The Causes and Effects of Unemployment in Ghana.

EGYPT

During the various reins of the Egyptian Pharaohs tax collectors were known as scribes.   During one period the scribes imposed a tax on cooking oil.   To insure that citizens were not avoiding the cooking oil tax scribes would audit households to insure that appropriate amounts of cooking oil were consumed and that citizens were not using leavings generated by other cooking processes as a substitute for the taxed oil.

GREECE1

In times of war the Athenians imposed a tax referred to as eisphora.   No one was exempt from the tax which was used to pay for special wartime expenditures.   The Greeks are one of the few societies that were able to rescind the tax once the emergency was over.   When additional resources were gained by the war effort the resources were used to refund the tax.

Athenians imposed a monthly poll tax on foreigners, people who did not have both an Athenian Mother and Father, of one drachma for men and a half drachma for women.   The tax was referred to as metoikion

ROMAN EMPIRE

The earliest taxes in Rome were customs duties on imports and exports called portoria.1

Caesar Augustus was consider by many to be the most brilliant tax strategist of the Roman Empire.   During his reign as "First Citizen" the publicani were virtually eliminated as tax collectors for the central government.   During this period cities were given the responsibility for collecting taxes.   Caesar Augustus instituted an inheritance tax to provide retirement funds for the military.   The tax was 5 percent on all inheritances except gifts to children and spouses.   The English and Dutch referred to the inheritance tax of Augustus in developing their own inheritance taxes.

During the time of Julius Caesar a 1 percent sales tax was imposed.   During the time of Caesar Augustus the sales tax was 4 percent for slaves and 1 percent for everything else.1

Saint Matthew was a publican (tax collector) from Capernaum during Caesar Augustus reign.   He was not of...