A History of Taxation Practices, Section Six: Taxation 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 tiny country near what is currently known as Turkey. He had the amazing power to create discontent among disgruntled taxpayers. In 88 BC he organized a civil war against the Romans. By granting 5 years of tax exemption to each city that joined his army, he mustered considerable support.
The Roman Senate quickly took swift action and told General Sulla to raise an army and re-establish Roman authority in the east. Sulla was victorious in squelching the rebellion after a 4-year struggle. When the revolt was squashed, Sulla ordered the leaders of the disgruntled cities to meet him at Ephesus. At that place the citizens were to denounce the 5 years of back taxes plus pay the general for his war debt.
To make sure the tax was collected, Sulla established “special agents.” These special agents had the power to scourge and behead, which was plenty to make any taxpayer cooperative. Until this period there had been self-assessment tax collections, corporate tax collection, army tax collection and the traditional government tax men. But these newly instituted “special agents” were very skillful specialists 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 been instituted time and again in the past, persisting into modern times as “fiscal police” or simply “special agents”, using the name initially instituted by Sulla over 2000 years past. As the use of Sulla’s special agents was put in to place in other provinces, the army came to understand that the rich spoils of war came from their commander, not the Roman Senate. Roman generals came back to Rome with the unwavering loyalty of their soldiers. Huge civil wars started as rivalling legions slaughtered each other. With these moderately private armies, establishment of a military dictator was inevitable. Thus, the Roman Republic died. Kings, dictators, and generals would now run the Roman Empire for the next two thousand years. Democratically designed governments and republics would not play a dominant 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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