1st Edition AD&D	-	Dragon magazine	-	Dragon #95
Duties, Excises, Fees, Tariffs, Taxes, Tithes, and Tolls	-	The Taxman	-	-

An interview with His Excellency,
Algoras Stanheort, Chancellor of the
Exchequer, serving His Royal Majesty
Cynefyr, Bretwalda of Feldren

(DRAGON® magazine would like to
thank <Reverend> Arthur Collins for performing this
interview on our behalf. In addition, we
express our appreciation to the Royal Censor
's Office of Feldren for allowing this
transcript to appear without prior review.
Thanks also are given to the staff of the
Exchequer, which arranged for the Chancellor
to take part in this important dialogue
after payment of only the most usual of
bribes.)

DRAGON MAGAZINE: Many thanks
to you, Your Excellency, for agreeing to be
interviewed.

ALGORAS STANHEORT: My humble
thanks to you, Sir Examiner, for your most
welcome invitation. Truly, we who care for
the weighty concerns of royal finance appreciate
the opportunity to convey to the world
at large somewhat of our VIEW of things.

DM: Financing a kingdom must be very
difficult. Do you find it so?

AS: Indeed, young man, indeed. Unlike
your country, of which I have learned somewhat
prior to this interview, our financial
system draws no distinction betwixt the
expenses and revenues of the kingdom at
large and those of the ruler himself. Although
there indeed exists the Office of the
Royal Chamberlain, who has care of the
Household accounts, the separation between
our functions is very ill-defined.
Then, too, we live in a violent world, and
the defense of the kingdom requires heavy
expenditures to maintain our navy, our
military, our castles, and so forth. Is it not
so in your land?

DM: I think NOT to the degree that you
experience in Feldren, Your Excellency. Yet
defense is a heavy expenditure in our land,
too.

AS: As it should be in every well-governed
kingdom, Sirrah! But yet I could
wish that every government, mine own
included, were as resourceful in finding
ways to acquire revenue as they seem to be
in finding ways to disburse it. Alas, it falls
upon me and my very inadequate staff to
garner the treasure that all the King's other
men compete to spend. Since we are vastly
outnumbered by the scatterers of His Majesty
's store, we must compensate by being
vastly more inventive than they, finding
novel ways to gather it in.

DM: It must be very interesting work, I
would think. And he who does it must be a
very powerful individual.

AS: Indeed the work is fascinating,
youngling. Entirely fascinating. And the
power you speak of simply makes it more
so. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of
the work of royal finance is being so near to
the center of things. As they say in your
country, "Nothing exists that is sure but the
<Death Angel> and the Revenue Collector."
 

DM: "Death and Taxes" is the way we
express it, Your Excellency.

AS: Said I not so, Sir Broadsheet? Truly
no business is so essential to the governing
of a kingdom than the business of death and
taxes. A strong sword and a full moneybag
-- these maketh a kingdom to prosper.

DM: How then is it done, Your Excellency?
Where does the money come from to
run the kingdom?

AS: Most of it indeed comes from the
coffers of the King. You must understand,
Master Scrivener, that the King is the greatest
landowner and magnate in the realm.
Were it not so, he might be in trouble with
those who could outbid him in the auction
of power. And in order to insure that his
Royal Majesty maintains his exalted and
well-endowed state, it is sometimes necessary
to exact payments from those who
would acquire too much of this world's
goods.

DM: So you are saying that beyond the
normal revenues of the King -- by which
you mean mostly rents and farm income --
taxes are instituted mainly to curb the advance
of nobles? To keep everyone in his
place, so to speak?

AS: Ah, how quickly thou has grasped at
this kernel of wisdom! Yet this kernel is but
a mere portion of the whole of taxation
theory. Of course it is necessary to keep the
barons and other magnates in their places,
as it is necessary to do a great many other
things for the good of the Kingdom. We
must maintain bridges, build roads, and
enclose towns with redoubtable WALLS. We
must maintain our armies and our merchant
marine, purchase weaponry, train the
yeomanry, conduct diplomacy, and yet
more. Taxation factors in all of these activities.
Some we make to pay for themselves.
Others we support with the general funds of
the Kingdom. Yet other activities we maketh
others to pay for.

DM: For instance?

