"Assalam-o-Alaikum"
Peace to you!
We will take a look at a brief history of tax laws.
What were the different and strange types of TAXES found in the ancient civilizations and nations of the world?
I am and you are amazed to hear them about taxes these days!
And how those taxes were collected?
Where did the rulers use those taxes?
Were those taxes used for the welfare of the people, Or used in wars only?
so that any information regarding the history;
important from the TAXES point of view, you can't miss it!
Yes!
History is a witness!People have been complaining about taxes for centuries.
Benjamin Franklin said,"Nothing is certain but death and taxes."
And that's not a joke, it's really true!Many ancient civilizations collected taxes.This statement is usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin,
but, in this long-changing world;equivalent to belief.Franklin had the status of a famous and ancient figure.
This sentence still summarizes most aspects of human history.As we know, shortly after the beginning of civilization;people in support of these things;
started paying taxes;such as food, housing, infrastructure, defense, etc.
However, the history of tax is generally read in the same way as the history of society and culture.
We will now take a brief look at the TAX laws found in the world's diverse,
ancient civilizations and nations one by one.
Such as,
Taxes in the history of Ancient Egypt;
Taxes in the history of Ancient Greece;
Taxes in the history of China;
Taxes in the history of the Roman Empire;
Taxes in the history of Russia;
Taxes in the history of Ancient Great Britain;
Taxes in the history of Colonial America;
Taxes in the history of World War I, and World War II;
In different periods of Which taxes would be levied and which laws would be made.
All this will be reviewed in today's session.
Taxes in the history of Ancient Egypt:
The history of tax collection dates back to ancient Egypt.Which is 3000 years before Christ.Government in different forms, collected tax revenue from its population.
Pharaoh called his collectors/ commissioners Scribes.They (Scribes) were literate and collected taxes.
So that they can raise money from their citizens to meet the expenses of their government.
However, It was not an income tax but a tax on the use of certain types of goods such as household cooking oil.
Scribes had a special status.They did not pay taxes or wages.
Rather, they were in charge of administrative affairs.
Scribes would estimate the income of each citizen, and the collection of TAX from their crops And Pharaoh also took one-fifth of all the commodities through SCRIBES.
According to Samuel Blankson's book "A Brief History of Taxation"
Scribes who incorrectly submitted assessments or failed to collect TAX could be flogged and even hanged.
Taxes in the history of Ancient Greece:The idea of taxing was also found in ancient Greece.
Athen the capital of Ancient Greece.
Whenever, Athens, go to war so, their citizens, for wartime expenses such as; buying weapons and looking after the army, paid money And no one was exempt from this tax.
This tax was initially called "Eisphora".
And when the war was over, this tax would stop. And sometimes refund also During the war; the booty of war (money or property) collected/ gathered;would be used to refund the tax amount back to their citizens.
Athens also imposed a poll tax on foreigners.
China (2100 BC - 1911 AD) China has one of the longest of all written records of history all over the world.Taxes in the history of Ancient China:
Even in ancient China,the kings who ruled from the reign of 2000 BC to the Chinese Revolution of 1911 AD imposed heavy taxes.And we know that,at the time of the establishment of the empire, those powers (usually military) who were successful in levying taxes,
they, first of all; for tax collection and management established a system of bureaucracies.Tax revenues financed China's Great Wall, royal palaces, and military spending.
Taxes in the history of the Roman Empire:The Roman Empire invented all kinds of taxes.Such as property tax, customs duties, general tax on sales of goods, and inheritance tax, etc.
It was a very difficult and expensive task to run such a big empire.of taxes; the first tax was levied; was called “Munera”.
In Latin, it means duty or responsibility/ obligation.That was paid by the rich people to contribute their share to run the system of the Roman Empire.
Some of the taxes invented during the Roman Empire are still paid in Europe today!
The Romans introduced the concept of customs duties on imports and exports.
These duties were called "Portoria".
They put this idea into practice introduced a public contractor,
which was called "publicani".
Who; was entrusted with the task of tax collection.They act as an agent of the central government collecting taxes from the public, and
responsible to deposit in the government treasury.
For this purpose; they traveled to different parts of the Roman Empire.The people of the "Publicani Group"; were the most influential class.
Because of which they pursued their personal interests they do corruption, abuse their power, and treated slaves unfairly.
Caesar Augustus (former Roman emperor) not only known for his warrior abilities as a Roman leader but also known for his excellent tax strategies.
He eliminated the concept of "publicani"; and handed over the authority of tax collections to cities and colonies.
Taxes in the history of Ancient Great Britain:Britain inherited its tax history from the Roman Empire.
In fact, There have been large-scale tax battles against corrupt Roman tax collectors.
After the fall of Rome the Saxon kings imposed their taxes on the people of Britain.
These taxes were called "Danegeld" and they were estimated based on the value of land and property.
Taxes and Wars in the Middle Ages France and Britain had a common subject.
Specially, the invention of the world's first income tax was attributed to Britain.
Income tax was the first tax in British history which was directly imposed on people's earnings.
Income tax in Britain began around 1799 AD.The tax laws were introduced by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.
Who is the youngest Prime Minister in British history.In the 1800's England was famous for introducing its own income tax to deal with Napoleon.
The cost of the Napoleon War was covered as a temporary measurebFor the French Revolutionary Wars Introduced income tax for payment of arms/ ammunition and goods.
Income tax was levied from 1799 AD to 1802 AD,
When Henry Addington became Prime Minister in 1801 AD, it was omitted.
It was then reintroduced in 1803 AD.When matters started to get worse again with France.
This tax, after 1816 AD one year after Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Waterloo, REPEALED.
In England, in 1696 AD Imagine that citizens had to pay a Window TAX the Window TAX invented in the days of King William The IIIwas a property taxbased on the number of windows in a house and it’s the origin of the term “daylight robbery”!
King William thought that rich people had many large houses with a large number of windows.
If in any house, there were more windows the owner paid more taxes.
Many people bricked up (closed) the window to avoid taxes. Even today, if you visit England,you will see the old closed windows that is reminiscent of the days of King William the III.
During the reign of King Edward III the window tax was abolished in 1851 AD.
After only 100 years or more World War I began in 1914 and allied forces were financed by borrowing, new taxes, and inflation rates.
Tax revenue was the largest increase.During the four years of this "world war" there was an increase of 73% in tax revenue.
World War I cost more amount (337 billion dollars) than any previous war in history.For England alone, the war cost above 3 billion £.
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