Questions tagged [taxes]
Compulsory payment to the state by all or selected citizens, enforced by law, intended to fund common needs.
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Why did US federal tax revenue jump in 1815?
(Source)
The above chart of US federal tax revenue as a share of GDP shows four distinct jumps:
1941-1945 (World War II)
1917-1920 (World War I)
1862-1865 (American Civil War)
1815 (the year after ...
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What did publicani markings on slaves sold out of the empire look like? [duplicate]
In this video, YouTube: Did Ancient Romans Use Tattoos? @ 4:35, the presenter mentions some "taxes paid" tattoo or branding for slaves sold outside of the empire. Do we have any evidence of ...
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How exactly did most nobles gain wealth? [closed]
If most peasants in the medieval ages were structurally poor due to relying on subsistence farming; how could most landowning nobles become wealthy, if most taxes were only paid in produce? How could ...
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What kind of taxes were inns/taverns expected to pay in France and the Holy Roman Empire during the 1300-1500?
As the headline suggests, I am interested in what kind of taxes were paid from the owners of inns/taverns (since those 2 were often one and the same). The period and region I am most interested in are ...
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What impact did Georgists have on the Sixteenth Amendment, and vice versa?
The Sixteenth Amendment, which allows the federal government to directly tax citizens' incomes, was ratified in 1913. That seems to be the same period of time (late 19th and early 20th centuries) that ...
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When did countries first allow travellers to import duty free alcohol and tobacco
When did duty-free allowances start? In which country and why? I am specifically asking about travellers being able to bring in alcohol and tobacco without paying duty or tax.
To be clear, I am ...
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Was there a tax advantage for ex-pats to stay out of the UK, even for brief visits?
The question Was there a British tax for British citizens staying abroad in the fifties reminded me of a plot point in the play-within-a-play in Noises Off. The play was written in the 1970's, and the ...
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When did US federal government's revenue exceed combined state and local revenue?
Approximately when did the US federal government's revenue become larger than state and local revenue?
Even after the Constitution in 1787 the federal government's revenue was still much smaller than ...
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What proportion of US government revenue came from taxes on slaves, between 1790 and 1846?
What proportion of US government revenue (federal,state,local) came from taxes on slaves between 1790 and 1846?
I chose 1846 as the breakpoint because of the Walker Tariff; feel free to critique that ...
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How were taxes collected for traveling merchants in the middle ages?
I've done research on taxation in the middle ages. I found this answer particularly helpful. (What was the average percentage of taxes in Europe during the Middle Ages?). It mentions that merchants ...
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How did the Bolsheviks fund their government?
I came across this from a telegram sent by a Mr. Lindley in Russia to Mr. Balfour in London.—
(Received November 28.)
(Telegraphic.)
Archangel, November 27, 1918.
Principal reason why Bolsheviks have ...
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What taxes were legally required to be paid in silver in Qing China?
Background
It is often argued that the following mechanism heavily contributed to the commencement of the opium trade between the Qing and British Empires (you are welcome to correct my understanding):...
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Historical examples and numbers for the value of ‘Jizya’ levied by Muslim states
Context
From the early Islamic conquests in the seventh and eighth centuries, down to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, under Sharia law, Muslim rulers generally allowed non-Muslim subjects ...
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What was the inheritance tax rate in the UK during WWI and WWII?
I've read somewhere that rich people were heavily taxed during World War I and World War II. What was the inheritance tax rate like in the UK at the time?
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Why did post-Roman rulers abandon tax-paid army?
According to C. Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000, pages 102-104, in 5th century rulers abandoned Roman tax-paid army in favor of medieval feudal one, which was ...
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Did Soviet Union have the requirement that people submit yearly tax returns?
My understanding of Soviet Union is that private enterprise was not allowed and that everyone essentially 'worked for the government'.
With this in mind, was there still an expectation that people ...
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Were debts owed or outstanding debts factored into the Roman census?
In the Roman Republic were debts and loans taken into account by the Censors when calculating the worth of a citizen's property? If yes, how were these checked?
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When was the property tax introduced in early Mexico? Who paid?
Owners of property in Mexico today pay a property tax called impuesto predial.
According to Agustín Cue Cánovas's Historia Social y Económica de México, in the colonial era property taxes were not a ...
user18968
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Imposition of property taxes in California
After California became a U.S. state in 1850, land taxation was one of the factors that bankrupted the Californio ranchers. Apparently, it had not existed in the native, Spanish, nor Mexican periods.
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user18968
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Did the Greeks and Romans use reputational incentives to induce people to pay more tax?
I read the following tidbit in a monologue here. It sounds interesting and plausible but I couldn't verify it:
Let me tell you a little bit about providing people with the
opportunity to ...
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What are some government expenditure reports from the Middle ages?
I'm curious to see how much money went where in the medieval governments of Europe, but I'm not even sure where to start looking.
