In the text, find the answers to the following questions

1. Why did ancient civilizations impose taxes on their citizens?

2. What can you say about taxation in Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire? Were their systems similar?

3. Was China distinct in taxation? Why? Why not?

4. Did English people have the excessive tax burden?

5. Why did the English nobility revolt against King John in 1215?

6. Describe the taxation policy in the Middle East.

7. What does the saying “No taxation without representation” mean?

8. Were there lots of taxes when the United States was founded? Why? Why not?

9. What was the purpose of the first income tax creation in the USA?

 

Exercise 3. Find a word in the text that matches each definition below. The words appear in order.

1. A society that has developed its own culture and institutions. ______________

2. (two words) Service provided or supported by a government or its agencies.

                                                                                         _______________

3. A means by which governments finance their expenditure by imposing charges on citizens and corporate entities.                                         _______________

4. To impose rules; to keep in compliance.                                _______________

5. (two words) The amount of income, property, or sales tax levied on an individual or business.                                                        ________________

6. Very old.                                                                                ________________

7. (two words) Local tax assessed on property owned, such as real estate or automobiles.                                                                     ________________

8. (a phrasal verb)    To compensate for something.                 ________________

9. (two words) Annual tax levied by the Federal government, most states, and some local governments, on an individual’s or corporation’s net profit.

________________

10. Costing a lot of money, or costing too much money.          ________________

 

Exercise 4. Sentence completion.

Read the sentences and complete them with the following words.

equivalents      expenditures    interest            enforcement             

taxation           unemployment infrastructure  indirect

law                  taxpayer

1. A tax is a financial charge or another levy imposed upon a _______ (an individual or legal entity) by a state or the functional equivalent of a state to fund various public ___________.

2. A failure to pay, or evasion of or resistance to taxation, is usually punishable by ______.

3. Taxes consist of direct or __________ taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent.

4. Few countries impose no ________ at all, such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

5. Money provided by taxation was used by states and their functional ___________ throughout history to carry out many functions.

Some of these include expenditures on war, the _________ of law and public order, protection of property, economic ________ (roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc.), public works, subsidies, and the operation of government itself.

6. A portion of taxes also goes to pay off the state's debt and the _______ this debt accumulates.

7. Governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services: education systems, health care systems, pensions for the elderly, __________ benefits, and public transportation.

 

Exercise 5. Text completion.

A) Read this article about the history of taxation in which some sentences     and phrases are missing.

__________________ (1)

The word ‘tax’ first appeared in the English language only in the 14th century. It derives from the Latin taxare which means ‘to assess’. Before that, English used the related word ‘task’, derived from Old French. ____________ (2). ‘Tax’ then developed its meaning to imply something wearisome or challenging. So words like ‘duty’ were used to suggest a more appealing purpose.

__________________ (3)

China has one of the longest of all written records, and we know that taxes were levied here some 3,000 years ago as the Empire was being established. Powers (usually military) that were able to impose taxes created the first bureaucracies to collect and administer them. Under the Egyptian Pharaohs ‘scribes’ were charged with raising funds in any way practicable, including a tax on household cooking oil. _____________________ (4). The ‘Book of Genesis’ in The Bible suggests that a fifth of all crops should be given to the Pharaoh. The city states of Ancient Greece imposed eishpora to pay for wars, which were numerous; but once a war was over any surplus had to be refunded. Athens imposed a monthly poll tax on foreigners. Imperial Rome used tribute extracted from colonized people to multiply the bounty of empire. _____________________ (5).

B) Match these sentences (A-E) with the gaps in the article (1-5).

A       For a while, ‘task’ and ‘tax’ were both in common use, the first requiring labour, the second money.

    B       Julius Caesar imposed a one-per-cent sales tax; Augustus instituted an

        inheritance tax to provide retirement funds for the military.

C       Regular audits were conducted to ensure that oil was not recycled –

    perhaps the first historical record of ‘avoidance’.

D       In the beginning

E       The written record.

Exercise 6.

Fill in the following prepositions where necessary.

after                in(x3)     from       for         on (x2)  

to(x2)     throughout      of (x2)

 

_________ (1) history there have been many strange, unusual, and weird taxes. Many of them were implemented to raise additional revenue, while the purpose ____ (2) others was to promote social change. Here are some of the strangest ones.

___ (3) Ancient Egypt, cooking oil was taxed, and on top of that, people had to buy their taxed cooking oil ____ (4) the Pharaoh’s monopoly, and were prohibited from reusing previously purchased oil.

In Ancient Rome, it was not uncommon for slave owners to free their slaves _____ (5) a certain number of years of work. Slaves could pay a fee because many of them had the opportunity to work ____ (6) several places, and thus could earn the money used to obtain their freedom. The Roman government required the newly freed slave to pay a tax _____ (7) his or her freedom.

During the Middle Ages, European governments placed a tax on soap. It remained in effect ___ (8) a very long time. Great Britain didn't repeal its soap tax until 1835.

In 1696, England implemented a window tax, taxing houses based ____ (9) the number of windows they had. That led ____ (10) many houses having very few windows in order to avoid paying the tax. Eventually this became a health problem and ultimately led _____ (11) the tax’s repeal in 1851.

In 1705, Russian Emperor Peter the Great placed a tax on beards, hoping to force men to adopt the clean-shaven look that was common _____ (12) Western Europe.

The French had a salt tax called the gabelle, which angered many and was one _____ (13) the contributing factors to the French Revolution.

 

Exercise 7. Word formation.