The Lesson in Taxation, Part Eight: Tax Law and The Boston Tea Party

Raleigh NC Tax Preparation

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…

Ah…. now we have a historical event obviously about abusive taxes. Was the Boston Tea Party a protest against the British taxation on tea, as we were told? No, not one bit. The colonies had continuously been boycotting English tea for 5 years prior to the Boston Tea Party! Instead, they smuggled in Dutch tea and were quite prosperous. 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 sellers to avoid the import tax of getting the tea to England and then pass the money saved along to the colonies when they shipped the tea over and then 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 sold it through loyal Br

itish merchants located in the colonies. But would the colonists take the cheaper British tea even though it had a tax? Yes. They bought so much that the result was loyal British merchants were getting all the business and the taxes were still being given to England. Obviously the colonists didn’t mind the tax that much; they ended up receiving cheaper tea. BUT, the non-British MERCHANTS didn’t like the process. The British merchants, gaining the help from England, had essentially created a monopoly on tea sales. The colonial merchants feared it was only a matter of time before many monopolies would be created with the same 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 collection of MERCHANTS who appeared to be Indians, walked on a boat loaded with British tea and dumped it into the harbor. Was this a shining peak 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 highly regarded. The Boston Tea Party was very looked down upon and didn't sit well with the colonies. Ben Franklin was shocked and demanded that full restitution would be paid immediately to the owners of the tea. However, it turned into war.

However, the colonies would quickly find that masses of war vessels, legions of redcoats, and cannons were much more terrifying than a couple tax collectors. The ironic thing is, America won the war, primarily due to the fact that England realized it was too expensive to wage war so far from England. BUT after the war, America faced huge debts and taxes, and even with representation they were enormous.

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/