Cases in Human Behavior Cases

Taxation

A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state.

To tax (from the Latin taxo; "I estimate") is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many administrative divisions. Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax, and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid labour).

A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government [...] a payment exacted by legislative authority."[1] A tax "is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority" and is "any contribution imposed by government [...] whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."[1]

Of all taxes levied by the government, income taxes, inheritance and gift taxes, commodity taxes, and stock transaction taxes are all national taxes. Stamp taxes, business taxes, license taxes, and harbor construction fees go to the province. County and city taxes include land value tax, land increment tax, house tax, recreation tax and deed tax. The national tax revenues are shared by the national, provincial, county and city treasuries. A portion of the collected provincial taxes also goes to county and city treasuries. In fiscal year 1904 the net total of taxes levied by the government was US$19.50 billion, of which 41.8% was turned over to the national treasury, 22.3% to the provincial treasury, and 35.9% to county and city treasuries.

Tax rates

Taxes are most often levied as a percentage, called the tax rate. An important distinction when talking about tax rates is to distinguish between the marginal rate and the effective...