While taxes have been refined and draconian ones have been majorly removed, some of the taxes that were once applicable will surprise you. Having said that, here are 6 weird taxes that existed or exist around.
The government of every country collects a multitude of taxes to fund and maintain infrastructure and services that are used by citizens. From income tax to taxes on commodities and stock market trade, individuals pay taxes on every service they avail or goods they buy. In addition to these taxes, there are several country-specific or state-specific taxes that are also collected for special schemes. While taxes have been refined and draconian ones have been majorly removed, some of the taxes that were once applicable will surprise you. These are not the normal taxes that you see today; these are a mix of some of the most unbelievable taxes such as Breast tax or Bachelor tax.
The government of every country collects a multitude of taxes to fund and maintain infrastructure and services that are used by citizens. From income tax to taxes on commodities and stock market trade, individuals pay taxes on every service they avail or goods they buy.
In addition to these taxes, there are several country-specific or state-specific taxes that are also collected for special schemes. While taxes have been refined and draconian ones have been majorly removed, some of the taxes that were once applicable will surprise you. These are not the normal taxes that you see today; these are a mix of some of the most unbelievable taxes such as Breast tax or Bachelor tax.
Having said that, here are 6 weird taxes that existed or exist around the world:
As weird as it sounds, this tax was collected against a draconian rule that was practised in the erstwhile state of Travancore in the 19th century. During that time, a tax was imposed on women belonging to the poorer sections of the society. Under the tax, women were asked to pay for covering their breast. According to historical records, the women from lower castes had their breasts measured by tax collectors, who levied taxes on the basis of breast size.
This draconian-era law came to an end after an Ezhava caste woman Nangeli decided to protest by covering her breast without paying the tax. When she was confronted by tax collectors and asked to not break the law, she cut her breasts off in protest. That was the end of the breast tax as the king was forced to roll it back.
Flush tax
This one definitely is one of the top contenders for the weirdest tax around the world. It is still in practice after it was introduced 14 years ago. The tax levied for excess toilet flushing is at $5 for each month, adding up to $60 per year. The millions of dollars collected using this tax instrument is used for the development of Maryland’s sewage system
Window tax
The Window tax came into effect in 1696 in England and Wales when William III introduced it to collect revenue on the basis of a person’s house and the number of windows it had. This taxation tool was used across several other countries during the time including France, Ireland and Scotland. Some people, to avoid such taxes, patched up their windows with bricks.
Worth mentioning that the taxation system was repealed in 1851, after a period of 156 years. Its sole aim was to impose a tax in accordance with the prosperity of the taxpayer as he/she was not required to pay income tax. Worth mentioning that houses with more than 10 windows had to pay a steep price of 10 shillings at the time.
Hat tax
This is another British era tax that has now been repealed. During the period from 1784 to 1811, a tax was imposed by the British government on those who wore large hats. The logic behind this tax was that men who owned and wore a large number of hats were rich compared to an average man. The sole aim of this tax was to collect extra revenue from those who could afford to wear hats.
Coward tax
Also known as the war tax, this tax was first levied by King Henry I during the 10th century. While it was relatively low when Henry started the practice, it kept on increasing and King John later increased it by 300 per cent. So, men who chose not to fight a war for some reason had to cough up money to stay away.
Tattoo tax
This one is going to ebb all people who like to get their skin inked, more so because it is still practised by the US state of Arkansas. The tax was imposed starting 2002, where people in Arkansas had to pay 6 per cent sales tax on getting themselves inked at various tattoo parlours there. It was also included in a list of America’s most bizarre taxes earlier. The same tax applies to all electrolysis treatments as well.
Bachelor tax
Another weird tax that emerged in Ancient Rome and made its way from through the Ottoman Empire, England and finally the US and many more countries is the Bachelor tax.
While this is not in an application anywhere in the world presently, it was widely practised during the year 1821 in the state of Missouri in the US and all bachelors had to pay a tax of $1; this never came into practice in terms of the law as no bill was passed properly for the same.
Bachelor tax was imposed on men between the age of 21 and 50. Many other countries such as Germany, South Africa, Italy, Poland and the Soviet Union had also introduced or mulled introducing the tax.
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