AS: As for instance: the building of towns
and castles. The King rewards service with
a grant of land. Yet it is not the land alone
that is granted, for certain rights and obligations
are attached. The building of a
castle provides defense. A town increases
TRADE. And a bridge may be built to carry
the King's gallant men.

DM: I see. Well then, in what ways do
you tax the people?

AS: Ere I attempt to answer your question,
let me ask you 2 others. By people,
mean you only the common folk, or do you
intend to that designation the nobles and
religious institutions as well? Further, in
asking how we tax them, do you refer solely
to my office, or do you desire a larger disquisition
on all the ways in which people are
taxed in Feldren?

DM: Forgive me, Your Excellency. How
very perceptive of you to enlarge upon my
question. Allow me to rephrase it: Would
you be so kind as to expound all the main
ways in which taxes are paid, including by
whom and to whom?

AS: I thought that to be your AIM, Master
Must-ask-about-all. Well, by the Gamble
of St. Gaz, you at least have the wit to
ask one who could tell you what you want to
know, albeit briefly. There are the occasional
taxes, which people pay on certain
goods or only on certain occasions. Then
there are the regular monthly taxes, and
beyond these the seasonal taxes, which are
assessed 4 times a year. And it seems that
one could also include under your heading
those licenses that persons are required to
obtain for certain purposes, and also the
bonds and fees required to perform certain
actions. Finally, there are monopolies and
benevolences, granted by or to the King.

DM: That's an awful lot of taxes to load
on the people's backs, is it not, Your Excellency?

AS: If Providence had not intended the
people to bear such expenses upon their
backs, then they should not have had such
broad backs upon which to bear them, think
you not? (At this point His Excellency
permitted himself a chuckle.)

DM: Quite so -- I suppose. What are the
monthly taxes, then?

AS: Well, now. There is the Consumption
Tax assessed in all cities and towns. It
is assessed at 1 farthing in the shilling on all
sales. (Note: A farthing in AD&D® game
terms is ¼ copper piece. Other Feldren
currency is roughly equivalent to AD&D
game currency as follows: 1 penny = 1
copper piece; 1 shilling = 1 silver piece; 1
pound = 1 gold piece.) Certain goods are
designated as luxuries and are subject to the
Luxury Tax of 1 penny in the shilling.
There is a general Inheritance Tax of 1
shilling in the pound. And of course, we
collect tariffs on goods imported from other
lands. These rates vary, depending on the
state of our relations with the kingdom in
question, but they probably average about 1
penny for every 100 pounds of weight of the
goods.

DM: Any others?

AS: Oh, you tax me, Sirrah! You tax my
poor recall. Oh, yes -- we have the tolls
collected at booths on certain bridges and
roads.

DM: How much is the toll?

AS: A mere trifle. Hardly enough to pay
for the upkeep. A person on foot pays 1
penny, as does a beast or a cart, while a
coach or chariot pays twopence. Yet it all
adds up.

DM: You also mentioned certain monthly
taxes, Lord Chancellor. What are they?

AS: Primarily, there are 2. A Market
Tax is assessed on every adult and every
beast to enter a walled town on the monthly
Market Day, of a penny each. And then
there is the Alien Tax. Resident aliens are
required to pay 1 shilling for each adult
each month, and non-resident aliens pay
twice that. Diplomatic personnel are exempt
from such taxation, of course.

DM: Is the Alien Tax an example of
using taxation to keep people in their
places?

AS: To some degree, sire. To some degree.
Yet consider also that it is sometimes
wise to tax those who have no legal recourse
to complain against their taxation, not so?
Further, it is NOT our design to have the
Kingdom overrun with subjects of other
kingdoms, so we keep down their numbers
a bit by taxing them for being here.

DM: What about the seasonal taxes,
Your Excellency? What are they?

AS: Oh, various, various. Indeed, they
are probably the backbone of our taxation
system. They yield the greatest revenue,
and the most regular. In the spring, every
hearth is taxed, from the meanest cottager's
hovel to the greatest lord's castle. Then in
summer, the Land Tax is due. Every acre of
the kingdom is assessed: a tribute to my
staffs perspicacity and enterprise! We also
collect the Nobility Tax at that time.

DM: You tax the nobility just for being
noble?

AS: Oh, no! Such were never our intention.
But each family displaying tokens of
nobility, such as crests, coats-of-arms,
household uniforms, and the like, pays 5
pounds for the privilege. It is a mere trifle,
yet as I said before, it adds up.

