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Capital Stock
Capitation taxes, also called poll taxes, are taxes periodically levied on everyone in society. Today, the term generally implies that everyone pays the same amount, but in Smith’s time, yearly taxes proportioned to wealth, rank, or income were also considered capitation taxes.
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Capitation Taxes Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the term Capitation Taxes appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 5, Chapter 2
...it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different Species of Revenue.” People must pay capitation tax es (yearly taxes assessed on every person) and taxes on consumable commodities with whatever revenue...
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“ Capitation Taxes .” Assessing people’s wealth and income is difficult and invasive, so proportional capitation taxes are...
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France should replace its unfair land tax (taille) and capitation tax with more revenue taxes (vingtièmes), particularly on the rich. It should unify its customs and...
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