Windows tax : No we are not talking about Microsoft’s windows but the actual windows of houses! King William III of England takes the credit of introducing this law in 1696 . The tax stayed till 1851 . More windows , shell out more taxes !
Urine tax : Believe it or not pay tax for pee ! The credit for this goes to Emperor Nero ! Nero’s successor Vespasian continued with the tax. When Titus , son of Vespasian asked him to abolish the tax for its disgusting nature , his father held a gold coin to his nose and said "Non olet! ("It doesn’t stink!"). Money does not stink right ? however its source may be !
Beard tax : Henry VIII, King of England , Elizabeth I,Tsar Peter I of Russia all thought its wise to tax people for sporting a beard and they enacted beard taxes !
Hat ,Wig and wig powder tax : Wigs were a common fashion accessory among English men during 18th century. So in 1795 the government started taxing the wigs and wig powders. During that time , even tax was levied on Hat and every hat has to have a stamp on the lining to confirm its a legal Hat ! It does not stop here , A hat seller and manufacture has to get a licence in order to sell legal Hats ! What if one evades paying the tax ? Simple . Death Penalty !
Freedom Tax : So if you happened to be a slave in the ancient Rome , you can buy freedom by paying your masters. Wait , you also need to cough up 10% more as a tax to government for the privilege of being a free man.
Soul Tax : Believe in Soul ? Pay Soul tax ! Don’t believe in soul ? Fine but pay religious dissenter tax . Either way you got to pay tax for your belief . Peter the Great takes credit for this dubious tax !
Hearth Tax : The Hearth Tax was introduced by when King Charles II in 1662. The reason the Hearth Tax was imposed is that it was considered easier to count hearths than people. People are found doing the vanishing act if you try and count them in order to tax them. So tax the hearths which is immovable !
Scutage, ( also known as Escuage ) : was a tax applied to people who didn’t want to fight and die for the English King. So pay the tax if you want to save your ass !
Poll tax : Introduced in Britain in the 14th century , every person in England aged 15 or over had to pay one shilling. The tax rates were raised further and leading to peasants revolt.
Sex Tax : Ok this is spicy ! Rhode Island introduced this innovative tax to tide off their financial trouble ! The bill introduced decided to levy $2 upon every act of sexual intercourse ! Only saving grace is only men has to pay and that too on voluntary basis. Thank God ! Otherwise government agencies would be snooping the bedrooms . May be the lawmakers thought men would volunteer to showcase their power in bed . Ahan !
Bachelor tax : Julius Caesar levied it in 18 BC , England imposed it in 1695 , Peter the Great used it in 1702 , Benito Mussolini also imposed it on unmarried men between 21 and 50 in 1924.
Tattoo tax : Thinking about getting a tattoo or body piercing in Arkansas ? Be ready to shell out 6% tax since the state of Arkansas has included tattooing and body piercing in the list of services subject to sales taxes.
Pole tax : Texas imposed a 5$ tax on every customer visiting a strip club. Dubbed , the pole tax , it was declared unconstitutional by a court within few months. With recession hitting hard , many American states are thinking of introducing such taxes.
Head tax : In the early 20th century , Canada levied a head tax on every Chinese person entering the country to discourage the wave of immigration. New Zealand too imposed a similar tax , for the same reason. Both the countries later apologized for the racist tax.
Fart Tax : Luckily its not for your own gases but imposed on cattle ! So obviously , cattle does not understand taxes , so the cattle owners have to pay. Cattle leaks out methane and nitrous oxide , which has an adverse greenhouse effect. So governments of New Zealand , Estonia takes the credit for this save the earth by fart taxes ! The cattle owners are apparently protesting and says reducing greenhouse gas emissions benefits everyone so the costs should be spread across all taxpayers. Hmmm sounds logical right ?
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax”
- Albert Einstein
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Interesting info..
Well, I think you missed religion-tax. It is still in use in Islamic countries(not legally though). Jazia is to be paid by non-muslims to the local militia
I think Aurangzeb had it too during his reign
Taxes are necessary evils. We don’t want them but can’t live without them.
Well , even the income tax seemed wierd to me until last year when I started filing the ITR and paying taxes.