compulsory transfer of resources from individuals and organizations to the state
types
- income tax: levy on earnings
- property tax: levy on owned assets (land, buildings)
- consumption tax: sales tax, VAT, applied at point of purchase
- transaction tax: levy on transfers (financial transactions, Tobin tax)
- tariffs: tax on imports/exports across borders
purposes: funding public goods, redistribution, behavior modification (Pigovian taxes)
historical: tithes, tribute, corvee labor, salt tax
in network state communities, taxation is replaced or supplemented by protocol fees, staking yields, and voluntary contributions
cyber transaction fees function as a minimal tax: resource pricing for computation and storage on the knowledge graph
taxation without representation was the catalyst for the American revolution
see also governance, sovereignty, social contract, decentralization