DM: I see. Pray go on, Your Excellency.

AS: Where was I? Hearth Tax, Land Tax
. . . Ah, yes. In autumn the Holy Synod
collects the Tithe: 2 shillings in the pound
on all produce, rents, and profits from the
land. Sad that it is so steep, and none of it
goes into His Majesty's coffers. But you did
ask to know of all the taxes our subjects
have to pay. The Synod collects the Tithe,
and we collect the Income Tax at the same
time.

DM: Isn't that quite a lot at one time?

AS: No, I think not. The Tithe covers
mostly profits from land, while the Royal
Income Tax is mostly assessed against merchants
and such. There is very little overlap.
And the tax on incomes is a mere
penny in the pound.

DM: How do you know what a person's
income is for a given year? Do they file
reports?

AS: Does my staff seem of adequate size
to deal with such a mountain of documents
as would be produced by such a demand?
No, no, Master Not-so-clever-after-all. We
leave it to the discretion of the Agents of the
Exchequer. Each one is given a Shire to
collect, with a goal to return. He in turn
sees that the tax is collected, and the proper
amount paid in to the Exchequer's coffers.

DM: Doesn't that leave open the possibility
of great corruption?

AS: I follow you NOT. What is corrupt
about it?

DM: Pardon me, Your Excellency, but
isn't it an invitation to extortion when you
simply require your agents to collect a lump
sum of money from the people? Won?t they
charge more than is required, so as to gain
a profit? Couldn?t an agent merely hire
others to do his collecting, with them extorting
more even than he does, so that all have
a profit? And without knowing the precise
income of a subject, how is it determined
how much tax he should pay? A penny in
the pound may be the legal assessment, but
is it possible that many are forced to pay
more, while others could get out of paying
anything at all?

AS: I see what you mean. But this is a
concept new to me, and a doubtful one.
The agents are paid the merest stipend. Of
course they are expected to make a profit
out of collecting the revenues due His Majesty.
As long as His Majesty has his proper
income, and none is so oppressed as to
make rebellion, what matters it who is
assessed precisely what? We look upon the
penny in the pound as a goal to be realized,
not a dead weight to drag us all down. No,
I am afraid you do not understand the ways
of our revenue system after all, sir. By my
troth, it works very well, indeed.

DM: I understand better Now. Well, are
there any taxes due in winter, Lord Chancellor?

AS: Indeed, indeed! Winter is the very
season of taxes. There is the Poll Tax assessed
on every head in the Kingdom, the
Magick Tax on all magical items, the Sword
Tax on every edged weapon, and the
Henchmen Tax on all who have retainers.
(Once again, His Excellency permitted
himself a chuckle.) What we fail to get in
the warmer seasons, we recoup in winter,
you see. Hiding and running away are far
more difficult in the depth of this frigid
season, and so taxes are far easier to collect.
Pay or freeze, Master Scribe! Oh, yes, that
is their choice! Pay or freeze! Oh, yes.
Quite.

DM: How much do all of these seasonal
taxes add up to?

AS: Eh? How much? Lords of Destiny,
man, ye don't expect me to know that from
the very top o' my head, do ye? I'll get you
a list. (His Excellency summoned a clerk
and gave him instructions to find a rate
sheet on the seasonal taxes. The information
on the sheet is reproduced below.)

Poll Tax: Adult, 2p; child or marketable
beast, 1p; riding horse, 1sh.

Magick Tax: Potion, 1p; scroll, 1sh; book,
3sh; ring, 5sh; wand, 10sh; miscellaneous
item, 12sh; weapon, 1 pound; artifact or <swords, miscellaneous weapons>
relic, 20 pounds.

Sword Tax (on all edged weapons 9 or
more inches long): 1p for every 2 inches of
edge plus 1p for each pound of weight.

Henchmen Tax: every henchmen, 2sh;
every hireling, 1sh.

Hearth Tax: simple dwelling, 1p; simple
dwelling in town, 2p; simple dwelling in
walled town, 6p; large dwelling, 1sh; large
dwelling in walled town, 3sh; inn, 10sh;
manor, 1 pound; castle, 10 pounds.

Land Tax: per acre under cultivation, 1p;
per acre lying fallow, ½p; per acre of woodland,
3f; per acre of barren land, 1f; per
acre of pond or lake, ½p; per acre of townland,
6p; per acre of fortified land, 1sh.
 
