Understanding The History Of Modern Taxation

Regardless of the kind of political system, predominant religion

, or level of economic growth, practically all the countries in the world practice some form of taxation. However, most of us do not understand the origins of taxation. Here, I'd like to talk a little about this all important issue.

There are three main countries that we need to look at when talking about taxation. These countries are Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.

Taxation in Ancient Egypt

In the ancient world, taxes were usually considered as revenue to the king. In Egypt, the pharaohs used to tax people based on several factors. These were based on issues such as cattle, grain, and labor. Citizens would be forced to work without pay in the name of taxation. However, the priests of the temple and the property of the temples were exempted from these taxes despite the fact that their offices were funded by taxes. Unlike modern tax systems which aim to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich, taxes in ancient Egypt were there to take money from the poor and give it to the rich.

Taxation In Ancient Greece

Greece is another civilization that saw the emergence of taxes in its existence. The unique thing about the tax system was that it was not as strict as that of the Egyptian system. The tax system here was not meant to make the poor serve the rich. In fact, it was something that many people in Athens were proud of. The rich would be required to pay a certain amount of taxes so as to finance public works and a good number of them exceeded the required amount. However, all citizens were required to pay taxes in cases of war - which was quite often. The good thing with this was that once the war was over, the emergency taxes were stopped. Again, where Greece had won the war, the taxes were repaid to the citizens through the loot gained during the war.

There was also another unique group of taxpayers in Greece and these were those people who were not fully Greek; i.e. people who did not have both of their parents as Athenians.

Taxation In The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the one that led to the development of a thoroughly thought-out tax system. Taxation in the Roman Empire was mainly based on imports and exports. However, it grew into the inheritance taxes that provided a way for retiring military servants.

It is from these ancient civilizations that we derived our tax systems. The interaction of the Roman Empire with Great Britain and the interaction of Great Britain with Colonial America led to the subsequent spread of the Romanian tax architecture. Each of these countries underwent various changes and actions that made there tax systems develop even further. Our modern tax systems are complex and it is easier to calculate and determine the impact of taxation on the economies.

by: David de Souza

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