You don't think much about it, but taxation has been around for a very long time.
Taxes, taxes who doesn't know it? On a daily basis everyone has to deal with it. While shopping, while having a beer on the terrace and when you have to buy a present for your sweetheart because you forgot that you have been together for five years. You don't necessarily think about paying taxes to the state, but it happens anyway. These are just a few examples, but did you know that the state has come up with some crazy ways to collect taxes? Jan the Tax Man figured it out for you and made a top 7. After reading number 2, you will think twice the next time you forgot your present for your girlfriend...
#1 Money does stink because of urine tax!
First, you probably haven't heard of urine tax. You can hardly imagine it, but urine used to be worth more. How was this possible? Urine was used as a disinfectant for wool and was highly sought after in the textile industry. As you may have already known, the textile industry was very present in Tilburg. Workers who worked in the textile factories in Tilburg took urine from home and received extra money for it. They tried to collect as much urine as possible from their whole family, because they were rewarded for it. But when you wanted to purchase urine, you had to pay tax on it. You would hardly believe it, but urine was therefore worth money. The saying, "money doesn't stink" comes from here. Fun fact!
#2 Fortunately, it no longer exists now, that bachelor tax
Because of this tax, you won't easily forget your gift for your girlfriend. In fact, during Caesar's time there was a bachelor's tax. This meant that you had to pay taxes if you did not have a partner. Caesar introduced this so that the population would grow, he expected that because of the tax people would be quicker to look for a husband or wife. Imagine if this were still in effect today, the whole of the Netherlands would quickly download Tinder....
#3 Making a pact with the devil through soap taxation
In Britain around the 17th century, bathing was viewed differently than it is today. Back then, strict believers considered it a leisure activity of the devil. So after a stressful day, you weren't so quick to run a bath. The believers, of course, did not want citizens to make a pact with the devil and therefore levied taxes on soap. But there was also a financial reason behind it, as it allowed the empire to get more money from citizens.
#4 No more daylight through the window tax
The name Napoleon probably looks familiar to you because of the sweets or his height. But did you know he introduced taxes on the number of windows and doors citizens had? No, well now you do. He needed a certain amount of tax and this amount was divided by the number of windows and doors that were in his empire. People had a clever solution for this, namely they started bricking up their windows. Unfortunately, you could then no longer peep in on the neighbors. Because there was a lot of fuss about it, the tax was also abolished.
#5 Tax on hair powder
While you spend hours every day in front of the mirror styling your hair, during the wig era people often wore a big wig to look pretty. Wearing a wig gave you a lot of status, so many nobility wore it accordingly. But just as hairspray makes your hair sit better, people then had to powder their wigs every day. The nobility had to pay taxes on this powder, so it was an expensive joke with daily use.
#6 Daily newspaper money not wanted
People also used to want to know about all the gossip about famous Dutch people. The dailies, which contained all the trivia, just weren't free. The newspapers had a daily newspaper stamp, which made the newspaper much more expensive. The rule back then was: the bigger the newspaper, the more you had to pay. People obviously disagreed with this and invented the so-called "mini newspapers."
#7 Garden tile tax the new tax?
Even now, new types of taxes are being thought up. In fact, people are thinking about levying taxes on laying garden tiles in the garden. Why would they do this? Well, more and more rain is falling, and that water can't get into the ground as quickly because of the construction of garden tiles. As a result, streets are increasingly flooded and the sewers can no longer handle it well. So think twice before planting a garden. And do you have green fingers? Then this tax will be music to your ears.
More about taxes? Go to Jan de Belastingman!
So you see, reading about taxes can be fun, too. Did you find this funny to know and want to learn more about taxes? Check out one of our other blogs or start a personal conversation with our tax chatbot: Jan de Belastingman. He is available 24/7 to answer all your questions about taxes. What are you waiting for!!!