Land Tax

Taxing the land, or rather the harvest of the land, was one of the most common and efficient ways a government could employ to gather wealth from its people. Typically, land tax was calculated according to the size of owner's estate. Controversially, the tax could be applied prior to the harvest meaning that, should drought or flood rob the farmer of his crop, he would still be expected to pay his taxes based on the yield he should have gained from the land.