Exegesis:

exestin … ē ou ‘is it lawful…, or (is it) not?’ for exestin cf. on 6.2.

Kaisari phoron dounai ‘to give, i.e. to pay, taxes to Caesar.’ For kaisar cf. on 2.1; here it is used as a title.

phoros (also 23.2) ‘tribute,’ ‘taxes,’ probably referring to direct taxes on land, or personal property, cf. IDB IV, 520ff.

Translation:

Is it lawful for us to give … or not, or, ‘shall we give, (or on the contrary) shall-we-not-give…’ (Enga). In some languages it is preferable to state the case first, e.g. ‘that we all pay taxes to the King-of-kings, is it right or not’ (Balinese). For lawful see also on 6.2. Us. One may hesitate here between exclusive and inclusive; the former is probably preferable because of the clear exclusive ‘we’ in v. 21, and the contrasting ‘you’ implied in the imperative in v. 25.

Tribute, preferably, ‘(personal) taxes.’

Caesar, or ‘the emperor/big chief/king-of-kings.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.