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.Such taxes upon luxuries as the greater part of the duties ofcustoms and excise, though they all fall indifferently upon everydifferent species of revenue, and are paid finally, or without anyretribution, by whoever consumes the commodities upon whichthey are imposed, yet they do not always fall equally orproportionably upon the revenue of every individual.As everyman s humour regulates the degree of his consumption, every mancontributes rather according to his humour than in proportion tohis revenue; the profuse contribute more, the parsimonious less,than their proper proportion.During the minority of a man ofgreat fortune he contributes commonly very little, by hisconsumption, towards the support of that state from whoseprotection he derives a great revenue.Those who live in anothercountry contribute nothing, by their consumption, towards thesupport of the government of that country in which is situated thesource of their revenue.If in this latter country there should be noland-tax, nor any considerable duty upon the transference eitherAdam Smith ElecBook Classics The Wealth of Nations: Book 5 1204of movable or of immovable property, as is the case in Ireland,such absentees may derive a great revenue from the protection ofa government to the support of which they do not contribute asingle shilling.This inequality is likely to be greatest in a countryof which the government is in some respects subordinate anddependent upon that of some other.The people who possess themost extensive property in the dependent will in this casegenerally choose to live in the governing country.Ireland isprecisely in this situation, and we cannot, therefore, wonder thatthe proposal of a tax upon absentees should be so very popular inthat country.It might, perhaps, be a little difficult to ascertaineither what sort or what degree of absence would subject a man tobe taxed as an absentee, or at what precise time the tax shouldeither begin or end.If you except, however, this very peculiarsituation, any inequality in the contribution of individuals whichcan arise from such taxes is much more than compensated by thevery circumstance which occasions that inequality thecircumstance that every man s contribution is altogethervoluntary, it being altogether in his power either to consume ornot to consume the commodity taxed.Where such taxes, therefore,are properly assessed, and upon proper commodities, they arepaid with less grumbling than any other.When they are advancedby the merchant or manufacturer, the consumer, who finally paysthem, soon comes to confound them with the price of thecommodities, and almost forgets that he pays any tax.Such taxes are or may be perfectly certain, or may be assessedso as to leave no doubt concerning either what ought to be paid, orwhen it ought to be paid; concerning either the quantity or thetime of payment.Whatever uncertainty there may sometimes be,Adam Smith ElecBook Classics The Wealth of Nations: Book 5 1205either in the duties of customs in Great Britain, or in other dutiesof the same kind in other countries, it cannot arise from the natureof those duties, but from the inaccurate or unskilful manner inwhich the law that imposes them is expressed.Taxes upon luxuries generally are, and always may be, paidpiecemeal, or in proportion as the contributors have occasion topurchase the goods upon which they are imposed.In the time andmode of payment they are, or may be, of all taxes the mostconvenient.Upon the whole, such taxes, are, perhaps, as agreeableto the three first of the four general maxims concerning taxationas any other.They offend in every respect against the fourth.Such taxes, in proportion to what they bring into the publictreasury of the state, always take out or keep out of the pockets ofthe people more than almost any other taxes.They seem to do thisin all the four different ways in which it is possible to do it.First, the levying of such taxes, even when imposed in the mostjudicious manner, requires a great number of custom-house andexcise officers, whose salaries and perquisites are a real tax uponthe people, which brings nothing into the treasury of the state.This expense, however, it must be acknowledged, is moremoderate in Great Britain than in most other countries.In theyear which ended on the 5th of July 1775, the gross produce of thedifferent duties, under the management of the commissioners ofexcise in England, amounted to £5,507,308 18s.81/4d., which waslevied at an expense of little more than five and a half per cent.From this gross produce, however, there must be deducted whatwas paid away in bounties and drawbacks upon the exportation ofexcisable goods, which will reduce the net produce below fiveAdam Smith ElecBook Classics The Wealth of Nations: Book 5 1206millions.1 The levying of the salt duty, an excise duty, but under adifferent management, is much more expensive.The net revenueof the customs does not amount to two millions and a half, whichis levied at an expense of more than ten per cent in the salaries ofofficers, and other incidents.But the perquisites of custom-houseofficers are everywhere much greater than their salaries; at someports more than double or triple those salaries [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]

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