W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…

Mithridates the Great ruled a tiny nation in what is now Turkey. He had the amazing power to create rebellion with unhappy taxpayers. In 88 BC he led a civil war against Roman rule. By promising 5 years of tax immunity to each city that followed his rebellion, he gathered considerable help.

The Roman Senate quickly took swift action and told General Sulla to raise an army and restore Roman authority in the rebellious area. Sulla was victorious in squelching the rebellion after a 4-year war. When the revolt was crushed, Sulla ordered the leading citizens of the disgruntled cities to come to Ephesus. There the citizens were to remit 5 years of back taxes and pay the general for the cost of the war.

To enforce this tax, Sulla established “special agents.” These special agents had the power to scourge and kill, which was plenty to cause any taxpayer cooperative. Until this period there had been self-assessment tax collectors, corporate tax collection, army tax collectors and regular government tax men. However, these newly instituted “special agents” were highly skilled specialists with the arrogance of bureaucrats and the power of military executioners. Taxpayers lost any hope to evade. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Tax Preparer in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!

Special Agents have been instituted several times in the past, surviving in the modern age as “financial police” or just “special agents”, given the name first given by Sulla over two thousand years ago. As the practice of the general’s special agents was instituted in neighboring nations, the army came to understand that the rich spoils of war came from their general, as opposed to the Roman Senate. Roman generals returned to Rome with the blind loyalty of their soldiers. Huge civil wars started as rival legions fought. With these moderately private armies, the institution of a military dictator was inescapable. So, the Roman Republic dissolved. Royalty, dictators, and military strategists would now run the Roman Empire for the next 2000 years. Democratically designed governments and republics wouldn’t see a dominant role in civilization again until the 1800s. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation in Cary, NC.

Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan’s next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and the American Revolution.

http://www.marccpa.com/