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 at all. The colonies had continuously been boycotting English tea for five years prior to the Boston Tea Party! They had instead smuggled in Dutch tea and were doing quite well. There was tea for all and no British tea tax paid. Naturally, the British didn’t like this boycott. So, the British forgot the duties at home. The Parliament allowed British tea merchants to disregard the import tax of getting the tea into England and then pass the savings along to the colonies as they sent the tea over and thereby sold British tea at a price lower than the Dutch smuggled tea. If you’re 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 through loyal British merchants located in the colonies. But will the colonists buy the cheaper British tea even though it had a tax? Yes. So much so that the result was loyal British merchants were getting all the business and a tax was still be paid to England. Obviously the colonists didn’t mind the tax very much; they ended up receiving cheaper tea. However, the non-British MERCHANTS didn’t enjoy this gig. The British merchants, with the help from England, had essentially created a monopoly on tea sales. The colony merchants thought it was only a matter of time before many monopolies 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 group of MERCHANTS who appeared to be Indians, boarded a boat containing British tea and tossed it into the water. Was this a crowning moment in American tax protest? Not at all. The Boston Tea Party was viewed as the meaningless desecration of private property at a period when private property was viewed as very important. This Boston Tea Party was extremely looked down upon and didn’t sit well with the colonists. Ben Franklin was abhorred and told the merchants that complete repayment would be paid immediately to the owners of the tea. However, it turned into war.

However, the colonists would soon learn that masses of warships, battalions of redcoats, and cannons were a lot more terrifying than a couple tax collectors. The funny part is, America won the war, primarily due to the fact that England realized it was too expensive to fund war so far from England. BUT after the war, America had huge debts and taxes, and even with representation they were going to be huge.

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/