Money Wise
Comparison between Modern and Traditional Income Taxation
Income tax is actually the kind of tax that is levied on the income of individuals or corporate which make earnings in terms of profit. This is the modern definition of income tax and if we focus or take a flash back to the ancient times, we can also find that income tax still existed. The only difference between the income taxation of today and that one for those ancient times is the fact that it is much advanced nowadays due to the rise in the technology.
There were also governments known as councils during that time whereby some spending to the society was needed and the only way to cater for such expenditure was to tax people in terms of their wealth levels and actually the council could get enough to cater for the public expenditure.
Income Taxation in Ancient Times
It is true to argue that during those ancient times, income taxation was actually based on various factors for example wealth. People of that time usually kept a lot of wealth with them and since there was no banking system, they could keep their wealth in their homes and everyone could be in a position to differentiate the rich and the poor. The council was able to go round collecting taxes from different people within the locality and the kind of income taxation depended on the wealth of individuals for example, those individuals with a lot of wealth were expected to pay a higher tax as compared to those with little. This was actually acceptable since it was a policy and none could be able to divert from it. People benefited a lot from the tax collected since the community was developed using that particular tax for example, digging wells and boreholes to serve the community with water especially for watering cattle which was a sign of wealth for many.
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Factors Considered when Levying Income Tax in Ancient Times
Social position and ownership of the means of production was also other factors that were considered when levying tax during these ancient times. People who were much recognised and had some position in the council were supposed to pay a bit higher income tax simply because their earnings were much higher. The ownership of the means of production during this particular time meant the number of slaves that you had. Slaves were used as a means of producing goods and services and actually the higher the number of slaves, the higher the production and hence the higher the tax levied on the income got from the production activity. People with large portions of land were also levied a higher income tax.
Income Tax in the Modern World
Due to the rise in technology, a money economy now started and this is where we are now. Income taxation is done in accordance to the modern ways which are quite efficient and are done by professionals. Calculations of the tax rate are done well without any discrimination since there are scientific calculators for calculating the tax rates for every citizen of a country who is earning a substantial amount of income.
