W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Ah…. finally an event in history clearly about oppressive taxation. Was the Boston Tea Party a protest against the British tax on tea, as we were all taught? No, not one bit. The colonies had continuously been boycotting English tea for five years before to the Boston Tea Party! They had actually smuggled in Dutch tea and were doing quite well. There was tea for everyone and no British tea tax paid. Naturally, the British did not like the boycott. So, the British bypassed the duties back home. The Parliament told British tea merchants to disregard the import tax of getting the tea to England and then transfer the money saved along to the colonies when they shipped the tea over and thereby sold British tea at a price lower than the Dutch smuggled tea. If you are feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a CPA for Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
But what people would sell this British tea?
They did it with the loyal British merchants located in the colonies. But will the colonists buy the cheaper British tea with an included tax? Yes. They bought so much that what ended up happening was loyal British merchants were getting all the business and a tax was still be paid to England. Obviously the colonists didn’t care about the tax very much; they ended up getting cheaper tea. However, the non-British MERCHANTS did not like this gig. The British merchants, gaining the assistance of England, had basically created a monopoly on tea sales. The colony merchants thought it was only a matter of time before additional British enterprises would be created with an identical mechanism and they would be forced out of business. Go here if you want help with a modern-day Tax Return in Raleigh, NC.
So, a collection of MERCHANTS who appeared to be Indians, boarded a ship loaded with British tea and tossed it into the water. Was this a shining peak in American tax protest? No, it wasn’t. The Boston Tea Party was viewed as the senseless desecration of private property at a period when private property was viewed as very important. This event was extremely looked down upon and did not sit well with the colonists. Ben Franklin was shocked and demanded that full repayment would be paid immediately to the owners of the tea. However, it escalated into war.
However, the colonies would quickly learn that fleets of war vessels, legions of soldiers, and cannons were a lot scarier than a couple tax collectors. The ironic part is, America didn’t lose the war, primarily because England realized it was too expensive to fund war so far from home. BUT after the war, America had astounding debts and taxes, and even with representation they were enormous.
Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan’s next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and Slavery and the Civil War.
http://www.marccpa.com/