The only constants in life are death and taxes. You can’t escape either. So have you ever wondered when and where taxes started?
Ancient Taxes (The Beginning)
The first record of taxation occurred about 5,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt. The Greeks spread the idea throughout the world, and the ancient Romans tweaked it to what we know today as an income tax, directly taxing an individual’s wealth. Ancient Egypt, Persia, and China also levied property taxes, while the Roman Empire originated inheritance taxes.
Did You Know…
- Egypt’s first tax was paid with grain because they didn’t have coined money.
- The Rosetta Stone—our key to hieroglyphics meanings—was mostly a tax document, explaining the new tax laws of 196 BCE.
- In the first century BCE, ancient Rome administered the first sales tax.
- One of the oldest taxes is Ancient Egypt’s Fat Tax. The law didn’t allow people to re-use fat or other cooking oil alternatives, so they had to buy new. (Wasn’t it convenient that the Pharaoh had a monopoly on fresh cooking oil?)
- The Roman emperor Vespasian instigated a more stinky tax on buyers of ammonia-rich urine. Purchased from public toilets during the first century A.D., urine was an important ingredient in several chemical processes, including tanning, laundering, and brushing teeth. (Gotta get those togas and teeth clean and white.)
- Starting about 1100, English knights under King Henry I could skip out of fighting in wars by paying a “scutage” or cowardice tax. King John raised the initially low rate by 300%. (Some believe this kingly abuse of power helped lead to the creation of the Magna Carta and a limiting of the king’s power.)
- Many European governments taxed soap during the Middle Ages. It wasn’t until 1835 Great Britain repealed their soap tax. (This might explain the lack of baths. Without soap, what’s the point?)
- Russia once had a beard tax. Emperor Peter the Great instigated it in 1698. He wanted to force Russian men to adopt Western Europe’s clean-shaven look. If men couldn’t produce proof of paying this beard tax, police could forcibly shave them. Beards became a symbol of wealth, especially since wealthy citizens were taxed at a higher rate than peasants.
Modern Taxes
Strange taxes and exemptions aren’t restricted to the past. Today’s governments have the same goal as those of yesteryear—to make money. The only difference is what’s being taxed.
Did You Know . . .
- Because most of their local tax money came from cigarettes, China’s Hubei province set quotas for cigarette-pack sales in 2009. (Forget health warnings. Bottom line: Smoke or be fined.)
- In Canada, manufacturers who include a toy in breakfast cereal boxes get a tax exemption.
- In Sweden, a baby’s name is chosen by the mother and father . . . and the Swedish tax agency. If the name the parents selected isn’t approved before the child turns five, the parents are fined.
- According to many experts, cow flatulence—not automobile or factory exhaust—is one of the main causes of global warming. A cow’s diet, plus slow digestion, causes excessive methane build-up. A “gas” tax to fight global warming, proposed first in New Zealand, has caught on with other countries, especially in the European Union. Farmers in Ireland pay the cheapest rate at only $18/cow, while Denmark farmers pay the highest at $110/cow.
Avoiding Taxes
Another fact of life? People do whatever it takes to avoid paying taxes. Here are a few taxes imposed by England over the years, and how people reacted to them.
1660 Fireplace Tax. Concealed fireplaces with bricks. (Repealed in 1689.)
1696 Window Tax. Bricked up extra windows in already-built houses or added fewer windows in to-be-built houses. (Health issues eventually led to its repeal in 1851.)
1784 Brick Tax. Used bigger—so fewer—bricks. Until the government caught on and taxed larger bricks with a larger tax. (Repealed in 1850.)
1712 Wallpaper Tax. A tax on printed, patterned, or painted wallpaper? No problem. Hang plain wallpaper and have it painted or stenciled after it’s hung. (Abolished in 1836.)
1784 Hat Tax. Stopped calling the products hats. In 1804, to close this loophole, the government taxed all headgear, regardless of what it was called. (Repealed in 1811.)
1795 Aromatic Powders Tax. Like Russia’s beard tax promoted a clean-shaven look, this Aromatic Wig Powders tax led to a decline in the use of wigs.
Final Word
Experts claim taxation only played a minor role in the ancient world. Too bad the same can’t be said of today’s taxes.