Discover The History Of Taxation And Money

| Saturday, August 13, 2011
By Peter Thompson


Even with the many concerns that many people have when it comes to taxes and so forth, it's still common for many individuals to be unaware about the history of taxation and money when in regards to where it all came from. However, the past tends to give a good sense of how things came to be, even when it comes to today's viewpoints within society itself and the impact such matters tend to have, or even with today's standards.

Before there was even a firm currency, people used to barter whatever good they had within their possession that may have been of some value. Such bartering might have included anything from services to livestock, people, trinkets, land and many other types of things. Even today, it's something that many people do instead of using actual currency.

Throughout many parts of the world, currency has widely been used, but it didn't originally start off as paper. Things such as gold, leather, knives, spades and many other things were originally used as a form of currency, including cowry or mock cowry shells in China, dating as far back as 1200 BC.

Although actual currency came about some time later, like that of silver during 500 BC or so, China's mock cowry shell is considered to be the world's first metal currency by many. The country is also said to be responsible for the first paper currency during the ninth century AD and later on in the fifteenth century, before it was later discontinued for a time.

Like money, taxes have also been around for centuries, going back as far as the ancient days of Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire. Tax collectors of the Pharaoh throughout Egypt were referred to as scribes, who went as far as to tax cooking oil within households for a time. As they did this, collectors audited households to keep track of them using appropriate amounts and to also ensure that they weren't obtaining oil substitutes or gaining it from other processes.

During times when Greece was at war, Athenians would impose a tax that was used to pay for special expenditures during wartime, which no one was exempt from. Should more resources have been gained during wartime, Greeks were one of the first and few societies who would issue a refund after war, generally being based on any additional resources gained.

One prime example of the history of taxation and money would be that of Caesar Augustus, who is also said to be one of the most brilliant money strategists to date. He handed over the responsibility of collecting inheritance tax to individual cities, rather than giving the responsibility to the publicani, who at one point collected for central government. These inheritance taxes were designed to fund military retirement, which it is said both Dutch and English inheritance taxes are referenced from in origin.




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