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Taxes, and the people who have to pay them.
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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 7196223" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>I haven't looked at this yet but I feel like it's a valuable idea. My immediate thought is to start by asking a few questions -</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Who collects the taxes? Who is the ultimate authority and who collects on their behalf? Do intermediary collectors get a cut?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">What force is at their disposal e.g. if they are an Emperor, what force do they control that allows them to keep their Empire?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">What do people who pay the taxes get in return?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">What is taxed? What are the main sources of taxable wealth?</li> </ol><p></p><p>From those kinds of questions I think we see some approaches and guess that tax will vary from world to world and realm to realm. @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6899046" target="_blank">Dan Chernozub</a></u></strong></em> gave a great example, which I will steal and expand on -</p><p></p><p><strong>Exampledonia</strong></p><p>Taxes are collected on behalf of the Queen in two ways - taxes on <strong>licences</strong> and taxes on <strong>prerogatives</strong>.</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Licences </strong>turn traders, craftsmen and money-lenders into the Queen's tax intermediaries. They gain safety and commercial privileges and she takes flat amounts from them for licence renewals, calculated to come to about 1/10th of their expected earnings. People are generally comfortable with this system because without a doubt it has been much safer trading since the Queen took the throne, and the condition of the roads has visibly improved. Further, the Queen doesn't allow those who haven't paid for a licence to carry out those activities, protecting the incomes of those who have. Some craftsmen have lately called for border taxes on goods that compete with their services. A concept the Queen is seriously contemplating.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Prerogatives </strong>turn her nobility into tax intermediaries. And she actively pursues a policy of granting titles and lands to powerful people! In return, those people gain the lion's share of the income from any lands, including any mines, forests, rivers or lakes, farms, and settlements. They gain a right to impose fines in their territories, part of which must be passed on. And they can apply for a right to conquer further lands. The Queen maintains a visible "iron fist" in the form of regular and mercenary forces - including character-class equivalents - easily capable of defeating one or two rebellious lords. She further softens up lords with privileges that they come to value, such as apartments in the palace and monopoly licences for their own commercial activities. Recently, some nobles have sought to issue licences on the Queen's behalf, inserting them into the flow of commercial revenues. So far the Queen has been resistant to this concept.</li> </ul><p></p><p>PCs may reject all of the above, but they cannot avoid paying tax when they buy something. Most importantly, if they go along with it they will in due course benefit richly. The Queen is envisioned to have sufficient force at her disposal to take on most adventuring groups... but wouldn't they be richer and more comfortable if they accepted knighthoods from her instead? I suppose I reject the PC-centric argument for those sorts of reasons. 1) How did someone so <em>impotent </em>as they apparently envision ever gain a kingdom or empire in the first place, or keep one? 2) It ignores what's in it for tax payers. 3) PCs can be paying taxes without really noticing. What it does for our world however is create a chain of interest to motivate narrative. We can ask who feels cut out when PCs conquer a rich territory in the form of a dungeon? We can bring forces to aid the PCs when law is on their side. We can initiate civil wars with good cause on both sides. Our world comes further to life.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 7196223, member: 71699"] I haven't looked at this yet but I feel like it's a valuable idea. My immediate thought is to start by asking a few questions - [LIST=1] [*]Who collects the taxes? Who is the ultimate authority and who collects on their behalf? Do intermediary collectors get a cut? [*]What force is at their disposal e.g. if they are an Emperor, what force do they control that allows them to keep their Empire? [*]What do people who pay the taxes get in return? [*]What is taxed? What are the main sources of taxable wealth? [/LIST] From those kinds of questions I think we see some approaches and guess that tax will vary from world to world and realm to realm. @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6899046"]Dan Chernozub[/URL][/U][/B][/I] gave a great example, which I will steal and expand on - [B]Exampledonia[/B] Taxes are collected on behalf of the Queen in two ways - taxes on [B]licences[/B] and taxes on [B]prerogatives[/B]. [LIST] [*][B]Licences [/B]turn traders, craftsmen and money-lenders into the Queen's tax intermediaries. They gain safety and commercial privileges and she takes flat amounts from them for licence renewals, calculated to come to about 1/10th of their expected earnings. People are generally comfortable with this system because without a doubt it has been much safer trading since the Queen took the throne, and the condition of the roads has visibly improved. Further, the Queen doesn't allow those who haven't paid for a licence to carry out those activities, protecting the incomes of those who have. Some craftsmen have lately called for border taxes on goods that compete with their services. A concept the Queen is seriously contemplating. [*][B]Prerogatives [/B]turn her nobility into tax intermediaries. And she actively pursues a policy of granting titles and lands to powerful people! In return, those people gain the lion's share of the income from any lands, including any mines, forests, rivers or lakes, farms, and settlements. They gain a right to impose fines in their territories, part of which must be passed on. And they can apply for a right to conquer further lands. The Queen maintains a visible "iron fist" in the form of regular and mercenary forces - including character-class equivalents - easily capable of defeating one or two rebellious lords. She further softens up lords with privileges that they come to value, such as apartments in the palace and monopoly licences for their own commercial activities. Recently, some nobles have sought to issue licences on the Queen's behalf, inserting them into the flow of commercial revenues. So far the Queen has been resistant to this concept. [/LIST] PCs may reject all of the above, but they cannot avoid paying tax when they buy something. Most importantly, if they go along with it they will in due course benefit richly. The Queen is envisioned to have sufficient force at her disposal to take on most adventuring groups... but wouldn't they be richer and more comfortable if they accepted knighthoods from her instead? I suppose I reject the PC-centric argument for those sorts of reasons. 1) How did someone so [I]impotent [/I]as they apparently envision ever gain a kingdom or empire in the first place, or keep one? 2) It ignores what's in it for tax payers. 3) PCs can be paying taxes without really noticing. What it does for our world however is create a chain of interest to motivate narrative. We can ask who feels cut out when PCs conquer a rich territory in the form of a dungeon? We can bring forces to aid the PCs when law is on their side. We can initiate civil wars with good cause on both sides. Our world comes further to life. [/QUOTE]
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