History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.415

v4.c62.415

²³⁶ आददीत धनं काले त्रिवर्गपरिवृद्धये॥ यथा गौः पाल्यते काले दुह्यते च तथा प्रजा ॥ कामन्दक V. 83-84. One may note the Moscow decree that all male and female peasants between 18 and 45 years were to work six days yearly without pay on roadwork. With the above principles of taxation one may compare Adam Smith's famous canons: (1) the subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the Government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities i. e. in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State. (2) The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid ought to be clear and plain to the contributor and to every other person. (3) Every tax ought to be levied at the time or in the manner in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it. (4) Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury (vide 'Wealth of nations' ed. by Rogers, 1869, vol. II. pp. 414-416.)