The World Tax and 9 more incredible taxes from around the world

Back in the XVIII century, Benjamin Franklin said that nothing is inevitable in life except death and taxes. Moreover, the latter appeared long before the phrase was uttered by the famous politician. The need to collect taxes arose when the first states began to take shape.

Initially, the fees were levied on the ownership of land, livestock and workers. But the needs of the state grew, and with them appeared more and more strange, and sometimes ridiculous taxes. Emperor Vespasian ordered a levy to be levied in Rome for the use of public toilets, in Byzantium there was an air tax, which owners of expensive houses were obliged to pay, and in Bashkiria in the XVII century a tax on eye color was introduced.

The Roman emperor Vespasian, who ruled in the 70s of our era, introduced such a tax, for which he was reproached by his own son, who was against such a tax. But Vespasian took the money that was "earned" by this tax and brought it to his son's nose. What do you think he said at that? Yes, yes, "money does not smell." And indeed, the Romans were so used to marble public toilets that they continued to go there and pay money for it.

In ancient Rome, there was a so-called free tax (manumission), which had to be paid in case the master freed his slave. In some cases, the master himself paid this tax, since it was assumed that he was rich enough to let the slave go free. In most cases, this tax was paid by the exempt himself! Imagine - a slave paid a large sum for his release, became a free worker, and then it turns out that he has to pay Rome a sum for being free.

The East is a delicate matter, and even taxes here have their own unique features. The Ottoman Empire was famous for rampant all-powerful officialdom, which constantly raised its own standard of living, not caring at all about the common people. In particular, local bureaucrats were not very happy with the food in the canteens of their departments, because the meat was tough and undigested, and too many sweets were served for dessert. This led to problems with teeth, officials suffered from caries, and the services of Ottoman dentists were very expensive. Therefore, all the burdens were shifted to the population, ordering them to pay a tax on the wear of the teeth of statesmen.

Peter the Great invented and introduced a tax on baths. In 1704, a decree was issued according to which the first-class merchants and duma assessors gave 3 rubles from home baths, poor merchants - 1 ruble each, and peasant people — 15 kopecks.

Yes, intangible objects can also be taxed. So, in Venice, such a tax was introduced in 1993, that is, quite recently. According to the tax, all establishments have to pay, the shadow of umbrellas and awnings of which falls on urban land. It is clear that the shadow is very difficult to remove, so the tax brings quite a lot of money to the treasury of Venice.

In the early 2000s, the "solar" collection was introduced in the Balearic Islands. The sun tax was imposed on all tourists coming to the archipelago. Travelers arriving at the popular resorts of Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca and other islands must pay 1 € daily for their stay here. The funds collected due to the sun tax are directed by the authorities to improve the tourist infrastructure, for example, cleaning beaches and coastal areas from garbage, as well as to restore the local ecological balance. It is worth noting that 10.4 million foreign tourists visited the Balearic Islands in 2012, so the revenue from the sun tax to the treasury turned out to be very significant.

A very interesting tax was introduced relatively recently by the Armenian authorities. Everyone who owns a living space is obliged to pay two drams (about fifteen kopecks) for each square meter. The Ministry of Economy of Armenia has decided that the population is obliged to pay the costs of dust removal. At the same time, it does not matter whether the house is clean or not. The tax must be paid.

Austria is known for its ski resorts, where a huge number of tourists from different parts of the world come to relax every year. And since many of them are often injured while riding, it was not enough for the authorities to pay for the mandatory medical insurance of each tourist, which went entirely to the treasury. Having calculated the annual costs of maintaining and treating hapless skiers in medical institutions (and about 150 thousand of them are injured every year), the country's leadership decided to introduce a gypsum tax, which is included in the total cost of the trip.

Egypt boasts one of the most original taxes of our time. Belly dancers should diligently replenish the state treasury with their money. This tax has a history going back centuries. Street dancers have paid a special fee in the past. The tradition was interrupted in the nineteenth century, when, under pressure from religious figures, public dancing was banned altogether. Now, the belly dance tax ranks fifth among Egypt's income items. This art brings, according to various estimates, up to $ 400 million a year. And one of the biggest taxpayers of the country was the dancer Fifi Abdu.

The countries of West Africa are among the poorest in the world. But despite this, their residents are still taxed, some of which can be classified as very strange. Thus, residents of the Republic of Guinea, almost the entire population of which lives below the poverty line, still pay a peace tax, although no military operations are currently underway in the country. Every year of peaceful life costs the citizens of the country about 17 euros, which is a very significant amount for Guineans. For comparison, a kilogram of coffee in the Republic of Guinea can be bought for only 50 euro cents.