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Leaders killed or removed for reducing the privileges of the rich [closed]
The question is about leaders who reduced the privileges of the rich in order to help the poor. Until now, I've found two examples:
Umar II (682 – 720), an Umayyad caliph, was greatly helping the ...
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How did early America collect taxes?
How did the early United States (from about the time of their founding to about 1800) collect their taxes from their citizens? I read through this article and found no mention of how they actually, ...
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What taxes were assessed on people in Alta California?
Countries and their churches extract rents from their citizens or subjects through various taxes. What taxes were individual Alta Californians required to pay in the Spanish and Mexican periods?
user18968
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Roman Taxes: how did taxes collected in the provinces get to Rome?
The Wikipedia article on Caracalla says:
Dio maintains that one purpose for Caracalla issuing the edict was the
desire to increase state revenue; at the time Rome was in a difficult
financial ...
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What was the ancestor of VAT called?
If I recall correctly, back in the Dutch golden age, a law was pressed on merchants forcing them to add an extra coin to their prices which they would have to later pay to the government.
I believe ...
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Was there a tax on being fat in Gaul?
I vaguely remember reading something about this but I'd like to dig up some sources. Google isn't much help on that one.
This could have applied to some tribes, Gaul or the Celtic world at large, but ...
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Why did the United States under the Articles of Confederation have a hard time getting funding?
I see it written in many sources (examples: 1 and 2) that the central government under the Articles of Confederation could only "request" funds from the states. But the text of the Articles seems ...
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How much tax revenue did the British Empire receive from its colonies in a given year?
I have heard that India at least was quite profitable for the United Kingdom. However, I do not know of any exact numbers for the annual tax revenue of the colonies in any given year. This book on the ...
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What was the difference in taxation amounts before and after the American Revolution?
I would like to know the difference in the amount Americans were taxed before and after the revolution. Did taxes go up or down (or stay the same)? How did an average citizen's taxation amount change ...
user14572
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How did the central government of the United States finance itself under the Articles of Confederation?
The Congress of the Confederation couldn't levy taxes. State governments were the ones with the power to control commerce with other states and nations even. It also has the power to levy tax.
If ...
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How did Americans' hatred of taxes shape the country up through the Gilded Age? [closed]
It is clear that many Americans hated taxes and that it was one of the causes of the Revolutionary War. However, the effect of taxes shaping America after Independence up until the Gilded Age is not ...
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When were public tariffs and taxes for water supply introduced for the first time?
Early Rome had indoor plumbing, meaning a system of aqueducts and pipes that terminated in homes and at public wells and fountains for people to use.It was in the 18th century that a rapidly growing ...
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What is the first example of a Western government passing a sin tax?
What is the first example of a Western government passing a sin or vice tax -- that is, a tax passed primarily to discourage consumption of certain goods due to moral, not economic, concerns? ...
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What was the average percentage of taxes in Europe during the Middle Ages? [closed]
I've found a lot about what kinds of taxes existed in the Middle Ages, but couldn't find a source pointing to specific percentages (apart from the tithe, but I don't know how thoroughly it was ...
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Are there notes by the Founding Fathers which indicate why DC citizens were denied a vote in Congress?
Are there any records from the Constitutional Convention that establish why the District of Columbia was denied voting representation in the Senate and the House? Was there even any expression of ...
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Why is the Stamp Act of 1765 known as a "direct tax?"
I'm not exactly sure where to put this question... I am trying to figure out the difference between "direct" and "indirect" taxes in the context of some historical taxes I'm learning about in an ...
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Why did overestimated coins led to inflation and well-estimated coins to deflation?
It is said in Debt, the first 5,000 years by David Graeber (chapter 4, note 2) that when the value of metal coins represented exactly their weight, the result was deflation. The author says that when ...
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Which parts of the Townshend Act were repealed in 1770?
The Townshend Acts were passed in 1767 and partially repealed in 1770. Which clauses were repealed at that time?
I've looked around and found the original text, but I cannot find specifically what ...
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Internal customs in the Roman Empire
Did Romans pay customs on goods transported within the Empire? Is there any information available about the rates and the rules? For instance, what would a Roman citizen arriving in Alexandria have to ...
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How have changes in taxation affected philanthropy in the US?
Every so often, I see a newspaper article which states that the wealthiest people in my country make less substantial contributions to philanthropy (relative to their wealth) than do their American ...
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How much tax did Romans pay?
According to this guy
The Jewish rebellion in A.D. 66 that ignited the war with Rome was by no means inevitable. Judaism was a legal religion in the Roman Empire, and Nero's own empress, Poppaea, ...
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What was the actual value of tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party?
I'd like to know 2 or 3 of the following 3 metrics:
Actual value in the currency of the time (yes I realize that there were local currencies and in general FX concept was... hard to do).
NPV (...
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How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
The British levied several taxes on the American Colonists (13), which were at least part of the reason for the American Revolution. Were the British taxing the 13 colonies for more money than was ...
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