Weird Taxes In History
Taxes in most countries of the world are a must, even a common saying in the United States says that taxes and death are inevitable! However, history witnessed strange and strange taxes!
Among the notable tax mothers is one in ancient Egypt, where cooking oil was taxed. This "fat tax" is one of the oldest known. Residents were not allowed to reuse fat substitutes or cooking oil so that they would have no choice but to buy it because selling it was a monopoly of the pharaoh.
In ancient Rome, it was common practice for slave owners to free their slaves after a certain number of years of work, or for payment of a certain value. And the slaves themselves could pay these fees because many of them had the opportunity to work in several fields, and thus they could earn money and save it to buy their freedom, but the emperors of Rome did not miss such a matter and imposed on the newly freed slaves a tax on their freedom.
Surprisingly and strangely for our time, ancient Rome imposed a tax on "urine"! Yes, at that time human liquid waste was seen as a valuable commodity and had many uses in tanning, washing, and even brushing teeth.
The story began with the booming activity of collecting liquid human waste, and the two Caesars, Nero and Vespasian, noticed this and imposed a tax on its purchase. It is widely believed that the popular phrase that "money has no smell" came from behind this event!
During the Middle Ages, a tax was imposed in many regions of Europe even on soap. This tax remained in effect for a very long time, and Britain did not repeal the tax until 1835.
1- Is it possible to imagine a tax on "cowards"?
yes! This actually happened, and the English knights of the Middle Ages in 1100 could be excused from going to war by paying for this privilege. This tax had the official name of "scottage" but was known as the "coward's tax".
This tax developed in England and turned into a general tax on the land of the knights, and by the 13th century, and with the 14th century, this tax disappeared and would no longer be necessary.
In Tsarist Russia, Tsar Peter the Great imposed a beard tax in 1698. He saw it as a step that would help Westernize the appearance of Russian society.
Those who wanted to keep their beards had to pay and go on their way in peace after being given a token as proof of payment. Henry VIII of England imposed a similar tax. Given the costs associated with the beard, it quickly became a symbol of status and wealth.
2-Strangest tax "how many windows do you have in the house"?
Such a question would have been troublesome in England with the year 1696, when a tax was to be paid on windows. The tax was supposed to be quite liberal because those with smaller homes would pay less or be exempt.
But it generally did not happen! This certainly proved to be the case when applied to the rural poor, but it did not help the urban poor. In more densely populated areas, it was rare for the working classes to live in individual houses, and they were often housed in large buildings, among many other buildings, and under the terms of the tax a building was considered a single house, the inhabitants of which were subject to a heavy window tax.
This tax, which was so hated, led to the removal of windows from the buildings, and the deprivation of much natural light, to avoid paying extra money. The negative repercussions of the lack of natural light and ventilation led to a growing movement that succeeded in stopping the tax in 1851.
Also, one of the oddities of taxes was imposed in the US state of Missouri, specifically on December 20, 1820, and they imagined! A celibacy tax, which is $1 for all unmarried men between the ages of 21 and 50.
In 1815, the British tax authorities came up with the idea of imposing a tax on newspaper purchases. This tax was initially designed for the wealthy. Yet it hurt the poor the most.
It soon became apparent that this "knowledge" tax was counterproductive, as it placed great pressure on the press by reducing circulation. And the poorest could not afford it, so the tax was abolished in 1855.
Another tax imposed in Britain was the hat in 1784, and it is for “hats”! This tax was intended to increase revenues for the government in a way that mostly corresponds to the wealth of the person. In that era in history, it was the rich who could afford many hats, while the poor were content with a cheap one, or they did not have a hat at all!
Heavy fines were levied on those who failed to pay, and any head covering was taxed by 1804, and in 1811 the "hat" tax was abolished.
3- Tax on playing cards!
This happened in England in the early 16th century. Moreover, in 1710, the government increased the tax on playing cards and dice. As usual, this led to mass card fraud. The tax was not repealed until 1960.
4- Tax on the background of the wall!
In 1712 Britain taxed anyone who purchased wallpaper decorated, painted or printed. This tax was imposed in Britain because wallpaper provides a cheap alternative to fabric or panels, so the government saw a new opportunity to increase its revenues.
This tax prompted the British to devise ways to avoid it, such as using plain paper and then drawing on it after sticking it on. This tax was abolished in 1836.
Canada also witnessed a tax of this kind in 1885, when it was decided to impose a tax on every "Chinese head"! This tax targeted the entry of Chinese immigrants into Canada, and remained in effect until 1923, when a law was passed banning Chinese at all from entering Canada with few exceptions.