How do Wizards pay taxes?

[Tzarevitch]

I would do it using the Wizard Guild as part of their annual dues. The guild would then supply the kingdom with goods, advice, and services.

If a wizard could not pay, they would be the ones performing the services, building the items, doing reseach and such.

If a wizard did not pay he would be without protection and by law not allowed to cast spells or become a 'house wizard' (one who works for another group/family). Either leaving the kingdom or having to find a patron.

I agree with Hand of Evil. That idea works better as part of a membership tithe for a wizard's guild than as a national tax. THe problem with using spells as a tax is that spells are not easily convertable into currency (despite what the DMG suggests.) They also don't provide a useful enough public benefit to give a government (except for a magocracy) a reason to exempt them from taxes.

You can usually find someone to cast a spell for you if you have enough money but the process doesn't work the other way around. The government can't pay its army or its bureaucracy in spells. Wizards are one of the wealthiest segments of society. In general most governments will probably desperately need them to pay in cash.

Strangely enough, having temples pay their taxes in spellcasting services works better because they can provide a significant boon that is otherwise unobtainable in most quasi-medieval settings: good public health. I have both played in and run campaigns where the temples were exempted from taxation (or payed reduced taxes) in return for providing basic healthcare to the masses . (Basic meaning primarily "cure disease" not cure spells on demand.) Keeping the public in good health is good for the nation because one Black Plague-like epidemic can destroy a country or cost umpteen tens of thousands of gold coins to try to solve AFTER it happens. Prevention is cheaper and can be worth the loss of tax revenue.

Tzarevitch