“That’s the Price You Pay”

Fluctuating Futures

In this day and age as with the past, most of the price of living fluctuates and we have to adjust. Prices rise more than they fall and the government keeps getting rich while they scream how broke we are. That in it’s self is nothing new and as far back as Egyptian times the masses were taxed.

In the Beginnings

The earliest cuneiform samples of Mesopotamia circa 2500 BC describe the relevant poll tax and the types of tolls and fees that merchants had to pay when transporting goods from one region to another.

Around 5,000 years ago, we see the first record of taxation in ancient Egypt, where the Pharaoh collected a tax equivalent to 20 percent of all grain harvests.

At the time, Egypt was without coined money, so grain represented a tangible store of value that could easily be collected, traded, and redistributed throughout society.

Julius Caesar was the first to implement a sales tax: a 1 percent flat rate that was applied across the entire Empire. When Caesar Augustus was in power, he changed the tax system in the late 1^st century BCE.

The collection had originally been done through “tax farmers” who collected taxes from their respective regions based on the assessment of the region as a whole and turned them over to the government.

Augustus switched to a direct taxation system that resembled an income tax. This began as a direct tax on an individual’s wealth, but when it was clear this too was difficult to execute, the income tax replaced that collection.

{Fun Fact:} The Rosetta Stone, our key to unlocking the meaning of hieroglyphics, was mostly a tax document that explained new tax laws decreed in 196 BCE.

“Our Turn”

In the beginning American colonies levied property taxes, excise taxes, poll taxes, and some early forms of income taxes, though tax rates and burdens were far less than their counterparts in Great Britain. Greed prevailed and Great Britain leaned on them for taxes which led to the American Revolution.

Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, granted the elected representatives in Congress the exclusive power to impose taxes on all citizens.

Though the Civil War led to the creation of the first income tax in the U.S., the federal income tax as we know it now was officially enacted in 1913.1National Archives. “16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913).”

Over the Years

Our government at it’s best

Estate tax
Gift tax
Social Security tax
Alternative Minimum Tax
Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax

Sin taxes are levied on specific goods and services at the point or time of purchase.

But Wait…

There is another “Price to Pay”, Unlike taxes this price doesn’t rise with inflation. It was a gracious and excruciating death that promised us eternal life. This week-end is when that price was paid in full.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If you made it this far thank you for reading and please tell me what you think. Happy Easter.

Article ref* – taxfoundation.org/investopedia.com