A History of Taxation Practices, Part 6: Taxes and End of the Romans
W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Mithridates the Great ruled a small country near what is now Turkey. He had an amazing ability to arouse rebellion among unhappy taxpayers. In 88 BC he led a rebellion fighting the Romans. By granting 5 years of tax exemption to every city that followed his rebellion, he gathered substantial help.
The Roman Senate sprang into action and told General Sulla to muster an army and re-establish Roman authority in the east. Sulla succeeded in squelching the rebels after a 4-year struggle. When the revolt was squashed, Sulla told the leading citizens of the revolting cities to come to Ephesus. There the citizens were to remit five years of back taxes and compensate the general for his war debt.
To make sure the tax was collected, Sulla instituted “special agents.” These special agents had the power to scourge and kill, which was enough to cause most taxpayers cooperative. Up until this time there were self-assessment tax collectors, private tax collecting, military tax collectors and regular government tax collectors. However, these new “special agents” were highly skillful specialized men with the arrogance of bureaucrats and the power of military executioners. Taxpayers lost all inclination to evade. If you are feeling the pressure with today's taxes, call a Tax Preparer in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
Special Agents have emerged time and again in the past, persisting into modern times as “fiscal police” or simply “special agents”, given the name initially given by Sulla over two thousand years past. As the use of the general's special agents was put in to place in other nations, the army came to realize that the rich spoils of war came from their commander, not the Roman Senate. Roman generals returned to Rome with the blind loyalty of their soldiers. Huge civil wars started as rivalling legions fought. With these semiprivate armies, establishment of a military dictator was inevitable. So, the Roman Republic dissolved. Royalty, dictators, and generals would now rule for the next two thousand years. Democracies and republics wouldn't see a large role in civilization again until the 1800s. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC.
Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan's next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and the American Revolution.
http://www.marccpa.com/
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