Taxation in Makara

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Makara's government is supplied via a plethora of taxes. There are many wacky taxes that are common in any early renaissance society. From the Salt tax to the Window tax, Makara finds many interesting ways to pay for their basic upkeep. But to fund their more enterprising endeavors, the Princes have found many wealthier sources of income, three of which we will discuss here.

Art by Luigi Castellani

"The Dungeon Tax"
Dungeons generate a massive pile of coins, without a doubt. For the first few years of Makaran history, the wealth from these adventures went untaxed by the Government. But that only gave rise to a country where the guilds were far wealthier than the country itself. That had to be remedied, and so the Dungeon Tax was put into effect.

The terms of this tax are that when a haul is recovered from a dungeon, a representative from the government must be called to assess the value and then take 3/10ths of the assessed value as the Prince's cut. After this, the nearest settlement to the location has the right to take 1/10th of the haul, as a result of having to live with the danger.

This tax is likely the single largest income stream for Makara, as there's no such idea as an "income tax" at this place and time. Although the idea of a wealth tax has been passed around, as the old Empires taxed their citizen's wealth directly.

LAT
The "Lone Adventurer Tax" applies to any person or group who enters a city with a suspected dungeon haul in tow. Seeing as how most valuable dungeons are claimed by a Guild as soon as they are discovered, any dungeon which is unclaimed is fair game to any adventurer who wants to take the risk. These smaller dungeons tend not to have as much wealth as larger, claimed ones.

This tax is not very heavy, expecting the contents to be quite light and these Individual Adventurer's not being so wealthy, the Prince lays claim to only 1/10th of the wealth of these hauls, with the settlement closest to the dungeon receiving 1/20th of the wealth.

Art by David L. Johnson

Sales tax
It may not come to mind as a large revenue stream for a government but Sales tax is quite valuable when you take into account the fact that wondrously enchanted magic items are sold for thousands or tens of thousands of gold coins.

Sale tax is placed at 1/20th the value of any item sold, and the Prince is very aware of those who would claim false sales to then pay less taxes so he has an agency of people who go around inspecting the contents of every store in the city and then later comparing that to the listed value of items sold.