 

DM (after briefly looking over the rate
sheet): It would seem that you are very
inventive in finding ways to make people
pay.

AS: And why should they not pay, I ask
you? Do we not defend them from enemies?
Do we not provide them with the pride of
being subject to the greatest of all kings, our
Lord Bretwalda Cynefyr? Eh? Do you get
off so much cheaper in your own land?
(Here a short but awkward pause ensues.)

DM: You mentioned some other sorts of
taxes and fees that the people pay, Your
Excellency. Could you tell me what they
are?

AS: Certainly, My Lord of Many Questions.
Royal licenses are required of all who
would engage in certain trades. A pedlar's
license to sell his goods costs a penny per
market day, while a beggar's license costs a
penny each season.

DM: Beggars have to obtain a license to
beg?

AS: But of course! 'Tis a most profitable
TRADE, and one that yieldeth us much.

DM: Are there penalties for not obtaining
the proper license?

AS: You jest with me, sir. However, if you
do desire to know about particulars, I refer
you to my Lord Chief Justiciar. He could
detail for you the penalties and procedures
for those who flaunt the King's Law.

DM: Yes, I'm sure he could. What other
licenses are there?

AS: A manufacturer's license is 2 pounds
per year, a scholar who desires to operate a
school must pay a pound per year, while
vintners, brewers, bakers, and such pay 2
pounds per year, as does a monopolist.

DM: Yes, you mentioned monopolies
before. How do they work?

AS: To realize a revenue on the many
goods and services produced in the kingdom
is a mammoth task. And there are always
those who render the King good service,
and rightly expect some reward for their
pains. So the King grants certain monopoly
rights to his favorites, and all such as deal in
the goods or services specified in the grant
must pay the monopolist the price that he
proclaims. In return, the monopolist must
pay the King 2 pounds a year.
 
 

DM: What sort of goods and services are
offered by monopolies?

AS: Oh, the usual. Salt, wool, silk, iron,
hawking and fencing schools. . . . a wide
variety of things.

DM: What other means of revenue do
you have?

AS: We have the usual legal fees and
duties. A small list.

DM: Such as?

AS: For the privilege of bringing suit in a
royal court, 10 shillings. And if a suit is
argued in the royal court, the King gets 10%
of the amount sued for, or a minimum
of 30 shillings, from the person who is
adjudged in the wrong -- in addition to
what the loser must pay to the winner,
whose damages recovered are taxable as
income. Harborage in any port is 1 shilling
a day. To import certain items costs 20
pounds, while to export certain items not at
your exclusive risk is 10 pounds. A bond of
10 shillings is required to leave the country.
Naturalization costs 15 shillings. To practice
the profession of <wizard> costs a person
15 pounds a year. Non-humans must pay 5
pounds a year. These last 2 assessments
are bonds for their good behavior, you
understand. And, to purchase a writ from a
Royal Justice costs 5 shillings. Moneychangers
and lenders are charged 5%
of their profits a year. 'Tis a varied list,
to be sure. Yet we leave no stone unturned,
for who knows what may be underneath it?

DM: Well, that covers about everything,
except the subject of benevolences. What is
a benevolence?

AS: A benevolence is a grant of money
given out of sheer good will. On occasion,
the King must needs ask for such from the
Synod, or his nobs, |or| such other class of
folk. And they search their hearts, and find
that they Love the King. So they freely offer
to the King what he needs. On occasion,
the King himself will give a benevolence to
some other institution |or| person. But everyone
loves the King, and is glad to see that
his expenses are met. Is it not so in your
government?

DM: I am not qualified to say, Your
Excellency. Are there other ways you have
to raise money?

AS: Oh, YES. Are there not always yet a
way or 2 more to extract money from the
coffer? To knight a son, a fee is required,
usually 50 pounds or so. If an heir is a
minor when he cometh into possession of
his estate, then the Office of Wards runs his
estate for him and realizes all gain from the
land and possessions until he reaches his
majority. And of course, in time of need,
the King may offer other honors in his
possession for a consideration.

DM: Such as?

AS: Oh, offices, titles, the right to marry
a certain noblewoman. I believe another
saying of your land is, "Everything has its
price." And so does every man. Part of our
task in the Exchequer is to take deep
thought and discover the price of things and
men. And I trow we do it well.

