the taxes

Taxes are one of the most important forms of public revenue for states; Its theory has great importance among the theories used in public finance, and it is characterized by its important role in contributing to achieving the objectives of fiscal policy; Therefore, many concepts and definitions related to taxes have emerged. They are defined as mandatory obligations determined by countries, and individuals are obligated to pay their value without compensation; In order to provide assistance to states in achieving societal goals, and among its other definitions is a contribution of a cash or in-kind nature, which individuals provide to the countries in which they live, whether they receive a benefit from public services or not.

Tax development in the economy

Taxes witnessed a development in economic thought in conjunction with the emergence of many economic intellectual stages, and the following is information about the most important of them:

Taxes in Physiocratic Economic Thought: It is an intellectual field that appeared in the eighteenth century AD in France, and thinkers of this economy were interested in uniform taxes imposed on agricultural lands; It is the only source of wealth, and the owners of these lands are the social group that produces a net income;  Therefore, there is no point in imposing taxes on the owners of other classes.

 Taxes in Classical Economic Thought: This thought was concerned with the need to achieve a balance between estimates of public revenues and public expenditures;  As the best financial management depends on having a balance in the budget, and avoiding any risk of the emergence of a deficit in it. At this intellectual stage, a group of tax ideas emerged from several economic thinkers, the most important of which are:

 Taxes in Adam Smith;  Where he was keen to identify four bases for tax, which included collection, appropriate collection, certainty, and justice, and Smith indicated the necessity of the need for taxes;  Because it is one of the main means of financing for countries.

 Taxes in David Ricardo;  Where he saw that the industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors should stay away from the interference of states, but when countries want to face their own expenses, they must deduct the value of these taxes, as Ricardo considers them a type of rent for real estate that affects the real estate price, and does not affect the price of the property.  consumer.

 tax types

 There are several types of taxes, and each of them has a special field in it, and the most important of these types are: 

 Taxes on Persons: It is one of the oldest types of taxes known since the Middle Ages;  It was imposed on all individuals, and it is characterized by the ease of calculating, collecting and imposing it.

 Taxes on money: they are imposed on all the money of an individual, and are characterized by justice and abundance, but it is not possible to limit all the property of individuals;  This encourages them to evade taxes.

 Direct and indirect taxes: These are the common and widespread taxes in the modern era, but it is difficult to differentiate between them.  Therefore, a set of criteria is used to compare these taxes, namely:

 Stability of the taxable service or product: They are all materials on which taxes are imposed. If they are permanently fixed, they are considered direct taxes, but if they are not fixed, they are considered indirect taxes.

 Collection criterion: It is based on the nature of the administrative body that collects taxes or the method used to collect them, and this criterion varies among the countries of the world.

 Transfer of the burden of taxation: the distinction between indirect and direct taxes depending on the individuals who bear them;  Where the tax is considered direct when it is borne by the last taxpayer, while the tax is classified as indirect if it is transferred from the person charged with it to another person.

 Income taxes: They are taxes imposed by states on individuals who live in their communities, and they are considered important taxes;  Therefore, many different concepts and definitions emerged for it between thinkers and writers, and these taxes include two types:

 General Income Tax: It is the dependence of all individual incomes on one tax only, regardless of the individual's multiple sources of income.

 Income branch tax, also known as specific tax;  That is, the tax is imposed according to the type of income of the individual, and this depends on the division of the main sources of income;  Where there is income resulting from work and follows the wage tax, and there is income resulting from capital, and it follows the tax on movable property.

 Basic rules for tax

 The application of taxes depends on a set of basic rules that are considered foundations by which states are bound. These rules seek to enhance compatibility between the interests of financiers and the public treasury. The following is information about the most important of these rules: 

 The principle of equality: is to consider tax fairness as one of the important principles of an effective tax system;  As the tax legislature seeks to apply this justice while distributing the burdens among the tax holders;  Where this concept has developed with the development of societies, what is meant by justice according to the traditionalists is the contribution of all members of society to bear the expenses of the state, according to the relative cost of each of them, meaning that their contribution is commensurate with their income.

 Certainty rule: It is a rule that refers to a good tax that is clearly defined;  In the sense that it is an explicit and specific tax, the method and date of its collection are known, and its price is clear and specific, and this rule indicates the existence of prior knowledge of the individual charged with the tax from the state.

 The rule of stability: is that the proceeds of taxes do not change as a result of economic changes;  Specifically in the period of economic depression, but tax revenue often increases when production and public incomes increase.

 The rule of flexibility: it is that the change in income in terms of space and time is accompanied by a change in the tax revenue;  That is, flexible taxes are those that see an increase in their value;  Because of its high rates, with no shrinkage in its tax base, and consequently a decline in its tax revenues.