(request, question_id):
 
     Tag name (case-insensitive) must be in request.POST['tag-name'].
 
-    If there is no such tag and the user is not allowed to make new tags, raise
-    Tag.DoesNotExist. If no tag name is provided, return None. Otherwise,
-    return the canonicalized tag name.
+    If no tag name is provided or Tag.DoesNotExist is raised, return None.
+    Otherwise, return the canonicalized tag name.
 
     """
-    tag_name = request.POST.get("tag-name", "").strip()
-    if tag_name:
+    if tag_name := request.POST.get("tag-name", "").strip():
         question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)
-        try:
-            canonical_name = add_existing_tag(tag_name, question.tags)
-        except Tag.DoesNotExist:
-            if request.user.has_perm("taggit.add_tag"):
-                question.tags.add(tag_name)  # implicitly creates if needed
-                canonical_name = tag_name
-            else:
-                raise
+        # This raises Tag.DoesNotExist if the tag doesn't exist.
+        canonical_name = add_existing_tag(tag_name, question.tags)
 
         return question, canonical_name
 
diff --git a/kitsune/sumo/static/sumo/js/tags.js b/kitsune/sumo/static/sumo/js/tags.js
index fd674d9e68d..b8ddd35ba61 100644
--- a/kitsune/sumo/static/sumo/js/tags.js
+++ b/kitsune/sumo/static/sumo/js/tags.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
 * Scripts to support tagging.
 */
 
-(function($) {
+(function ($) {
 
   // Initialize tagging features.
   function init() {
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
   // the .tags block surrounding each set of add and remove forms.
   function initVocab() {
     $('div.tags[data-tag-vocab-json]').each(
-      function() {
+      function () {
         var $tagContainer = $(this);
         var parsedVocab = $tagContainer.data('tag-vocab-json');
         $tagContainer.data('tagVocab', _keys(parsedVocab));
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
       var $adder = $addForm.find('input.adder'),
         $input = $addForm.find('input.autocomplete-tags'),
         $tagsDiv = $input.closest('div.tags'),
-        canCreateTags = $tagsDiv.data('can-create-tags') !== undefined,
         vocab = $tagsDiv.data('tagVocab'),
         $tagList = inputToTagList($input);
 
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
           inVocab = inArrayCaseInsensitive(tagName, vocab) !== -1,
           isOnscreen = tagIsOnscreen(tagName, $tagList);
         $adder.attr('disabled', !tagName.length || isOnscreen ||
-        (!canCreateTags && !inVocab));
+          (!inVocab));
       }
 
       return tendAddButton;
@@ -69,10 +68,10 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
       function vocabCallback(request, response) {
         var appliedTags = getAppliedTags($tagList),
           vocabMinusApplied = $.grep(vocab,
-          function(e, i) {
-            return $.inArray(e, appliedTags) === -1;
-          }
-        );
+            function (e, i) {
+              return $.inArray(e, appliedTags) === -1;
+            }
+          );
         response(filter(vocabMinusApplied, request.term));
       }
 
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
     }
 
     $('input.autocomplete-tags').each(
-      function() {
+      function () {
         var $input = $(this),
           tender = makeButtonTender($input.closest('form'));
 
@@ -103,11 +102,11 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
   function initTagRemoval() {
     // Attach a tag-removal function to each clickable "x":
     $('div.tags').each(
-      function() {
+      function () {
         var $div = $(this),
           async = !$div.hasClass('deferred');
         $div.find('.tag').each(
-          function() {
+          function () {
             attachRemoverHandlerTo($(this), async);
           }
         );
@@ -116,18 +115,18 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
 
     // Prevent the form, if it exists, from submitting so our AJAX handler
     // is always called:
-    $('form.remove-tag-form').on("submit", function() { return false; });
+    $('form.remove-tag-form').on("submit", function () { return false; });
   }
 