DM: I see. Anything else?

AS: There are levies.

DM: What are they?

AS: Emergency taxes, mostly. Yet certain
ports pay a regular levy of ship money to
the Exchequer, which helps support the
navy. Nobles, towns, villages, and guilds
are required to provide the King a set number
of archers, infantry, cavalry, and supplies
each year at their own expense. And
the list could go on -- but, alas, I cannot. I
am afraid I must end our very pleasant
discourse now. Affairs of State, you know

DM: Indeed, Your Excellency. You have
been more than kind to grant me the Time
you have. But please allow me to pose one
last question. The man who invented the
system of taxation in my land once described
it as "discovering the way to pluck
the most feathers from the goose with the
least amount of squawk." Would you say
that the same applies to your system of
taxation?

AS: A wise man, he who said that, but I
would amend it in only one particular. As
applied to our system of producing revenue,
let me say that we have discovered the value
of a minimum of deafness in plucking the
goose. More feathers can be collected if you
mind less the squawking.

DM: Thank you very much, Chancellor.

AS: Indeed, 'twas my pleasure, Sir Gentle
Inquisitor. My clerk will show you out.

(At this juncture, the clerk came in and
motioned the interviewer toward the exit.
At the same time, through another door, a
very tall young woman with amazing features
and a still more amazing costume
entered. Affairs of State, you know.)

MARCH 1985

If you've got it . . .
-
To the Editor:
Usually, I do not read DRAGON Magazine. I
find the dragons with which one must cope in the
real world to be far more satisfying to slay than
anything that can be invented in the artificial
worlds of fantasy. However, an article entitled
"How taxes take their toll" in your March issue
(#95) was called to my attention, and I have read
it with much delight. In my opinion, the whole
article is a masterpiece of gentle satire, and it
would be worth reading by a wider clientele than
just those who usually browse through your
pages.

The real reason I am writing you is that there
is a mistake in diction in "How taxes take their
toll" that needs to be called to your attention. I
realize there may have been something lost in
translation from Feldren-ese into English-
American. I have done some checking on the
source of the error, and I assure you the Chancellor
of the Exchequer knows the difference between
the English words "flaunt" and "flout";
and, normally, he would not have used the former
when he meant the latter, even in Feldren-ese. Yet
there it is, on page 20, near the bottom of the first
column. I quote: ". . . the penalties and procedures
for those who flaunt the King's law." Now
there may be a few folk in Feldren, as well as in
the real world, who would be bold enough to
flaunt before the general public the flouting of the
King's law, but I deem not many. The sense of
the sentence calls for ". . . who flout the King's
law."

Acknowledging the slight possibility of the
author's lapse in this matter (albeit he doesn?t
remember it that way), your translator (editorial
staff) should know better, and should have seen to
it that something as important as the King's law
was not to be flouted!

Methought to correct this glaring error in the
interest of the author before some other language
buff picks up on it and reports the error. (Some
other person might not care as much about the
writer as I do.)

You may refer to me as the Dragon Lady who
has played the role of Mother to Arthur Collins
(the writer of the article) for the past thirty-one
years. Most of those years have been delightful, I
might add.

Margaret Shirley Collins
Linton, Ind.
(Dragon #97)


'Tis a pleasure indeed to hear from the person
who is more responsible than any other for the
fact that Arthur Collins is a writer for
DRAGON® Magazine -- and, for that matter,
the fact that Arthur Collins is.

Verily, much as I abhor the thought of turning
mother against son or vice versa, the facts must
be told. Sir Arthur's original manuscript did
indeed use the word "flaunt." And yes, we should
have noticed it when translating the words from
typewritten manuscript to printed page. But, if
the full truth be known (what the heck?), we
didn't think it was wrong.

Sir Arthur cannot be blamed for failing to
remember what he wrote -- the manuscript was
in our possession for more than a year before we
published it. We do willingly share the blame for
the error; 'twas our fault for not seeing it as much
as Arthur's for committing it. The only error he
must bear alone is the minor fault of not keeping
a copy of his manuscript, which would have
enabled mother and son to keep the problem in
the family. But if he had done that, our mailbox
would never have been graced by the above letter.
I, for one, am glad we make an occasional mistake
-- because sometimes it's a lot of fun to be
corrected. 

-- KM
(Dragon #97)