Complex and Unequal Taxes...

[AVG-JOE]

The complex and unequal taxes, direct and indirect, were swept away. They were replaced by a tax on land and a tax on the profits of trade and industry. Both were uniform and no one was exempt. Tax farming was at long last abolished. Expenditures were henceforth to be authorized only by the national legislature.

To meet the pressing financial needs of the government, the National Assembly issued paper money called assignats to the value of 400 million livres. To back up this paper money, the property of the Roman Catholic church, valued at approximately that amount, was confiscated.

Summer, 1789 at the close of the first stage of the French Revolution.

Who knew the French had such balls! Between them and those damned, rebellious Colonial terrorists in America, Western 'Civilization' would never be the same...

Viva La Revolution!

-Joe

 

[Agnapostate]

Pffft, you should check out the Paris Commune.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Good show of stones, but doesn't hold a candle to " ...the property of the Roman Catholic church... was confiscated."

-Joe

 

[editec]

This would have been more timely posted on 14 July.

Yes, the French revolution definitely did reform the tax inequities of the old regime.

Particularly that head tax they put on some of their former nobility.

 

[AVG-JOE]

I found the key words to that particular passage in my favorite history book to be 'complex and unequal'.

History should be a warning to our current voters and politicians. If we don't push for a tax code that any high school freshman can file the paperwork on for every economic endeavor up to and including a small corporation, we deserve another revolt.

H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, Liberty, et al. - A billion dollar + per year industry just to file the yearly paperwork for citizen dues...

Good (insert your deity here), we must look stupid from space.

-Joe

 

[garyd]

Being pushing a flat tax that would do just that since 1968.