   // Attach onclick removal handlers to every .remove element in $tag.
   function attachRemoverHandlerTo($container, async) {
-    $container.find('.remover').on("click", 
-      function() {
+    $container.find('.remover').on("click",
+      function () {
         var $remover = $(this),
           $tag = $remover.closest('.tag'),
           tagName = $tag.find('.tag-name').text(),
           csrf = $remover.closest('form')
-        .find('input[name=csrfmiddlewaretoken]').val();
+            .find('input[name=csrfmiddlewaretoken]').val();
 
         function makeTagDisappear() {
           $tag.remove();
@@ -140,7 +139,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
           $.ajax({
             type: 'POST',
             url: $remover.closest('form.remove-tag-form').data('action-async'),
-            data: {name: tagName, csrfmiddlewaretoken: csrf},
+            data: { name: tagName, csrfmiddlewaretoken: csrf },
             success: makeTagDisappear,
             error: function makeTagReappear() {
               $tag.removeClass('in-progress');
@@ -201,7 +200,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
       $.ajax({
         type: 'POST',
         url: $container.data('action-async'),
-        data: {'tag-name': tagName, csrfmiddlewaretoken: csrf},
+        data: { 'tag-name': tagName, csrfmiddlewaretoken: csrf },
         success: function solidifyTag(data) {
           // Make an onscreen tag non-ghostly,
           // canonicalize its name,
@@ -210,8 +209,8 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
           var url = data.tagUrl,
             tagNameSpan = $tag.find('.tag-name');
           tagNameSpan.replaceWith($("<a class='tag-name' />")
-          .attr('href', url)
-          .text(tagNameSpan.text()));
+            .attr('href', url)
+            .text(tagNameSpan.text()));
           $tag.removeClass('in-progress');
           attachRemoverHandlerTo($tag, true);
         },
@@ -231,7 +230,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
     // Dim all Add buttons. We'll undim them upon valid input.
     $('div.tags input.adder:enabled').attr('disabled', true);
 
-    $('.tag-adder').each(function() {
+    $('.tag-adder').each(function () {
       var $this = $(this),
         async = !$this.hasClass('deferred');
       function handler() {
@@ -256,14 +255,14 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
   // Ripped off from jquery.ui.autocomplete.js. Why can't I get at these
   // via, e.g., $.ui.autocomplete.filter?
 
-  function escapeRegex( value ) {
-    return value.replace( /([\^\$\(\)\[\]\{\}\*\.\+\?\|\\])/gi, '\\$1' );
+  function escapeRegex(value) {
+    return value.replace(/([\^\$\(\)\[\]\{\}\*\.\+\?\|\\])/gi, '\\$1');
   }
 
   function filter(array, term) {
-    var matcher = new RegExp( escapeRegex(term), 'i' );
-    return $.grep( array, function(value) {
-      return matcher.test( value.label || value.value || value );
+    var matcher = new RegExp(escapeRegex(term), 'i');
+    return $.grep(array, function (value) {
+      return matcher.test(value.label || value.value || value);
     });
   }
 
@@ -286,7 +285,7 @@ import _keys from "underscore/modules/keys";
   function getAppliedTags($tagList) {
     var tagNames = [];
     $tagList.find('.tag .tag-name').each(
-      function(i, e) {
+      function (i, e) {
         tagNames.push($(e).text());
       }
     );
diff --git a/kitsune/tags/forms.py b/kitsune/tags/forms.py
index 7a1509df86b..e7b6b6f9961 100644
--- a/kitsune/tags/forms.py
+++ b/kitsune/tags/forms.py
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ class TagWidget(Widget):
     def make_link(self, slug):
         return "#"
 
-    # Allow adding new tags to the vocab:
-    can_create_tags = False
-
     # TODO: Add async_remove_url and async_add_url kwargs holding URLs to
     # direct async remove and add requests to. The client app is then
     # responsible for routing to those and doing the calls to remove/add
@@ -88,8 +85,6 @@ def render(self, name, value, attrs=None, renderer=None):
         if not self.read_only:
             vocab = [t.name for t in Tag.objects.only("name").all()]
             output += ' data-tag-vocab-json="%s"' % escape(json.dumps(vocab))
-        if self.can_create_tags:
-            output += ' data-can-create-tags="1"'
         output += ">"
 
         if not self.read_only:
@@ -155,7 +150,7 @@ class TagField(MultipleChoiceField):
 
     def valid_value(self, value):
         """Check the validity of a single tag."""
-        return self.widget.can_create_tags or Tag.objects.filter(name=value).exists()
+        return Tag.objects.filter(name=value).exists()
 
     def to_python(self, value):
         """Ignore the input field if it's blank; don't make a tag called ''."""