For most persons, tax is an "unpleasant subject" of
complex and inexplicable rules, administered with bureaucratic
ferocity and resulting in expensive litigation over an extended
period. Tax law, however, has evolved over many centuries and is at
the root of some of our most cherished values in the rule of
law.
The word "tax" itself has been associated in history
with unpleasant events, such as wars and revolutions. It derives
from the Latin "taxare": "to name; to describe; to
heap up; to appraise; to tax". Taxes are essentially
compulsory expropriations levied on persons, property, or
businesses to support expenditures by government, hopefully, for
the public good.
Historically, taxes also had some religious significance,
particularly in ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire. We see this
in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, where the fresco
"Rendering of the Tribute Money" depicts the gods
approving the Florentine income tax.
