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One thing almost all the empires and democracies have in common is taxes. While almost ubiquitous throughout the centuries, some of these taxes were pretty strange.
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Let’s have a look at some of the weirdest taxes in history.
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Beard tax
King Henry VIII introduced the beard tax in 1535 to regulate fashion, despite growing a beard himself. In 1698, Peter the Great of Russia also introduced a beard tax to discourage facial hair.
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Urine tax
In the 1st century AD, Roman emperors Nero and Vespasian levied a tax on the collection and sale of urine, as it was a valuable commodity used for laundry, tanning and in cosmetics.
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Hat tax
The UK government, particularly Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, levied the hat duty on men’s hats between 1787 and 1811. It was levied to boost the government’s revenue.
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Window tax
In 1696, King William III of England introduced the window tax, wherein the value of a property was decided based on the number of windows it had. The idiom “daylight robbery” originated from this tax.
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Cowardice tax
King Henry I of England levied the cowardice tax around 1100 AD on people who opted out of going to war for the King. Initially, the tax wasn’t high, but King John increased it by 300%.
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Bachelor’s tax
A bachelor’s tax, specifically one on unmarried men, has been levied throughout history, under different names, from 9 AD in Ancient Rome to as recent as 1986 in Romania (till 1989).
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